Thread by @Bezner

Today is the 75th anniversary of the death of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Those of you who know me know that I did my Master's thesis and PhD dissertation on his theology. @lmfabrycky--in my opinion--has written eloquently and beautifully on him in both this essay and her recent book.

https://twitter.com/commentmag/status/1248252189979672576

One of the challenges of Bonhoeffer scholarship is that everyone wants to co-opt DB for their own purposes. It's easy to do, particularly given the nobility of his death. He is the unique historical character into whom we each love to read our "better angels," canonizing him.

DB wasn't perfect. Far from it. He was, by many accounts, somewhat of a diva. He didn't enjoy working more than a couple of hours a day. He certainly didn't enjoy sweating. His personal relationships were, at best, complicated. He annoyed many with his obstinate approach.

And yet, he had a vision of the church that lived honestly with Jesus as the true Lord. He saw this in Harlem, among the Black Church. He saw a people who had every reason to turn their backs on Jesus, and yet they chose not to. The Black Church allegiance to Jesus inspired him.

Yes, there were other influences. He also deeply appreciated the Bruderhof community (founded by Eberhard Arnold) and their radical adherence to the Sermon on the Mount. In a conference paper I presented years ago, I argued the Bruderhof influenced the Finkenwalde "experiment".

Be it the Black Church, the Bruderhof, or other influences, DB's central concern was the exaltation of Jesus to the place of true Lord in every interpretive action of the church. Jesus--and his church--was the be the lens by which reality was interpreted.

This is why DB was such a thorn in the Nazi side. He rarely mentioned Hitler by name, but he preached and wrote consistently on the supremacy of Jesus and his Way. When many were calling Hitler Führer, Bonhoeffer was doubling down on pushing back against such a notion.

This is why the government applied pressure to him, shutting off one of his radio addresses mid-broadcast. This is why his seminary community had to be underground. The State Church had bought into an ideology that put politics and power higher than Jesus and His Kingdom.

He dreamt of a church that wanted Jesus and the Kingdom at the center of proclamation and action. And, to him, this meant that the Scripture (namely the Sermon on the Mount) and the radical love of enemies had to be first and foremost. The church needed to be DIFFERENT.

Many church leaders believed that influence would come by cozying up to the Nazis, making friends with those in power. That, they reasoned, would protect the church.

DB knew that true influence came not by being friends with power, but by serving. (#MaundyThursday connection).

While he was in prison, in fact, he wrote a letter showing that the church would have to regain legitimacy after aligning itself with politicians instead of the Kingdom. He wrote that the church would need to sell its property and rely on freewill offerings (anti-State Church).

In a sentence that has stuck with me know for over twenty years, he wrote that the church would now have to rely on "prayer and righteous action before men."

Translation? Pray and serve. That's how you show Jesus and His Kingdom.

Not by walking the corridors of power.

He famously asked his students to spend each morning in silence, meditating on Scripture, often the Daily Texts (Losüngen) of the Moravians (another influence). He thought the first word of the day and the last word of the day belonged to God.

His students struggled with this.

Many of them complained about the practice.

Supposedly, one day, one of them asked him why they needed to spend so much time reading the Scripture, praying, and meditating.

(Barth also didn't like DB's approach, but that's another story.)

So DB took him on a walk.

They went to the beach and got in a boat. They went down the shoreline for a long distance. The student wondered what was happening and where they were going.

Finally, DB brought the boat ashore. They walked some distance up a hill.

Down below, Nazi soldiers were training.

They watched them training, marching, drilling for some time.

They were silent for a while, just watching the Nazi soldiers prepare.

Finally, Bonhoeffer said, "That's why."

Here's to a 21st century church that doesn't cozy up to politicians and power but instead believes that the greatest influence comes through the washing of feet, through prayer, through "righteous acts before men."

Here's to a Jesus-centered Christianity.

Here's to the Kingdom.

Grace and peace.

For those who are interested, I wrote a three article series on this at @forthechurch :

Part 1: ftc.co/resource-libra…

Part 2: ftc.co/resource-libra…

Part 3: ftc.co/resource-libra…

@threadreaderapp unroll