Bonhoeffer

[1] Four years after its inception, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America issued its first teaching document, The Church in Society: A Lutheran Perspective at its second Churchwide Assembly in 1991.[1] This statement, which passed by a two-thirds majority, signified that the newly constituted ELCA would “commit itself to serve God and neighbor in its […]

[1] Alarmed at the perceived creep of authoritarianism in the present U.S. Administration, especially at the enforcement tactics of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, this declaration written by a California pastor and modeled on the Barmen Declaration of 1934 in Germany, aims to stiffen and clarify the Church’s public witness as a check against a creeping […]

Introduction [1] Alliances between conservative religious movements and authoritarianism are not historically anomalous, nor uniquely Christian. But with democracy and its legitimacy on the wane in the West,[1] Trumpism’s overwhelming mobilisation of, and sustained appeal to, evangelical Christianity has spurred a re-examination.[2] Trumpism shows that the conservative-religious/authoritarian alliance promises moral and national restoration without the […]

 [1] As we are launched into the Anthropocene era—the proposed new geologic period defined by climactic changes and mass extinction brought on by humans—Dianne Rayson takes us through an analysis of this event through the lens of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s writings. She asks if the theology and ethics of the young pastor Bonhoeffer that were formed […]

In response to the Black Lives Matter movement, many churches condemned White supremacy and racist violence. Racism is not limited to White supremacy and may be categorized as either motivational, arising from racial animus, or situational, arising from the conditions in which a racial minority finds itself, with a feedback loop whereby one type of racism encourages the other. These two types of racism both require both pastoral and prophetic responses from the church. An appropriate prophetic response can be modeled in the Lutheran tradition

[1] This book reestablishes Williams’s doctoral dissertation work at Fuller Theological Seminary, entitled: “Christ-Centered Empathic Resistance: The Influence of Harlem Renaissance Theology on the Incarnational Ethic of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.” Williams’ exploration is a welcome journey into a domain of praxiological substance in a contemporary age where vain ideologies, boisterous pathologies, and impotent philosophies have become […]

1] With Lisa Dahill’s lyrical exposition of Bonhoeffer’s spirituality, we find a contemporary Lutheran theology working within a critical appropriate of virtue and character. Bonhoeffer has too long been labeled a “command of God” theologian, whose work confronts Christians with Jesus’ words “Follow me.” Certainly an “ethic of command drives the first part of his […]

[1] On February 1, 1941, Eberhard Bethge wrote to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, his best friend, for Dietrich’s birthday on February 4: I offer my hearty congratulations and wish you a good and fruitful use of your powers, success in articulating your new insights, good stimulating friends, and good coffee and tea in your new year. Along […]

[1] Lutheran theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s theology and life inspires a multitude of responses, ranging from passionate opposition to a dangerous thinker all the way to emphatic embrace of a saint. With a large body of contemporary discussion partners included in those responses, Bonhoeffer’s influence extends far beyond the theological society that bears his name. Stephen […]

A previous version of this article was presented to the Bonhoeffer Group at the American Academy of Religion, November 2003. It represents a concise summary of ongoing research involving a broader historical argument; please contact the author with any further questions about research texts. The author is especially indebted to Charles Marsh, whose own works […]