Human Subjectivity In Christ In Dietrich Bonhoeffer S Theology

Jacob Phillips presents a critical study of a neglected aspect of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's theology: his writing on human subjectivity, self-reflection, and individual identity 'in Christ'. In response to the rise of chronic self-representation through digital technology, Phillips argues that Bonhoeffer presents a radical challenge, maintaining that – from the perspective of Christian theology - there is something deeply negative about beholding representations of oneself. Bonhoeffer instead holds that discipleship means adopting a posture of radical agnosticism toward one's own identity. Phillips focuses on the interrelation of 'simplicity' and 'reflection' in theological cognition and ethical deliberation, showing a wider significance in contemporary theological anthropology, soteriology and ethics. By following the tradition of reading Bonhoeffer in relation to the philosophical sources, such as Wüstenberg , Janz, Whitson-Floyd, Marsh, Zimmermann, Gregor, Phillips highlights the ways in which Bonhoeffer's work relates to modern debates in epistemology and ethics generally, and that of Wilhelm Dilthey and hermeneutical phenomenology in particular. This volume offers a detailed theological analysis of the themes of self-identity, human subjectivity, and self-understanding, which are highly pertinent for contemporary society.

List of Abbreviations -- Chapter 1: Simplicity and Wisdom -- Chapter 2: The Simplicity of Discipleship -- Chapter 3: Interpreting the Simplicity of Discipleship -- Chapter 4: Simplicity and the Transcendental Attempt -- Chapter 5: The Actus Reflectus as Wisdom: Reconciling the Unreflective and Reflective in Act and Being -- Chapter 6: Towards Practical Discernment as Wisdom: Unreflective and Reflective Agency in Ethics -- Chapter 7: The 'Transcendental Unity of Apperception' and the 'Categorical Imperative' in -- the 'Flow of Life' -- Chapter 8: Articulating the 'Original Togetherness' of Life: Wilhelm Dilthey in Relation to Dietrich Bonhoeffer -- Chapter 9: The Unreflective 'I' and Reflective Self-Understanding in Dilthey -- Chapter 10: Unreflective and Reflective Agency in Dilthey -- Chapter 11: Gestalt: Aesthetics and Agency in Wilhelm Dilthey -- Chapter 12: Integrating Simplicity and Wisdom -- Bibliography -- Index.

In this book, Marsh offers a new way of reading the theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Christian theologian who was executed for his role in the resistance against Hitler and the Nazis. Focusing on Bonhoeffer's substantial philosophical interests, Marsh examines his work in the context of the German philosophical tradition, from Kant through Hegel to Heidegger. Marsh argues that Bonhoeffer's description of human identity offers a compelling alternative to post-Kantian conceptions of selfhood. In addition, he shows that Bonhoeffer, while working within the boundaries of Barth's theology, provides both a critique and redescription of the tradition of transcendental subjectivity. This fresh look at Bonhoeffer's thought will provoke much discussion in the theological academy and the church, as well as in broader forums of intellectual life.

Jens Zimmermann locates Bonhoeffer within the Christian humanist tradition extending back to patristic theology. He begins by explaining Bonhoeffer's own use of the term humanism (and Christian humanism), and considering how his criticism of liberal Protestant theology prevents him from articulating his own theology rhetorically as a Christian humanism. He then provides an in-depth portrayal of Bonhoeffer's theological anthropology and establishes that Bonhoeffer's Christology and attendant anthropology closely resemble patristic teaching. The volume also considers Bonhoeffer's mature anthropology, focusing in particular on the Christian self. It introduces the hermeneutic quality of Bonhoeffer's theology as a further important feature of his Christian humanism. In contrast to secular and religious fundamentalisms, Bonhoeffer offers a hermeneutic understanding of truth as participation in the Christ event that makes interpretation central to human knowing. Having established the hermeneutical structure of his theology, and his personalist configuration of reality, Zimmermann outlines Bonhoeffer's ethics as 'Christformation'. Building on the hermeneutic theology and participatory ethics of the previous chapters, he then shows how a major part of Bonhoeffer's life and theology, namely his dedication to the Bible as God's word, is also consistent with his Christian humanism.

The key question this volume addresses is 'how does Bonhoeffer's thought help to re(dis)cover the doctrine of Christ's two natures and one person and understand and renew it in its significance for a modern post-metaphysical and secular world?' The volume takes a fresh look at Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Christology and brings it into a fruitful dialogue with current Christological debates. In a multi-perspectival, pluralistic world, Bonhoeffer's thinking offers a productive basis for conceptually incorporating the openness required for this task into academic theology. Bonhoeffer's theology offers a starting point for the recovery of a productive Christology that reflects the plurality of the globalized world, as Bonhoeffer's Christology begins precisely with this integration into worldly reality, whereby the world is understood in its plurality and polyphony. In this way, he characterizes his enterprise as follows: “What keeps gnawing at me is the question, what is Christianity, or who is Christ actually for us today” (DBWE 8, 362). Accordingly, it opens itself up not only to inner-Christian discussion but also to non-Christian worldviews, from which a basic ethical demand follows.

Bonhoeffer's writings include a significant amount of biblical interpretation, but his potential contributions in the fields of biblical studies and theological exegesis of Scripture have not been sufficiently explored. This study reassesses some of his key exegetical writings in light of his theology of revelation and bibliology, unfolding the ways in which his reading of the Bible is determined by his theology of Scripture. Through this analysis, Joel Banman demonstrates that the uniting factor of Bonhoeffer's biblical interpretation is not methodological but bibliological: he reads Scripture as the living word of the present Christ.

Back cover: How is God revealed through the life of a human community? Dietrich Bonhoeffer's theological ethics begins from the claim to 'Christ existing as community', which David Robinson presents as one of several critical and politically astute variations on G.W.F. Hegel's philosophy of religion.

Who are we? What does it mean to be human? What is the purpose of our existence? In our time these continue to be urgent questions. The German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer thought deeply about these questions out of a desire to understand the importance of Christ and the incarnation for modern culture. His conviction that Christ died for a new humanity is at the core of his theological anthropology. Bonhoeffer's Christ-centered, Trinitarian theology establishes the intrinsic sociality of humanity as made in the image of God. Being Human, Becoming Human assembles a distinguished and international group of scholars to examine Bonhoeffer's understanding of human sociality. From the introduction of his dissertation, Sanctorum Communio, where he notes "the social intention of all the basic Christian concepts," to his final writings in prison, where he describes Christian faith as being for others, the theme of human sociality runs throughout Bonhoeffer's works. This theme links Bonhoeffer with contemporary concerns in theology, philosophy, cultural studies, and science regarding human reason, human nature, and their socio-cultural expressions. Vital reading for Bonhoeffer scholars as well as for those invested in theological debates regarding the social nature of human being, the essays in this volume examine Bonhoeffer's rich resources for thinking about what it means to be human, to be the church, to be a disciple, and to be ethically responsible in our contemporary world.