Abstract
This article seeks to draw some useful guiding principles for Christian scholars from Bonhoeffer’s work, applied primarily in the US context. These take note of: (1) the power and relevance of his contextual expression of the gospel message; (2) the intellectual and academic responsibility of his scholarship; (3) the distinctive elements of his ethics; and (4) his expression of the transformative symbiosis of the divine will and human agency. Based on these principles, recognised in Bonhoeffer’s historical and theological legacy, the article will explore the current legacy of Bonhoeffer’s work and contextualise it in the current battle for Christian values in society.Contribution: Within the current US political polarisation between forms of Christian nationalism and the anti-racist movement in the US, this article is a special contribution to the debate of Bonhoeffer’s theological or political momentum.
Highlights
Many consider the ministry and writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945) to be a modern-day embodiment of how the gospel message should be made relevant, intellectually responsible, prophetically vibrant, and ethically transformative for both the church and society
This article seeks to draw some useful guiding principles for Christian scholars from Bonhoeffer’s life and work, noting: (1) his powerfully relevant and contextual expression of the gospel message; (2) the intellectual and academic responsibility of his Christian scholarship; (3) the concreteness and thickness of his ethics, based on his prophetic insight into the immediate will of God, yet without denial of the ethical, normative principles; and (4) his expression of the transformative initiative that brings about genuine spiritual revival and moral change
Today, building on the legacy of Bonhoeffer and Martin Luther King Jr., de-politicised non-violent active resistance to an oppressive evil regime remains a viable option for the public activism of the Christian scholar
Summary
Many consider the ministry and writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945) to be a modern-day embodiment of how the gospel message should be made relevant, intellectually responsible, prophetically vibrant, and ethically transformative for both the church and society.
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