Bonhoeffer - Christian Moral Action Flashcards
Specification for Bonhoeffer
Duty to God and duty to the State
Church as a community and a source of spiritual guidance
Cost of discipleship
Context for Bonhoeffer
Nazi Germany (third reich)
Hitlers totalitarian State
What was the Aryan Paragraph
Only those of Aryan descent (no Jewish parents/grandparents) could be employed in the civil service/clergy
What was the Abwehr
German Military Intelligence Organisation 1921-1944. Several members were involved in resistance movements
What were the German Christians (Deutsche Christen)
Existed 1932-1945
Ludwig Müller lead as Reich Bishop, and attempted to make the CHURCH and INSTRUMENT OF NAZISM
Opposed by Confessing Church
Who was Bonhoeffer
German Lutheran Pastor who opposed the Nazi regime
Where did Bonhoeffer go in 1930 that affected his beliefs
America, influenced by the bottom up theology
What did Bonhoeffer do in 1933 that led to him being banned from public speaking
In a radio broadcast, criticises Hitler being a misleader and the idea of worshiping an earthly idol as Hitler was.
When was Bonhoeffer joining the Abwehr after returning to Germany
1939
What is worse than doing evil is…
Being evil
- Deitrich Bonhoeffer, Ethics
Silence in the face of evil is evil: God will not hold us guiltless…
Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.
- Bonhoeffer
Cheap Grace is Grace without discipleship, Grace without the cross…
Grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate
- Bonhoeffer
What did Nazis do to the Protestant Church in Germany
Combined Christianity and National Socialism, excluding those they deem impure and encouraging submission to Hitler
What is the name of the Church that opposed the Nazification of the Church
Confessing Church
What are the two Kingdoms according to Martin Luther
The Spiritual Kingdom (governed by the Church)
The Political Kingdom (governed by the state)
BOTH ORDAINED BY GOD
Give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar…
And give back to God what belongs to God.
- Mark 12:17
Let everyone be subject to governing authorities, for there is…
No authority except that which God has established
- Romans 13:1
What did Bonhoeffer feel about the two kingdoms
Too much power was given to the state, undermining the purpose of Christianity and the one true leader, Jesus
Bonhoeffer on Duty to God
A Christian is called to submit themselves to the call of Jesus
One act of obedience is worth…
A hundred sermons
- Bonhoeffer
How does Bonhoeffer justify civil disobedience
Ensuring the state acts in accordance to God’s will NOT making a Christian state.
Nazism required Christians to be disobedient to the state
We are not to simply bandage the wounds of victims beneath the wheels of injustice…
We are to drive a spoke into the wheel itself
- Bonhoeffer
How did Bonhoeffer lead by example
Banned from public speaking, sacrificed his success for his morals (desired to be a theologian since youth)
What is suffering disobedience
Having to embrace suffering to enforce change (doing something that seems sinful)
Example of Bonhoeffer’s suffering disobedience
Planning tyrannicide may be a Christian duty but is NOT AN EASY, SINLESS TASK
What must we remember about Bonhoeffer’s teachings on disobedience
It is not easy and it is sinful. Only God can judge if the actions were moral.
INTENT DOESNT MAKE SINFUL ACTIONS GOOD
What is a bottom up theology
Puts God’s protection of the oppressed over the state
What does Bonhoeffer believe is more important than duty to the state
Duty to God
What is a large issue with Bonhoeffer’s teachings
The context of extreme Nazi Germany is unique, are teachings developed through that applicable to everyone else?
What is a large issue with Bonhoeffer’s teachings
The context of extreme Nazi Germany is unique, are teachings developed through that applicable to everyone else?
What did Bonhoeffer see a true leader as
- Pointing to God as ultimate leader and guides others to do so
- Encourages followers not to idolise them, but to focus on God
- Encourages a Christian diet
- Keeps Jesus and the Bible central
Who did Bonhoeffer believe showed the ultimate leader
Jesus Christ, God incarnate
He is the way to God and reconnected us to God’s will (ULTIMATE MEDIATOR)
What is Discipleship about
Doing God’s will through following Jesus above anyone else which can mean disobeying the state
When does Bonhoeffer say we will know the will of God
In the moment of action
How is a Christian’s awareness of their conscience formed
By living a good Christian life with Jesus and the Bible at the heart of it
Why would Bonhoeffer have rejected Joseph Fletcher’s approach to love
Ethics are communal not individual
Love is understood by knowing Jesus, the revelation of God
What argues that we can’t know Gods will
Humans are Fallen and have a damaged connection/knowledge of God
What was the Confessing Church
A movement opposing the government-sponsored efforts to unify all Protestant Churches in Germany into a singular pro-Nazi Church
What is religionless Christianity
Christianity without the baggage of the past and contamination by ideological beliefs of the present
What did Bonhoeffer mean by the WESTERN VOID
A moral and spiritual vacuum that was vulnerable to dangerous ideas (such as National Socialism) to fill the gap
How did B describe the modern Western world
A world come of age
Why did Bonhoeffer believe that Christianity had become meaningless
It was dominated by middle-class Western ideals at the expense of true Christian principles.
The Church must adapt to this
What is religionless Christianity (what the Church must become)
- free from the trappings of the past
- free from the need to fill our search for meaning with new ideological beliefs
What does Bonhoeffer refer to as ‘rusty swords’
Metaphor for the outworn ethical attitudes the Church held that are no longer representative of societal issues
Why did Bonhoeffer believe that the Confessing Church failed
Didn’t go far enough to challenge the German Church
What was Finkenwalde, formed 1935
A secret seminary for the confessing church where they could avoid the Aryan Clause
Why did Bonhoeffer establish community at Finkenwalde
Biblical grounding of the early Church in the Book of Acts, communal life focuses on prayer and discipleship
Why was life at Finkenwalde focused on simplicity and what did this entail
Believed this would lead to right action.
Limited possessions, meditated daily, Bible central to lives
What formed the focus at Finkenwalde
Debates and lectures on the Bible
The Psalms of OT
BIBLE - WELL FORMED CONSCIENCE
Why is the life at Finkenwalde unrealistic
Requires abandoning jobs
Faith is a unique commitment to Jesus, not a community
Requires more knowledge than the average Christian
What is discipleship
Following the life, example and teachings of Jesus
What is God‘s Grace
Freely given love including the forgiveness of sins and the offer of eternal life
CANNOT BE EARNT/BOUGHT
What did Bonhoeffer feel about German Christians and God‘s Grace
They had lost sight of what it actually meant
What does CHEAP GRACE refer to
The wrong idea that God‘s Grace was given as a gift with no personal sacrifice OR that it can be purchased through good deeds and passivity
What is costly Grace
God‘s Grace requires a response of sacrificial discipleship. Total abandonment to Christ.
Acknowledgement of Jesus‘ sacrifice
’Picking up your cross‘ in personal sacrifice
What does Costly Grace not entail
The same suffering as Jesus, merely the acknowledgment that Christianity can be burdensome
Suffering is…
The badge of true discipleship
What is the importance of solidarity to Bonhoeffer
Serve those most in need and challenging injustices
How did Bonhoeffer lead by example
- Donated money to Jewish families
- Returned to Germany despite risk to stand in solidarity against the rise of Nazism
CHRISTIANITY: ACTION
