Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Christian Humanism

Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Christian Humanism PDF Author: Jens Zimmermann
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019256871X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 400

Book Description
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.

Being Human, Becoming Human

Being Human, Becoming Human PDF Author: Brian Gregor
Publisher: James Clarke & Company
ISBN: 022790026X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 243

Book Description
What does it mean to be human? The German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer thought deeply about this 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. This collection 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 volume examines 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. Being Human, Becoming Human is vital reading for Bonhoeffer scholars as well as for those invested in theological debates regarding the social nature of human beings.

Christian Humanism and Moral Formation in "a World Come of Age"

Christian Humanism and Moral Formation in Author: Jens Zimmermann
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781443887229
Category : Christianity and religious humanism
Languages : en
Pages : 238

Book Description
"Since its inception in ancient Greco-Roman culture, the main goal of humanism has been moral formation through education for the attainment of true humanity. Literature and religion have always played a central role in humanistic learning, especially in the Christian humanism that has deeply shaped Western ideals of higher education. Does Christian humanism remain important today? What does Christian humanism have to contribute to the idea of moral formation in contemporary Western culture that has been characterized by many as "a secular age"? This book addresses these questions by examining two prominent Christian humanists: the twentieth-century theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the contemporary American writer Marilynne Robinson. In this volume, a group of international scholars, from a variety of disciplines, bring Bonhoeffer and Robinson into conversation with current moral and ethical issues, from the residential school system to our increasingly consumerist and technology-obsessed society. The contributors demonstrate the profound affirmation of human dignity and freedom that characterize the humanism of both Bonhoeffer and Robinson, highlighting their import as resources for the relation of religion, culture and ethics. The essays in this book thus remind us that religious faith will remain relevant as we search for moral consensus in modern, post-Christian societies. The volume also features a new interview with Robinson that reveals her own religious humanism and her appreciation for Bonhoeffer's theology.

Confessions of a Christian Humanist

Confessions of a Christian Humanist PDF Author: John W. De Gruchy
Publisher: Fortress Press
ISBN: 9780800638245
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 228

Book Description
How can one genuinely follow Jesus today, and what does that mean about one's lifestyle, social and political commitments, and ethical stance? In this fine work, internationally renowned theologian John de Gruchy answers that question. Reviving an almost silenced tradition, he lifts the banner of Christian humanism - not secular humanism with a Christian veneer, but a critical retrieval of Christianity's core convictions and values in ways that are both critical of and yet constructively engaged with secular culture in serving the well-being of humanity.

The Polity of Christ

The Polity of Christ PDF Author: Ulrik Nissen
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0567691608
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 264

Book Description
Ulrik Nissen addresses the difficulty that contemporary theology faces in trying to find a way to maintain both all the shared goods we cherish as political beings, and the call for Christians to be a particular people in the world and bear witness to Christ. Nissen stresses that Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Christological ethics allows for a polemical unity between the reality of the world and the reality of God, reconciled in the reality of Christ. Based on a series of case studies that provide a point of departure for a robust reshaping of Christian humanism and responsibility, Nissen reads Bonhoeffer's ethics in the light of both his Lutheran heritage and contemporary challenges, highlighting the importance of his thought for political theology. By demonstrating the significant influence of Lutheran and Chalcedonian Christology in contemporary ethics, Nissen provides a robust argument for a love of the common reality we share as human beings, and a call for Christians to bear witness to Christ in the public world.

The Cost of Discipleship

The Cost of Discipleship PDF Author: Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781535181075
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 210

Book Description
One of the most important theologians of the twentieth century illuminates the relationship between ourselves and the teachings of Jesus.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Christian Humanism

Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Christian Humanism PDF Author: Jens Zimmermann
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0198832567
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 395

Book Description
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.

Led into Mystery

Led into Mystery PDF Author: John de Gruchy
Publisher: SCM Press
ISBN: 0334049865
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 257

Book Description
Led into Mystery is an unanticipated sequel to John de Gruchy's book Being Human: Confessions of a Christian Humanist. It was prompted by the untimely and tragic death of his eldest son, Steve, in February 2010, and the questions this posed about the meaning of life and death from the perspective of Christian faith.

Re-envisioning Christian Humanism

Re-envisioning Christian Humanism PDF Author: Jens Zimmermann
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198778783
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 292

Book Description
An edited volume aiming to recover a Christian humanist ethos. It provides a historical overview and individual examples of past Christian humanisms.

The Cost of Discipleship

The Cost of Discipleship PDF Author: Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1476706549
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 320

Book Description
NEW FOREWORD BY ERIC METAXAS Dietrich Bonhoeffer, one of the most important theologians of the twentieth century, illuminates the relationship between ourselves and the teachings of Jesus in this classic book on living as a Christian. What can the call to discipleship, the adherence to the word of Jesus, mean today to the businessman, the soldier, the laborer, or the government worker? What did Jesus mean to say to us? What is his will for us today? Drawing on the Sermon on the Mount, Dietrich Bonhoeffer answers these timeless questions by providing a seminal reading of the dichotomy between "cheap grace" and "costly grace." "Cheap grace," Bonhoeffer wrote, "is the grace we bestow on ourselves...grace without discipleship....Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the girl which must be asked for, the door at which a man must know....It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life." The Cost of Discipleship is a compelling statement of the demands of sacrifice and ethical consistency from a man whose life and thought were exemplary articulations of a new type of leadership inspired by the Gospel, and imbued with the spirit of Christian humanism and a creative sense of civic duty.