Author | Dietrich Bonhoeffer |
---|---|
Original title | Ethik |
Country | Germany |
Language | German |
Subjects | Christlikeness Ethics Patriotism |
Published | 1949 |
Hence, Christian ethics cannot exist in a vacuum; what the Christian needs, claims Dietrich Bonhoeffer, is concrete instruction in a concrete situation. Although the author died before completing his work, this book is recognized as a major contribution to Christian ethics.The root and ground of Christian ethics, the author says, is the reality of God as revealed in Jesus Christ.
Ethics (German: Ethik) is an unfinished book by Dietrich Bonhoeffer that was edited and published after his death by Eberhard Bethge in 1949.[1] Bonhoeffer worked on the book in the early 1940s[2] and intended it to be his magnum opus.[3] At the time of writing, he was a double agent; he was working for Abwehr, Nazi Germany's military intelligence organization, but was simultaneously involved in the 20 July plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler.[4] The central theme of Ethics is Christlikeness.[5] The arguments in the book are informed by LutheranChristology[6] and are influenced by Bonhoeffer's participation in the German resistance to Nazism.[7]Ethics is commonly compared to Bonhoeffer's earlier book The Cost of Discipleship, with scholars debating the extent to which Bonhoeffer's views on Christian ethics changed between his writing of the two books.[8] In The Cambridge Companion to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, John W. de Gruchy argues that Ethics evinces more nuance than Bonhoeffer's earlier writings.[9] In 2012, David P. Gushee, director of Mercer University's Center for Theology and Public Life, named Ethics one of the five best books about patriotism.[10]
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German pastor, theologian, anti-Nazi dissident, and key founding member of the Confessing Church. His writings on Christianity's role in the secular world have become widely influential, and his book The Cost of Discipleship has been described as a modern classic. Apart from his theological writings, Bonhoeffer was known for his staunch resistance to Nazi dictatorship, including vocal opposition to Hitler's euthanasia program and genocidal persecution of the Jews.
- Apr 30, 2017 Hence, Christian ethics cannot exist in a vacuum; what the Christian needs, claims Dietrich Bonhoeffer, is concrete instruction in a concrete situation. Although the author died before completing his work, this book is recognized as a major contribution to Christian ethics.
- The Christology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer 135 view Jesus only as a historical figure of the past whose influence somehow affects us. Over against this, Bonhoeffer insists that 'only the Risen One makes possible the presence of the living person' and thus provides the necessary condition for Christology (45).
- This rejection of timeless, universal truths is a major theme in Ethics, where Bonhoeffer stated, “Principles are only tools in the hand of God that are soon thrown away as useless.” 23 In one section of Ethics, Bonhoeffer explicitly rejected the idea that the Sermon on the Mount should be understood as ethical principles that could be applied to present situations. 24 He also explicitly rejected the picture of Jesus as an ethical teacher or even an ethical model that Christians should.
References[edit]
- ^de Gruchy 1991, p. 221.
- ^Muers 2007, p. 173.
- ^Metaxas 2015, p. 179.
- ^Karnick, S.T. (April 10, 2015). 'The Awe-Inspiring Heroism of Dietrich Bonhoeffer'. National Review. Retrieved June 14, 2015.
- ^Kelly & Nelson 2003, p. 112.
- ^DeJonge 2012, p. 140.
- ^Green 1999, p. 301.
- ^Plant 2014, p. 97.
- ^de Gruchy 1999, p. 170.
- ^Gushee, David P. (June 2012). 'My Top 5 Books on Patriotism'. Christianity Today. 56 (6). p. 68.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer Ethics Excerpt
Bibliography[edit]
- de Gruchy, John W. (1991). Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Witness to Jesus Christ. Augsburg Fortress. ISBN1451411588.
- de Gruchy, John W. (1999). The Cambridge Companion to Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Cambridge University Press. ISBN0521587816.
- DeJonge, Michael P. (2012). Bonhoeffer's Theological Formation: Berlin, Barth, and Protestant Theology. Oxford University Press. ISBN0199639787.
- Green, Clifford J. (1999). Bonhoeffer: A Theology of Sociality. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. ISBN0802846327.
- Kelly, Geffrey B.; F. Burton Nelson (2003). The Cost of Moral Leadership: The Spirituality of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. William B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN0802805116.
- Metaxas, Eric (2015). Bonhoeffer Student Edition: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy. Thomas Nelson. ISBN0718022440.
- Muers, Rachel (2007). Jackie Leach Scully, Pink Dandelion (eds.). ''It is Worse to Be Evil Than to Do Evil': Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Challenge to the Quaker Conscience'. Good and Evil: Quaker Perspectives. Ashgate Publishing. ISBN0754656217.CS1 maint: uses editors parameter (link)
- Plant, Stephen (2014). Taking Stock of Bonhoeffer: Studies in Biblical Interpretation and Ethics. Ashgate Publishing. ISBN1409441067.
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