Bonhoeffer the Assassin? by Mark Thiessen Nation & Anthony G. Siegrist & and Daniel P. Umbel

Author:Mark Thiessen Nation & Anthony G. Siegrist & and Daniel P. Umbel
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: REL028000, REL067070, Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945)
ISBN: 9781441242600
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2013-09-25T00:00:00+00:00

Toward the Sermon on the Mount

The final consequence of Bonhoeffer’s shift in theological perspective is a positive construal of New Testament law. As has already been seen in the previous chapter, the primary reason Bonhoeffer hesitated to stress “simple obedience” in the Barcelona lecture was because of his concern to preserve God’s freedom, and in turn preserve the freedom of the Christian. One practical result of this hesitancy was that the Sermon on the Mount was not morally binding. But after his work in Act and Being and his subsequent conversion, Bonhoeffer has redefined his understanding of God’s freedom. As a result, his hesitancy to stress simple obedience is no longer necessary. In fact, it is precisely by simple obedience to Christ’s commandments that one is made free.

What was once necessary to transcend in order to be free has now become freedom’s source. In effect, then, Bonhoeffer has demonstrated the crucial role that New Testament commandments play in the order of salvation. The commandments of Christ are the vocative force of Christ’s person. They convey grace just as they effect personal and social transformation. They change persons and reorient them in the light of the truth of the world in Christ. Thus to bypass them or ignore them in the name of “grace” is a contradiction in terms. Indeed, because of the particular nature of Bonhoeffer’s overall theological account in Discipleship, it is all the more important to stress the rigor and force of Christ’s commandments. To soften them or explain them away would be to misunderstand them and to deny to others the possibility of their own transformation.

Christ’s commandments not to resist the evildoer and to love the enemy (Matt. 5:38–42 and 5:43–48, respectively) are particularly relevant to the current discussion of Bonhoeffer’s theological development. In the Barcelona lecture Bonhoeffer appealed to God’s command to justify participation in war, that is, in an action that contradicts the command to love the enemy. But in Discipleship he reverses this judgment entirely. Appealing to God’s command in this manner is no longer theologically tenable. God’s commanding should not be understood without reference to God’s commandments as articulated and specified in Jesus Christ. Thus there is now no cogent theological rationale for not taking seriously the Sermon on the Mount in all its literal rigor, nor is there any reason to hesitate in insisting upon “simple obedience” to its dictates.

It is crucial to realize that in his interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount in general, and the commandments of enemy love and nonresistance in particular, Bonhoeffer is employing many of his insights into the nature of Christ’s authority and the dynamics of obedience as his hermeneutic. Thus it is not surprising to see him recapitulate many of the themes already discussed in his interpretation of these commandments’ meanings and implications.

One theme Bonhoeffer employs is his polemic against principles and against principled interpretations of New Testament law. This theme is obviously not a new one for Bonhoeffer. Indeed, it has been present in his ethical thinking since the Barcelona lecture.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.