Bonhoeffer and Christian Moral Action

Question 1

what is the governments aim?

Answer 1

to impose law and order on the sinful human tendency towards disorder

Question 2

what two passages from the New Testament suggest that Christians have a duty to both the state and to God

Answer 2

1. when Jesus was asked whether his followers should pay taxes to the Romans he said “give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are Gods”
2. St. Paul wrote “let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is not authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God”

Question 3

what is the problem with the two passages from the new Testament

Answer 3

the state too often has too much power, and makes justice subordinate to its own policies and ideas. It doesn’t represent God’s wills because of its own sense of importance

Question 4

what does Bonhoeffer argue about leadership and the nazis

Answer 4

• leadership is usually about matters beyond the leader, but under nazis it has become about the leader himself.
• the German people have chosen to give up their freedoms in obedience to a tyrant

Question 5

what is the role of the church

Answer 5

is not to be part of the state, but to keep it in check

Question 6

what does Bonhoeffer argue about when Christians should decide to obey the state

Answer 6

• Christians must ask themselves “what is the will of God?”

- and that this will only be clear in the moment of action

Question 7

for Bonhoeffer what is conscience?

Answer 7

the experience of disunion with yourself- it is a moment of self knowledge when you must engage with the “terrible alternative”

Question 8

why does Bonhoeffer argue for civil disobedience (breaking state laws)

Answer 8

because the church has a duty to the state and this is to ensure that it acts in accordance with Gods will

Question 9

Bonhoeffer saw that the German church hadn’t followed what?

Answer 9

followed Jesus’ example and valued the weak and oppressed. He was annoyed in particular at the German churches attitude to the Jews

Question 10

what are the three ways that the church must fight discrimination

Answer 10

1. it should question whether the states actions are legitimate
2. it must help all victims of justice of whatever faith or belief
3. it must be fully engaged in resistance

Question 11

why did Bonhoeffer argue that tyrannicide may be a Christian duty?

Answer 11

• it is the will of God
• the attempt to kill hitler can’t be justified by ordinary human ethics, but by “bold action as the free response of faith”

Question 12

what does Bonhoeffer write in prison

Answer 12

-that killing is a sin and no amount of human reason can make it justifiable but that God promises to forgive “the man who becomes a sinner in the process”

Question 13

what did Bonhoeffer mean by “a world come of age”

Answer 13

-he welcomed modern western cultures because it has discarded childish superstitious views of religion and stresses a more rational understanding of the way things are

Question 14

what did Bonhoeffer mean by “the western void”

Answer 14

• we live in a more liberal society where people are allowed to flourish because we have been given maximum freedom over our lives and moral decisions
• along with superstition, society has thrown out Christian values aswell.
• this has lead to a moral vacuum which was being filled with more dangerous beliefs e.g. nazism

Question 15

what was the German Evangelical Church

Answer 15

• created by hitler

- removed all clergy who weren’t of aryan descent

Question 16

what was the confessing church?

Answer 16

• created by Bonhoeffer

- no national, political or racial boundaries

Question 17

what is religionless Christianity

Answer 17

• no superstitions of the past

- not contaminated with these new beliefs of the present

Question 18

what does Bonhoeffer mean by “there should be no rusty swords”

Answer 18

-a sword being the old Christian values and ethical attitudes it held in the past which were effective at the time, but are no longer useful in the modern world

Question 19

Bonhoeffer argued that Christianity should be based on three fundamentals. What are these

Answer 19

Christ
scripture
faith

Question 20

what was Finkenwalde ?

Answer 20

-a religious community set up by Bonhoeffer to train ministers for the confessing church

Question 21

what are the five aspects of Finkenwalde ?

Answer 21

• life was very basic, exercise was important
• meditation
• read and discussed the bible
• they saw themselves as a brotherhood and took turns to be the director, so that the community did not become stuck in its way.
• they stressed being outwards looking and engaging in the world

Question 22

what happened in Finkenwalde ?

Answer 22

in was closed down by the Nazis in 1937

Question 23

in his final days in prison why did Bonhoeffer become disillusioned with the confessing church ?

Answer 23

because it had failed to topple hitler. He felt that it had become too concerned with itself. He said “the church is her true self when she exists for humanity”

Question 24

what did Barth argued about Christianity?

Answer 24

• it cannot simply be an abstract system of thoughts (e.g. who is God)
• Christianity isn’t about us thinking and knowing about God, but God in fact reveals himself to us

Question 25

what did Bonhoeffer think about Barths views

Answer 25

• he argued with Barth but felt that he hadn’t gone far enough
• it is not enough that God reveals himself to us, but we must also act upon his revelations

Question 26

what did Bonhoeffer and his brother do in 1933 following the boycott of Jewish business

Answer 26

collected huge sums of money to help Jews escape abroad- it was this which ended in his arrest. In prison he was implicated in the plot to assassinate Hitler and was put to death

Question 27

Bonhoeffer saw that traditional Christianity was most created by humans and used for personal gain. What did Bonhoeffer mean by “cheap grace”

Answer 27

• he said that going through the rituals and obeying all the traditions was cheap grace.
• the church implies that because Jesus has atoned for our sins by his death, then everything is now fine.
• God loves us all so much that we don’t even have to notice him

Question 28

Bonhoeffer instead pointed out that true Christianity was about “costly grace”. What did he mean by this?

Answer 28

• it’s about giving up your life (sometimes literally) to do what God reveals you should.
• Jesus said “take your cross and follow me)
• we should follow jesus’s example

Question 29

why does Bonhoeffer disagree with autonomous Christian ethics

Answer 29

• because they base their morality on agape
• if love was knowable ( as Fletcher suggest) then it would be a human idea
• instead we should respond to the will of God through prayer, our conscience and by reflecting on the example of Christ and life within the Christianity community