christian moral action Flashcards
the confessing church
-founded by bonhoeffer in opposition to hitlers german evangelical church
barmen declaration
confessing church made declaration written mostly by Karl Barth
-rejected govermental interference in church and affirmed bible as source of revelation
finkenwalde
where bonhoeffer held an illegal secret seminary
-form of civil disobedience
-introduced seminarians to his method of daily meditating on bible
solidarity for bonhoeffer
-purpose of christian life being about relationship to god by living with and for other people
-thought he would have no right restoring christianity in germany after war unless he shared trials with people
bonhoeffer on the fall
corrupted our ability to have knowledge of good and evil
-living in fallen world means not know ourselves through ethics or bible
-traditional ethics methods failed
what should our goal be
a responsible person - someone who acts to stand their ground against evil, ready to put human ethics aside- with faith they are doing gods will
bold venture of faith and hitlers asassination
even though killing is wrong he had faith it was gods will
-meditate on bible and pray and get sense of gods will
-bold venture of faith
taking part in violence goes against pacifism and will of god criticism
killing hitler not part of pacifism
-raises question of whether if conflicts with jesus teachings of pacifism
-bonhoeffer didnt turn cheek to hitler
-jesus died on cross- suffer from evil
quotations to support bibles pacifism
-Matthew 5- eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth- bit i tell you dont resist evil person- if anyone slaps you turn to them the other cheek
-Romans 13 Paul- necessary for christians to obey rulers since rulers gods servant for your good
Barth and bonhoeffer neo orthodox view of the bible defense of criticism
-doesnt think bible perfect word of god
-approach view with humility and believe bible effect on us word of god
-legalism wrong approach
-will of god not rules but alive in church
-finkenwalde for such community
purpose of bible for bonhoeffer
-will of god not rules we ahve established but new and different in each situation
-knowledge of jesus alive and brings question to everyday
-bible contains no ethical precept which we may adopt literally
-bible inspire people to follow jesus
-principles from previous times rusty swords
subjectivity issue to neo orthodox
-neo orthodox idea a person can hear gods voice through bible or be RE to subjective for deciding what to take from the bible
-closer to RE and faces same issues
bonhoeffer and luther
-agrees with luther that christians should obey the states law because order useful for sinful creatures
-human law fallible
-church should keep government in check
-christians responsibility to disobey leaders if they act against interests of state and gods will
moral system which justifies evil acts as gods will is dangerous
people have done bad things because they thought god was on their side
-justifying religious terrorism
-Paul hill murdered abortion doctor and was inspired by bonhoeffer
bonhoeffers response to justifying evil
acting to gods will not just put aside human ethics but own desires to act selflessly
-conditions made bad things less common
-own will must be surrendered if god will is to be realised
further criticism to bonoeffer justifying terror
-impossible to truly out own mind aside
-personal desires shape perspective on world
-Harvey Cox said bonhoeffer theology like rorschach test
-reveals that theological presuppositions of reader
-inspiration drawn not good
secularist against bonhoeffer
argue for complete separation between church and state
-reject idea that church should have power to act as check on state
-church more corruptible because state has democracy
-long peace after world war 2 due to rise of secular liberal democracy
Stanlet hauerwas defends bonhoeffer
-argues church protects against authoritarian dictatorship
-argued western democracies only practice tolerance of religion for pragmatic reasons without concerns for truth of religion
-pragmatism without truth leads to indifference and cynicism
-liberal secular western societies undermined theological truth which is filled by totalitarian powers
bonhoeffer and cheap grace
church preaches cheap grace as they suggest believers dont have to do anything to receive grace
-cheap grace is grace without discipleship- without jesus
bonhoeffer and costly grace
-true grace and requires us to suffer and sacrifice like jesus did
-parable of good samaritan-
-cheap grace of legalistic approach of bible caused to act to gods will which was costly grace
quote to support costly grace
Mark 8- whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me
non violent resistance
-ghandis liberation of india from english colonial rule
-king and ghandis method is morally superior and more true to christian ethics compared to bonhoeffers which allows more violence
defense of bonhoeffers violent methods
-non violent ways would not have worked against hitler
-non violent resistance worked if tyrant has problem with killing peaceful protestors
how is bonoeffers theology relevant today
-saying to figure out how to resist the evil in your time and have faith its gods will to act on that
-god will forgive you if you were mistaken and become sinner in process because in fallen world this is best moral approach
aquinas against bonhoeffers theology
aquinas thinks gods will is for us to follow primary precepts of natural law
-thinks natural law ethics is best approach for dealing with issue of civil disobedience and duty to state
pope john paul 2
faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth
aquinas on civil disobedience and duty to the state vs god
-if law goes against the human good then civil disobedience might be justified
-if law is opposed divine good then christians must not follow those laws
-Acts 5:29- we ought to obey god rather than man
defence of bonhoeffer
human reason corrupted by original sin so PP interpretation wrong
-Barth- the finite has no capacity for the infinite
-only faith in gods revelation in bible works
aquinas defends natural theology from original sin
only rational beings sin
-OS claims post lapsarian humans are sinners
-reason inclines us through synderesis towards goodness
