Bonhoeffer

• Bonhoeffer

  • 1931 - left NYC and returned to Germany to attempt to overthrow the Nazis (the terrible alternative)
  • 1933 - Radio broadcast, 'The younger generation's altered the view of the concept of Fuhrer', was cut off
  • Bonhoeffer looked after a seminary which moved to Finkenwalde, which is now Poland

  seminary - priest school

  • illegal as included non-Aryan people
  • closed in 1937 by the Gestapo because it went against the state
• Bonhoeffer's relevance today

  • shows us that there is a danger in separating our lives into Christian part and public part
  • understands that grace can sometimes be costly
  • it is realistic, the state should normally be obeyed
  • Hauerwas believed that Bonhoeffer's concern for truth in politics is a much needed challenge to Western democracy today
• Bonhoeffer's lack of relevance today

  • outdated, based on historical Nazi context
  • no longer relevant in today's secular democracy
  • costly grace is no longer necessary
  • focuses too much on costly grace and civil disobedience, neglects Jesus' focus on agape - Fletcher
  • emphasis on suffering is off-putting, lacks joy
  • a lot of cost and not enough grace
  • Bonhoeffer's community at Finkenwalde was against Jesus' focus on mutual joy - Pope Francis