Christian Moral Action Flashcards
1
Q
The teaching and example of Dietrich Bonhoeffer on:
- duty to God and duty to the State
A
- Christian ethics puts forward that humans are finite and sinful- no human decision is absolute wrong/right
- Bonhoeffer was influenced by Søren Kierkegaard where he argued that in some extreme situations we can do nothing but act out of despair, but in faith and hope. Bonhoeffer knew the assassination of Hitler was the only option for the Church, even though killing is wrong.
–> Luther: ‘Here I stand; I can do no other’ - B agreed w/ Luther that it was a Chr’s duty to be obedient to govt bc govt aim id to impose law and order on the sinful human tendency towards disorder. However, B argued the state often increases its power and thinks it is the embodiment of justice - the state inflates its own self-importance because it fails to acknowledge its obedience to God’s will
- B argues the state can never represent God’s will and so cant ever assume any ultimate form of power. The role of the Church is not to be part of the state but rather keep it in check.
2
Q
Bonhoeffer’s teaching on the relationship of Church and State including:
- doing God’s will
A
- As Luther argued, part of God’s will was that all people should live in a harmonious society:
–> Paul: “everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established” - HOWEVER- B felt we should live in a peaceful society and support the state- the ultimate duty a Chr has is towards God. a good/bad action is determined by whether it fulfils God’s will.
–> B said our duty before God will “only be clear in the moment of action”
– NOTE: this is NOT situation ethics (as Fletcher argued) - B stated responding to the will of God is v diff to exercising the principle of love- SE restrains us, but fulfilling the will of God is truly liberating + the message of the bible.
3
Q
Bonhoeffer’s teaching on the relationship of Church and State including:
- leadership
A
- part of duty to the state is to obey and also respect the leader of the state. this is bc the duty of the leader is to serve their community and society.
- B argued Germany had created a leader that was divorced from society -the new leader (Hitler) was seen as strong and perfect, but B stated humans are far from perfect- more often than not we fall short in our duty to God:
–> “If the leader tries to become the idol…the image of the leader shifts to one of a mis-leader”
–> “Beside Jesus nothing has any significance” - B worried Germans were putting ideology of Hitler equal to/above the ideology of God’s will - all this lead B to conclude that a leader should be one that serves the people - if they become self-serving, and then if God wills it, Chr can exercise civil disobedience
4
Q
Bonhoeffer’s teaching on the relationship of Church and State including:
- obedience- civil disobedience- why?
A
- a leader should be one that serves the people - if they become self-serving, and then if God wills it, Chr can exercise civil disobedience
- civil disobedience: actively going against will of the state
- B felt Chr have duty to the state, but there can be extreme circumstances when this duty is overridden by their duty to God- his extreme condition: Nazism. The Nazis were removing human rights, corrupting the Church, committing genocide and inciting German people to pursue their ideological ends over the will of God.
–> B referred to Jesus’ teaching: “give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s” - meaning a Chr should give back to the state: paying taxes- but the state does not ‘own’ your whole being. there are parts of you that belong to God, such as your spirituality and utter submission to his will.
5
Q
Bonhoeffer’s teaching on the relationship of Church and State including:
- obedience- civil disobedience- B example
A
- Finkenwalde was where Bonhoeffer held an illegal secret seminary. This was a form of civil disobedience. He introduced seminarians to his method of daily meditating on the Bible.
6
Q
Bonhoeffer’s teaching on the relationship of Church and State including:
- obedience- civil disobedience or tyrannicide?
A
- Eric Metaxas - in Panpsychast Interview- argued that “biblically, violence is a last resort…but if someone is murdering the innocent…do we not have a moral obligation to step in?” – B would agree with this.
- B did think killing Hitler was a sin- intrinsically wrong- BUT committing a sin can be as part of God’s will for one at that moment in time.
- B was a realist and saw that evil is in the world and it was impossible (even immoral) not to engage w/ it. Chr obliged to suffer and sin in their duty to God
–> if law goes against the ‘human good’ then civil disob may be justified.
7
Q
The teaching and example of Dietrich Bonhoeffer on:
- Church as community and source of spiritual discipline
A
- The Church must be a visible community and be a sign for others.– - German were failing to practise authentic Chr– where B founded the Confessing church.
- B acknowledged the decline of faith in God in Europe- he called it ‘the Western void’ and said “God is dead…And we have killed him”
- felt Nazism was perfect example of a religionless philosophy
8
Q
Bonhoeffer’s role in the Confessing Church and his own religious community at Finkenwalde
A
- The Barmen Declaration formed the fundamental beliefs of the CC
–> re affirmed that the German Church was not an “organ of the state”
–> concept of State control over Church was doctrinally false
–> spiritual and moral guidance should come solely from Jesus
–> purpose of BaDecl: “to state what the German Church had always believed, to ground it in the Scriptures” - BaDecl had 6 ‘evangelical truths’: key egs being: Church is to serve, not rule. everything must be done through christ.
- at Finkenwalde (community run by B to train pastors for the CC) the stated principles of CC were practised in the everyday life of the ppts
9
Q
The teaching and example of Dietrich Bonhoeffer on:
- the cost of discipleship- why and what is this?
A
- B felt ethics weren’t the concern of abstract thought, but something to be found and lived out in the world - ethics is action and action is liberating. ethics should be active not theoretical.(inspired by Barth who argued that ethics cannot be based on abstract systems)
- B took Barth’s idea a step further: God chooses to reveal to us his will, it is our duty to comply, and give our whole being to the will of God.
–> The cost of discipleship is to forget oneself, one’s own desires, duties, responsibilities, family - everything - and dedicate oneself wholly to God. Only by
giving up everything and focussing on God’s will alone, will one understand how to respond to every situation and dilemma.
–> It is impossible to know what action will be required of you by studying a doctrine/adhering to a set of rules. Ethics are a living, active, response to each moment. To respond appropriately is to completely submit oneself to the will of God, which will be revealed through faith and grace. - Preparation for knowing God’s will is based on those principles that Bonhoeffer taught at Finkenwalde: discipline of mind and body, meditation as a foundation for prayer, Bible study and living and functioning as part of one’s community.
10
Q
The teaching and example of Dietrich Bonhoeffer on:
- the cost of discipleship- how?
A
- It is impossible to know what action will be required of you by studying a doctrine/adhering to a set of rules. Ethics are a living, active, response to each moment.
–> To respond appropriately is to completely submit oneself to the will of God, which will be revealed through faith and grace.
–> Preparation for knowing God’s will is based on those principles that Bonhoeffer taught at Finkenwalde: discipline of mind and body, meditation as a foundation for prayer, Bible study and living and functioning as part of one’s community. - B said: obeying the Ten Commandments may not be the right course of action for that moment. The rule book is not always the will of God.
–> if a person is trying to make “his
whole life an answer to the question and call of God” they may have to sacrifice their reasons, principles, conscience, freedom. - example from Bible: Martha bustles about doing what she thinks is right, the behaviour she has been taught but she is not listening or responding to God- moment. In contrast, Mary abandons her duty and expectations to listen to the Lord. She gives up everything else and responds to Jesus and stops to listen to what he has to say.
–> “Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” - Both hearing the will of God and acting upon it are necessary for Christians.
11
Q
Bonhoeffer’s teaching on ethics as action, including:
- ‘cheap grace’
A
- B: “Cheap Grace is the deadly enemy of our Church. We are fighting to-day for costly grace.”
- B: Cheap grace is not the kind of forgiveness of sin which frees us from the toils of sin.
- B felt ‘cheap grace’ is lazy and an all too common form of Chr - agreeing with Kierkegaard, B was opposed to inauthentic forms of Chr- where ‘Christians’ were only Chr by name
- Cheap grace is a lazy, smug response to the message that Jesus died to bring salvation to those who will accept it, as a free gift of God.
12
Q
Bonhoeffer’s teaching on ethics as action, including:
- ‘costly grace’
A
- Costly grace is about inner purity and devotion- not just attending church for show- (B said:) “Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field”
- truly being a follower of christ means sacrifice and suffering - there is a price to pay
- this grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ
- costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner
- above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his son: “ye were bought at a price “ - and what was costly for God cannot be cheap for us
- call to be a disciple in the Gospels is costly. They are to abandon their homes, livelihoods and families; cast it all aside and follow Jesus - “They left everything and followed him”
13
Q
Bonhoeffer’s teaching on ethics as action, including:
example of Bonhoeffer showing ‘costly grace’
A
- B was in America when war broke out in 1939- he took the decision to fulfil god’s will by coming back to Germany to struggle alongside his Chr neighbours against the Nazis:
–> (B letter): “I must live through this difficult period…with the Chr people of Germany” - B paid the ultimate price for his grace
–> (camp doctors account of B’s execution at Flossenbürg concentration camp): “I have hardly ever seen a man die so entirely submissive to the will of God.”
14
Q
Bonhoeffer’s teaching on ethics as action, including:
- sacrifice and suffering
A
NOTE: B thoughts on sacrifice and suffering are linked to his views on solidarity.
- The goal of the Christian life is not to become ‘religious but to be there for others. As Christ dedicated his whole life in the service of others, so should his disciples - Christians.
–> B said Christians do not wait in safety and security, but suffer alongside their neighbours (reference that he came back to Germany when the war started to suffer w/ his Chr neighbours)
–> B: “our relation to God is a new life in ‘existence for others’ through participation in the being of Jesus.”
15
Q
Bonhoeffer’s teaching on ethics as action, including:
- solidarity
A
- he showed this where he acted in solidarity with the Jews through his actions to work against the injustice of their oppression and to alleviate their suffering through his own efforts.(led to his arrest+ execution)
- B argued the Church could fight anti-Semitism in three ways:
–> 1. Question the state’s decisions.
–> 2. Help the victims of injustice.
–> 3. Aim to resist and reverse injustice. - Bonhoeffer’s actions embodied this principle of solidarity and servitude, and he certainly cultivated it amongst his peers with his work in the Confessing
Church
–> “We are not to simply bandage the wounds of victims beneath the wheels of injustice, we are to drive a spoke into the wheels itself”
