christian moral actions Flashcards
1
Q
keywords
Discipleship
A
following the life of christ
according to him = should be willing to suffer/die
2
Q
Keyword
Cheap Grace
A
- Grace offered freely,
- ‘the enemy of the church’
- christans are expected to suffer (pick up their own cross)
- accepting jesus into your life but nt doing anything about it.
- the Nazi church was guilty of
3
Q
Costly grace
A
complete commitment to discipleship
- grace followed by obedience to God’s command and discipleship
- important = comes from good actions
- ‘grace is a treasure in the fields’ = matthew
- ‘faith without action is dead’ - John
4
Q
early life
Introduction: Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s life and ethics
1906
what should a christian do when their faith is underminded by the law?
A
- Served as a Lutheran pastor = hada tendency to criticise the Church if it diverged from the Bible.
- He wrote his book on Ethics during his trips, from 1940 until his arrest 1943. His book was about how Christianity needs to focus more on action in the service of God’s will.
- He was part of the confessing church, a religious community at Finklewalde: encourages people to live simply and spiritually.
- ^ This was a breakaway from christian church that rejected the church Nazi ideology
- It valued church community and focused on the cost of dsicipleship
- died a christian maytr death
- and his older brother was killed in action. this event is likely to have been the cause for bonhoeffer to study theology.
5
Q
Finklewalde
community to train clergy for the confessing church
A
He believe christians should develop practical practices on the way to live:
1. disciplship: disciple of oneself in relationship with others is the foundation of the church and leads to action = life in this community was basic so the body had to be disciplined as much as the spirit.
2. bible: reading and discussion. debate with evening lectures encouraging intelligent understanding and development of christian teaching.
6
Q
The German Christian Church
A
- some christians incorporated the ideology of Nazism in their belief = which led to a split in 1934. A confessing church (a more authentic christian) vs the Nazi controlled Church. = Alongside Jesus, Hilter was seen as the leader
- Bonhoeffer openly spoke against the Nazi persecution of Jews = conflict woth the Nazi state
- Links to how Jesus went against his society/ seen as a rebel = was put to death.
7
Q
discipleship
Obedience, leadership and doing Gods will
he Cost of Displeship.
A
- Bonhoeffer thought that the fall corrupted our ability to have knowledge of good and evil.
- The call to discipleship is a call to obedience to the leadership of Jesus and the will of God, placing it above the law/ any human leadership (e.g. situation ethics)
- this entails cutting yourself from previous existences, not just fitting it into your life where its convienent. = orthrapraxis - putting things into practise - LTheologist will supprt/appreciate this
- “There is no other road to faith or discipleship, only obedience to the call of Jesus” - The Cost of Displeship.
- Gods call therefore demands action = links to liberaton theology
-
Our goal should be to become a ‘responsible person’ – someone who acts to stand their ground against evil.
‘Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless … Not to act is to act.’ – Bonhoeffer.
8
Q
The church and the state
A
- Lived in Germany at the time = joined the Nazi party and incorporated the ideology of Nazism into his beleif of ‘creed’
- He spoke againsts the Nazi discipleship and the commands of God
- the trouble was for bonhoeffer that a christian’s duty was to be obedient to the state, because the government imposes laws to keep away from sinful disorder.
- The problem was that the state gained too much power, making justice subordinate to its policies
- it fails to acknowledge obedience to God’s will = the role of the church is to keep the state in check. but at what point does a christian decide that it is his duty to disobey the state?
- It is therefore God to which a Christian’s primary allegiance is owed
9
Q
Evaluation on leadership, obedience and doing Gods will
Taking part in violence goes against pacifism & the will of God.
A
- Bonhoeffer’s role in the conspiracy against Hitler seems to amount to an abandonment of pacifism.
- In the Beatitudes, Jesus said: ‘turn to them the other cheek’ Matthew 5:38
- Bonhoeffer did not turn the other cheek to Hitler, so arguably he is placing the wrong sort of emphasis on suffering and going against Jesus’ teachings.
- Romans 13 Paul says that ‘it is necessary’ that Christians should obey their rulers since the rulers are ‘God’s servant for your good’. This suggests that all civil disobedience, let alone violent resistance to rulers, is unbiblical.
10
Q
Bonhoeffer on Church, state & civil disobedience
Justification of Disobedience.
A
- In his book, ethics, he argues that christians need a break with the Lutheran teaching that a christian should obey the civil authority.
- Bonhoeffer engaged in civil disobedience by taking part in the confessing Church and the illegal seminary at Finkenwalde. His eventual part in the plot to kill Hitler was also arguably civil disobedience.
- He lost his job and was banned from public letures
- However, in an age of terrorism and extremism = this a is a dangerous idea
- he said tyrannicide (the killing of a tyrant./dictator) was justified if social order is re-established.he was critical of those who said they were doing their duty while allowing evil to prevail, and also of those who said the ends justify the means because we cannot count all possible outcomes.
11
Q
resistance to nazism
More on the Confessing church
A
- he became a member of the confessing church, a group who refused the message that only aryans could be part of the church and accepted only christ as authority
- he joined the resistance, the most momentous decision of his life.
- He had a secular pacifism view
- “i will have no right to participate in the reconstruction of christian life in germany after the war if i do not share the trials of this time with my people”
12
Q
cheap vs costly grace
A
- CHEAP = the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance. E.G the confessions of sins = aquinas/augustine supporst this - recieve salvation “Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, … grace without Jesus christ.” **- Bonhoeffer
This view attacks the churches for the struggle of what it is to be a good Christian - should be hard - COSTLY = This is grace that is treasure hidden in a field’ the idea that one would sacrifice everything for. = calls us to follow Jesus.
Bonhoeffer was worried that the church has become more secularised and had lost its sense of costly grace = less pressure & priorities “its costly grace because it costs man life” - the cost of discipleship.
13
Q
solidarity
A
- Bonhoeffer refers to the purpose of Christian life being about relationship to God by living for other people.
- This is what convinced him to return to Germany and get involved in the resistance to Hitler even though he had escaped to America.
- bonhoeffer’s favourite description of jesus is that was a ‘man for others’. as the church represents the body of christ, it should be a church for others. However = the church has failed, not acting in solidarity with humanity, especially the weak, vulnerable and oppressed.
- Bonhoeffer thought he would have ‘no right’ to help restoring Christianity in Germany after the war unless he shared ‘the trials of this time with my people’ - shows his intergrety
- however led a subversive act
14
Q
Weakness of cma Bonoeffer
A
- imcomiptble with todays society
- issues with exclusivism: it* cuts off it’s relevance to anyone of another religion outside Christianity, or in any secular environment*
- clashes with politics and society
- Bohoeffer theology was only relevant at his time however his ideas would bring about some good in modern society. e.g. if the church exists for humanity as it does in Bonhoeffer’s theology, then the church can be an active force for good and make a real difference. Martin Luther King is an example
- costly grace can be taken too far
15
Q
strength
A
- Helps to resolve corruption issues within the church such as spending more money on the church instead of giving to charity.’silence in the face of for what he evil, was evil itself.’
- He believed that Christian ethics should come through actions. Costly Grace.
