Christian Moral Action

Question 1

What was the Confessing Church?

Answer 1

Bonhoeffer was a key founding member of the Confessing Church, a breakaway Church that rejected the way much of the German Christian establishment had accepted Nazi ideology, including its anti-Semitism. He went on to found his own religious community at Finkenwalde.

Question 2

Where was the Confessing Church born?

Answer 2

The Confessing Church was born into Germany: a group of pastors, including Bonhoeffer and Barth who reflected the nationalist Church. Bonhoeffer worked hard in London to draw ecumenical link with other Churches and returned to Germany in 1935 to teach at the underground seminary at Fikenwalde in modern day Poland, created to train ministers of the Confessing Church.

Question 3

What did Bonhoeffer do in the late 1930s?

Answer 3

The work at Finkenwalde was declared illegal in 1937. Bonhoeffer was banned from teaching and then became worried about being forced to serve in the Nazi army. In 1939, he went to teach in the USA but immediately regretted his decision and returned to Germany to show solidarity to the people there. He joined Germany military intelligence, using it as a cover while being a part of the resistance movement, extending his Church’s network around Europe. He was imprisoned in 1943 and executed in 1945 because he was linked with (or, at least, knew about) a plot to kill Hitler. He passed on information to the Allies through ecumenical meetings and used information to smuggle Jews into Switzerland and to safety as supposed agents of military intelligence. It was this led to his eventual arrest by the Gestapo.

Question 4

What is a quote from Herman’s Grüner that shows that people believed Hitler to be God’s equivalent?

Answer 4

“… the time is fulfilled for the German people in Hitler. It is because of Hitler that Christ, God the helper and redeemer, has become effective among us. Therefore National Socialism is positive Christianity in action… Hitler is the way if the Spirit and the will of God for the German people to enter the Church of Christ”.

Question 5

How was Nazi ideology integrated into the Church?

Answer 5

Nazi ideology gained strong influence and control over the Church. Some leaders of the German Christians began to wear brown uniforms, linking themselves to National Socialism. They promoted the Nazi Aryan Clause, which prohibited ministers who had Jewish ancestors from working for the Church. Some campaigned for the removal of the Old Testament from the Bible, because it was Jewish. Hitler was seen as the leader of Christianity, alongside Jesus.

Question 6

How did Bonhoeffer try to change what was happening to Christianity in Germany?

Answer 6

Bonhoeffer was ordained in 1931 and with a group of ‘young reformers’ tried to change what was happening to Christianity in Germany. He saw the situation as a conflict between Germanism (the Nazi ideology about the pure Aryan race) and true Christianity - he accused the German Christians of not confessing their faith, not being true to their discipleship and the commands of God. He spoke against the Nazi persecution of Jews. A new Confessing Church was formed of those Christians who rejected the anti-Jewish rules and the Nazi influence over the German Churches. Bonhoeffer’s criticism of Nazism and the Nazi influence over Churches brought him into conflict with the Nazi State.

Question 7

What is the call to discipleship for Bonhoeffer?

Answer 7

For Bonhoeffer the call to discipleship is a call to obedience is a call to obedience to the leadership of Jesus and the will of God. The first disciples responded to the call not with a profession of faith, or of a rational account of the theology that they believed in, but an act of obedience. Often religion is denied and described as essentially a set of beliefs, but Bonhoeffer is clear, the encounter with Jesus is:

“…. a testimony to the absolute, direct and unaccountable authority of Jesus. There is no need for any preliminaries, and no other consequence but obedience to the call… there is no road to faith or discipleship, no other road - only obedience to the call of Jesus”.

Question 8

What did Bonhoeffer say about discipleship?

Answer 8

“The disciple simply burns his boats and goes ahead. He is called out, and has to forsake his old life in order that he may ‘exist’ in the strictest sense of the world. The old life is left behind, and completely surrendered. The discipleship is dragged out of his relative security and safety into a life of absolute insecurity. …. It is nothing else than bondage to Jesus Christ alone, completely breaking through every programme, every ideal, every set of laws. No other significance is possible, since Jesus is the only significance. Beside Jesus nothing has any significance. He alone matters”.

Question 9

Why is Bonhoeffer controversial?

Answer 9

Discipleship entails the exclusive obedience to the leadership of God and all other legal ties are burnt. This is controversial as it places discipleship above the law and any human leadership, above the responsibilities of citizenship.

Question 10

How does Bonhoeffer quote Luke 9:57-62?

Answer 10

Bonhoeffer quotes Luke 9:57-62 where Jesus speaks of the Son of Man having no place to rest. One man who Jesus calls says he must first bury his dead father, following the legal responsibility he has, but Jesus says the dead should be left to bury the dead. Even the law cannot stand in the way of the call of Jesus.

For Bonhoeffer, the road to faith passes through obedience to the call of Jesus and the serving of all earthly ties. ‘Only he who believes is obedient, and only he who is obedient believes’.

Question 11

How did Bonhoeffer talk of obedience when making a decision?

Answer 11

Bonhoeffer believes that such an act of obedience is the only real faith. God’s call of a person to discipleship demands that they act in response. There is no time to think things through, or make a declaration of your belief, you simply have to at:

“…. We have literally no time to sit down and ask ourselves whether so-and-so is unable or not. We must get into action and obey - we must behave like a neighbour to him. But perhaps this shocks you. Perhaps you still think you ought to think out beforehand and know what you ought to do. So that there is only one answer. You can only know and think about it by actually doing it. You can only learn what obedience is by being. It is no use asking questions; for it is only for obedience that you come to learn the truth”.

Question 12

What is single-minded obedience?

Answer 12

‘Single-minded obedience’ is what Bonhoeffer called for. Jesus called Peter to risk his life and walk on the sea. Reason, conscience, responsibility and piety are all things that stand in the way single-minded obedience. By responding to the call into obedience faith becomes possible. Putting aside single-minded obedience (perhaps replacing it with freedom, individual preferences, choice, etc.) replaces the justification of God with self-justification. Obedience to Jesus is not something that lies in human power. Like the rich young man (Matthew 19:24-26), we may never be able to give away all of our possessions - we may be enslaved to them. It is Jesus’ offer to us that makes it possible to respond, to step away from attachments of life, and into the space where faith is possible.

“We do not walk under our self-made laws and burdens, but under the yoke with us”.

Question 13

What did Bonhoeffer write in a letter to Reinhold Niebuhr?

Answer 13

In his work Ethics, he wrote that there was a need to break with the Lutheran teaching that Christian should obey the civil authority and its laws. Bonhoeffer wrote in a letter to Reinhold Niebuhr:

“Christians in Germany will face the terrible alternative of either willing the defeat of their nation in order that Christian civilisation may survive, or willing the victory of their nation and thereby destroying our civilisation. I know which of these alternatives I must choose; but I cannot make that choice in security”.

He also said, ‘There is no standing amid the ruins of one’s native town in the consciousness that at least one has not oneself guilt’ - i.e. that one was just as guilty of the town’s destruction for doing nothing as for being amongst those who burnt it down. Love required injustice to be actively challenged, and resisted.

Question 14

What did Bonhoeffer say about Hitler?

Answer 14

Bonhoeffer was not content to accept the law of Germany’s new state. He spoke out against Nazi ideas in the University where he worked and lost his job for it. He spoke against the Nazis at public lectures and was banned. He criticised the Confessing Church when it faltered under pressure from Hitler to conform. He participated in an illegal seminary. He spoke openly about paying for the defeat of his country and was adamant that Hitler was anti-Christ and ‘therefore we must go on with our work and eliminate him whether he is successful or not’. It is possible that he joined the plot to assassinate Hitler in 1945.

Question 15

What was Bonhoeffer’s seminary?

Answer 15

The days in the seminary were a time of peace and reflection, in contrast to the political debates raging in the wider Church. Bonhoeffer’s teaching at the seminary gave rise to his book, the Cost of Discipleship.

Bonhoeffer’s decision to become involved in the seminary at a time of growing political unrest may seem difficult to understand. Why turn to focus on the development of ministers at such a time?

The seminary was closed in 1937 by the Gestapo. Bonhoeffer described his time at the seminary as an experiment in community in a book called Life together (1939), and he argued that it was essential to challenge the nationalist ideology with the experience of Christian community. The Church community and congregation must not be closed in on itself, he argued. It must be a source of renewal for all those spiritually damaged or drained and it should be a refuge for the persecuted. It is a source of spiritual discipline, offering the life of prayer and the caring service of the Church as a sign and expression of Christ being present in the community. This, Bonhoeffer came to see, was what it meant to live under the Word of God.

Question 16

What is cheap grace?

Answer 16

‘Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our Church. We are fighting today for costly grace. Cheap grace means grace sold on the market like cheapjack’s wares. The sacraments, the forgiveness of sin and the consolations of religion are thrown away at cut prices’.

It criticises the idea that living a Christian life is easy and comfortable. It attacks churches that do not place any expectations onto Christians. It is the minimalist and lazy approach to religion. It’s a challenge to traditional church teaching that Jesus has saved and thus you will be saved. Everything is going to be alright in the end, believe in Jesus and he will save.

Bonhoeffer was concerned that knowledge of being forgiven might mean people think they did not have to change. ‘Cheap grace leads to a denial of the Word of God, in fact, a denial of the incarnation of the Word of God’. Cheap grace is a lie, a self-congratulating grace we give ourselves. People think they can purchase God’s grace through doing a list of good deeds or through attending Church and taking part in services. Grace is not to be seen on this level because Christians should not just see it as something to be taken with no requirements on the believer. Cheap grace is when Christians undervalue grace.

Question 17

What did Bonhoeffer write about cheap grace?

Answer 17

Bonhoeffer writes ‘the world finds a cheap grace covering for its sins; no contribution is required, still less any real desire to be delivered from sin’. You can preach forgiveness without requiring repentance, offer baptism with no expectation of living a disciplined life, offer communion without requiring a person to make a confession. Grace is offered without discipleship or the cross.

For Bonhoeffer ultimately this means without Jesus, because part of being a Christian means ‘picking up your cross’ just as Jesus did.

Question 18

What is costly grace?

Answer 18

Costly grace is worth sacrificing everything to get. Grace means making substantial changes to our lives. “It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life”. He was concerned that the Church had become tied up in pragmatism and early power, it had lost a sense of true discipleship. True discipleship was embodied in saints and not demanded or ordinary Christians. This resulted in a million spiritual corpses. Receiving Grace means you become subject to absolute obedience to God.

True discipleship, says Bonhoeffer, is discipleship that is prepared to give up as much as Jesus did: Christian’s need to be prepared to give up their lives and accept the cost or consequences of receiving God’s grace. This is true faith in Christ as leader.

Question 19

Has the Church lost its sense of costly grace?

Answer 19

The Church has become secularised and has lost this sense of costly grace. Perhaps there has been a pressure to take on the values of the modern world, the priorities and principles of modern life. The early Church became integrated into the Roman Empire and the business of government. The monastic movement, where the religious lived apart from ordinary life, created a sense in which a select few, the saints, had to be disciples, whilst the many did not need to follow that way.

Question 20

What did Luther say about grace?

Answer 20

Luther proclaimed that grace alone is needed for salvation but Bonhoeffer thought some have misinterpreted this as meaning the commands of Jesus can be disobeyed. Receiving grace means you become subject to absolute obedience to God. Bonhoeffer was concerned that his Lutheran Church in Germany had made the mistake he spoke of. He thought the result was nation that had become Christian and Lutheran, but at a cost of true discipleship.

Question 21

What is the argument for sacrifice and suffering?

Answer 21

The Way of the Cross. “Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it”.

Discipleship is clearly linked to the Passion of Jesus. Death without honour, admiration or sympathy. Suffering is inherent to discipleships. ‘A disciple is a disciple only in so far as he shares his Lord’s suffering’. This is not suffering in the same sense that all suffer but suffering specifically for Christ. If being Christian looks ‘normal’ you are not doing it correctly.

‘The cross is laid on every Christian. The first Christian suffering which every man must experience is the call to abandon the attachments of this world… The cross is not the terrible end to a God fearing life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ. When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die’. The suffering also involves the burden of forgiveness and temptation.

This suffering is unlikely to mean crucifixion like Jesus, but it is about putting aside the demands of the world and living a life that is noticeably different from the non-Christian. We don’t seek out revenge for acts done against us, we forgive.

Question 22

What does Bonhoeffer mean ‘existence for others’?

Answer 22

Bonhoeffer had to live through the suffering that others were experiencing, rather than stay in security and safety. Being there for others is what makes a Christian. We have a relationship with God by existing for others, not by being ‘religious’. God made a bond with humanity by suffering with us.

For Bonhoeffer, being a Christian meant looking at life ‘bottom-up’ - that is, from the perspective of those most in need. When we examine theology from this perspective, we can understand best how to act in the moment’. Bonhoeffer felt that one of the indicators of the Church being full of rusty swords was that it was not giving priority to those in need and it was not living alongside them. A true understanding of solidarity is not just about empathy with others but about walking alongside them in life or standing alongside them when in need. Bonhoeffer spoke out against the oppression of the Jews and donated large sums of money to the Jewish population.

The goal of Christian life is not to become ‘religious’ but to be there for others. Being there with others is an experience of transcendence. As he became available to humanity, Jesus’ transcendence was found in his ‘existence for others’. Christian faith and Christian discipleship is participation with this ‘existence for others’ and this is what the Christian Church should do.

Geoffrey B. Kelly argues that this is a thoughtful (not a glib) answer, explanation or reason for suffering. God makes a bond of suffering with humanity, such as the suffering caused by the monstrous acts of dictators of the 20th century, like Hitler.

Question 23

What did David H. Jensen say?

Answer 23

David H. Jensen, in his article, ‘Religionless Christianity and Vulnerable discipleship: The Interfaith Promise of Bonhoeffer’s Theology’ explores the idea that solidarity, for Bonhoeffer, became a subversive act. It was against the State and for the sake of human relationships with each other (the thing that the Nazi State was damaging). It would fit with the idea that Christians were called to live responsibly in the world, and that in a sense, Christianity should be religionless and the Church should be interpreted into a language that was meaningful for people.

Question 24

Did Bonhoeffer overemphasise suffering?

Answer 24

Bonhoeffer lived at a time of very great suffering and danger that his experience of suffering in Nazi Germany influenced his writing so much that it led to an overemphasis on suffering as a concept of discipleship. Not all Christian communities experience such times. Perhaps it is not possible to live a Christian life according to Bonhoeffer’s ideas in times of peace and justice, or maybe there is always a need for a struggle. Arguably Bonhoeffer’s notion of discipleship and Church depends upon the existence of injustice and the suffering this causes. How else could discipleship be shown?

Nevertheless, all experience suffering in their life. Bonhoeffer’s message does not only dwell on suffering but solidarity, being with those who experience the most suffering, and those who receive the company of friendship at difficult times may find this a consolation and a relief.

Question 25

Does Bonhoeffer’s teachings downplay the joy and hope of the message of the Resurrection?

Answer 25

Some may argue that his thinking might seem to downplay the joy and hope of the message of the Resurrection - the Good News. Jesus’ Passion includes suffering, but reaches beyond it. Perhaps Bonhoeffer’s thinking is too closely ‘stuck’ to the cross, rather than the empty tomb and the hope of Resurrection and the defeat of sin and death. Bonhoeffer would argue, you have to pass through the cross, and the real danger he wrote about was in trying to avoid that passage altogether, as to avoid the sacrifice and suffering would mean to fail to follow the call of Jesus.

Question 26

What did Paul write?

Answer 26

Paul’s letter to the Romans includes a passage about submission to governing authorities. Paul writes, ‘Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgement on themselves (Romans 13:1-2).

Question 27

What does Paul’s writing suggest about Bonhoeffer’s theory?

Answer 27

Was Bonhoeffer unchristian given Paul’s writing on the matter? One question to ask is whether this injunction of St Paul is a message that has universal significance for all time, or was only of significance in terms of the early Christian community in Rome, and the civil authority of Rome?

Bonhoeffer advocated opposition to the Nazi State. Should a Christian take from this that civil disobedience is acceptable? The Bible contains different messages about civil disobedience. The prophets often spoke out against rulers who they said were failing in their responsibilities to the people. The New Testament is more complex. Jesus does not openly challenge the rule of Pontius Pilate and he does not encourage people to refuse to pay taxes (Mark 12:17), but he often spoke out against the status quo in society and challenged local religious authorities.

Question 28

Bonhoeffer’s theology in a time of democracy?

Answer 28

Arguably Bonhoeffer justifies civil disobedience because of his emphasis on obedience to God, over everything else. But in an age of terrorism and extremism this feels like a dangerous idea. How would we view those who choose to disobey the British Government because its laws go against the holy law of their religion? Should we support those Christians who disobey the law in their actions against abortion?

Bonhoeffer’s ethics are ethics of action but in a democracy his speech and public teaching roles would have been opportunities to argue for change and his commitment to shared living is clear from the seminary he led. For Bonhoeffer, civil disobedience became a necessity because of the extreme injustice of the State which utterly undermined the moral teachings of Christianity with devastating effects for German society. Perhaps whether civil disobedience is justified or not should be linked to the nature of the civic authorities and what they are doing.

Question 29

Can Christians understand the will of God?

Answer 29

Christians can understand God’s will but need to acknowledge that their reason and the help of the Church are needed to act precisely on God’s will as a literal meaning of scripture could lead to problems.

Bonhoeffer could be seen as dangerously encouraging individuals with distorted views of God’s will. Arguably, his becoming involved in an assassination attempt might encourage acts of violence. This could be a consequence of uncertainty about the will of God. (It is not certain, but some claim Bonhoeffer was involved in an attempt to kill Hitler. He was arrested in relation to the attempt and executed, but so were many people who had nothing to do with it.)

However, Bonhoeffer advocated a life in community, based on shared reflection and readings of scripture. This was the approach taken in the seminary he led. This shared experience of common life and living and working together with the Bible should provide a good basis for really understanding all of the Bible, not just the parts we might want to read (Bonhoeffer insisted on his students reading through the Psalms in order, so that they would be confronted by each psalm in turn, rather than simply, picking and choosing the bits they thought meaningful or relevant to them). A common life together could reduce any risk of a peculiar or distorted meaning.

We may not know the will of God, but from the perspective of the present, Bonhoeffer’s judgement about true Christianity seems more accurate than the kind of Christianity advocated by the German Christians.

Bonhoeffer spent part of his life as a parish priest and worked to train new ministers at the seminary. The latter part of his life involved direct social and political action for people suffering the oppression of the Nazi Government. These 2 different kinds of activity suggest at some point he felt called to change his work.

We can understand the will of God when Jesus went against the state where he turned the tables showing that on occasion we should go against the state. However, I agree that it is unclear exactly what we should do when faced with a state-run force of evil like the Nazis. In the Bible it says ‘eye for an eye’ but later Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount ‘Do not even be angry with another person or insult them’ and ‘You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth’. But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also’.

Question 30

How important is Bonhoeffer’s theology in today’s world?

Answer 30

Bonhoeffer’s theology is fairly important in the modern world because in the modern world, there is always suffering going on and so it is relevant. We should help at soup kitchens and food banks showing solidarity. While it is true that he wants us to replace the state with religion, and this can be problematic with things like terrorist attacks, we have to remember that he lived in a time where the state was run by Nazis. However, it would seem that he promotes a miserable existence where we are always helping others and never ourselves in a time where mental health seems to be getting worse and worse and suffering can be internal. Also, what do we class as suffering? Very subjective thing sometimes and how do we know when to interfere? Is there a criteria?

It is arguable that in Western societies there is an obsession with material benefit and self-interested which, in countries like the UK, is held alongside a deep sense of unhappiness. Bonhoeffer’s powerful challenge to abandon self-interest and the trappings of an easy life might lead people to a more meaningful life. There are many examples of people who are suffering in the world and Bonhoeffer’s message of solidarity with the poor, the lonely, the unjustly dealt with and so on, seems relevant. Bonhoeffer seems to have suggested something that runs counter to the ideology of capitalism and consumerism.

There are many pressures on Christianity to modernise, to adapt to be more inclusive and adopt the values of the modern age, perhaps updating some of the moral messages. Bonhoeffer’s ideas seem to run counter to this because of the key idea in his thinking that is God’s commands that should be followed, not the trends of today.

Bonhoeffer’s account of obedience to God also raises difficult questions at a time when religion is seen as a threat to countries and when state loyalty and national values are sought to be encouraged. Bonhoeffer would be sceptical of the idea that national values are Christian values, particularly in the light of his experience of National Socialism, where a state took control of a church. His words are on setting aside the local law and being obedient to God’s law could cause difficulties.

However, there is a great debate about the extent to which the world is becoming divided, with the super rich at one end of the divide and the very poor at the other. There seem to be many who are oppressed or held with suspicion, cast out from mainstream society. Bonhoeffer’s message of solidarity seems relevant for Christians and all those who seek to work for the poor in the world.