A MODERN PROPHET2, sharing God's burden VII

 

     Dietrich Bonhoeffer, (in a paper entitled) “After Ten Years” in the Third Reich and a few months before his arrest by the Gestapo, said that in the face of radical evil, reason is useless (along with principles, conscience, freedom and virtue).  What matters at such a time is obedient and responsible action in exclusive allegiance to God.  The responsible man seeks to make his whole life a response to the question and call of God.[1]

     One may well wonder how it came to be that a culturally-rich country like Germany allowed itself to be seduced by a man such as Adolph Hitler.  In one sense, the answer is simple – Hitler was a man of action.  He demonstrated that a man willing to act in the world could outflank the intelligentsia of the crown of continental culture, enamored as they were with their ideas.  As those idealists who attempted to appease him in the ramp-up to WWII would discover, Hitler was not interested in anything but his plan of action, which he ruthlessly implemented during his 12-year Reich.  Bonhoeffer understood all this with piercing clarity.  For the young theologian, when evil makes a move, the people of God must respond concretely.[2]

     The name of Bonhoeffer may not spring to mind when one thinks of Christian apologetics or the luminous apologists of church history (Justin Martyr, William Lane Craig, etc.).  Though Bonhoeffer didn’t engage in debates with atheists in university lecture halls, he did indeed believe himself called to defend the faith of the church during the Nazi hegemony of his nation.  However, Bonhoeffer’s struggle went far beyond scoring intellectual points in polite academic skirmishes – au contraire, he was engaged in a life-and-death battle for the meaning of Christianity in the shadow of the Third Reich.  The “Evangelical Church”[3] of Germany was hardly lacking in theology or in brilliant thinkers; be that as it may, Bonhoeffer became acutely aware that his church had no “idea” what to do when faced with radical evil.  This was the task that Bonhoeffer set himself – to “edify” the church so that she could be the people of God at that moment in history, and that meant action – concrete obedience to the demands of Jesus Christ.

     To that end, Bonhoeffer directed several seminaries to train new ministers.  He firmly believed that followers of Jesus must live out their faith in the reality of daily communal life.  Indeed, Bonhoeffer took on a prophetic role in his church.  He strove to demonstrate what genuine Christian faith looked like in practice – on the ground, where it mattered.  That is why I consider Bonhoeffer to be an apologist – one who defended the faith in the manner of those early Christians who were thrown to the lions in the Colisseum, i.e. with his life.  In the ancient world, one’s death was one’s legacy – it told the world whom one had been.[4]

     Bonhoeffer’s apologetic was prophetic (directed towards the people of God), communal and embodied, and it was directed towards the fight against, not merely false ideas, but radical systemic evil.[5]  I believe this is what the church in the postmodern Global North is in need of – the onus is on believers to demonstrate to a skeptical and cynical (yet hungry!) world if we can live up to our vocation as a people who has some insight into how to live a life of truth, goodness, beauty and justice.[6]  Does our faith make a difference (or are the churches simply spirituality clubs)?

     There are several reasons why Bonhoeffer is as relevant today as ever.  Firstly, millions of Christians around the world are currently being persecuted by Communist and Islamic states for their faith.  How should Christians in the Global North show solidarity with their sisters/brothers around the world?  Secondly, totalitarianism is making a comeback.[7]  Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022[8] was shockingly reminiscent of the campaigns of the axis powers during WWII.  China is flexing its muscles, as it both backs Putin’s regime and conducts “punishment maneuvers” in the sea surrounding Taiwan.  How should Christians work for the kingdom of God in a world of imperialism (both overseas and perhaps closer to home…[9])?  Thirdly, Christendom may be dead, but many self-proclaimed Christians seem not to have taken notice.[10]  Cultural Christianity is still a thing, especially among members of mainline/historical/liturgical churches.  How can Christians rediscover the power, and the demands, of their faith?  Fourthly, the public image of the Church has suffered much in eyes of the world, due to corruption, the sexual abuse of minors, collusion with colonialism, the repression of women, etc.[11]  How can the Church show itself to be credible in our confused and chaotic world?  Bonhoeffer will be an invaluable companion as we reflect on all these questions (and take action!).

---

[1] Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison, London: Collins Fontana Books, 1959 [1953], pp. 135-37; “…it is only through actual obedience that a person can become liberated to believe”: A Testament to Freedom: The essential writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (eds. Geffrey B. Kelly & F. Burton Nelson), New York: HarperOne, 1995 [1990], p. 311.

[2] It seems to me that this is what drove Bonhoeffer’s many failed attempts to go to India to meet with Ghandi.

[3] I.e., the establishment federation of Lutheran and Reformed churches in Germany.

[4] Hence the tendency among many outmanoeuvered Roman senators to stage their suicides to resemble that of Socrates:  cf. also the scholarly commonplace that the Gospels are “passion narratives with long introductions”.

[5] Cf. Webber, Robert E. The Younger Evangelicals: Facing the Challenges of the New World, Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2002, pp. 94-106, 227-36.

[6] Another way to put this is that we are called to be saints (i.e., become what we are).

[7] Cf. Wright, N.T. & Michael F. Bird, Jesus and the Powers: Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2024, pp. 1-5.

[8] Russia’s campaign of military aggression began in 2014 with its annexation of Crimea.

[9] Cf. Richard A. Horsley, “Introduction: the Bible and Empires” in Horsley, Richard A., ed.  In the Shadow of Empire: Reclaiming the Bible as a History of Faithful Resistance, Louisville: WJK, 2008, pp. 1-8.

[10] Cf. Nietzsche’s parable of the madman, and those who continued to worship at the shrines of the god they had murdered…

[11] What Pope Saint John Paul II called the “sins of the church” and for which he repeatedly “repented”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_apologies_made_by_Pope_John_Paul_II (accessed May 29, 2024).