Bonhoeffer’s "world come of age" is a metaphysical euphemism for atheism. By exiling God as a "working hypothesis," he doesn't bring maturity; he performs an ontological deportation of the Creator to justify a world without Divine participation.
Hi Anthony, thanks for your comments, much appreciated. In Bethge's biography, he notes that Karl Barth thought that it was the stress and conflict of his arrest and imprisonment that led Bonhoeffer to shift his views in his final days. He too, appeared to think Bonhoeffer was going "in the wrong direction" as your comments suggest.
David, I was able to find this link that provides a reprint of the original Niebuhr essay in his publication, Christianity and Crisis. It brought back memories of being a college student in 1981 poring through microfilm of Christianity and Crisis for a long paper on Niebuhr and the Cold War that I submitted for a course in American Intellectual History.
Thanks for the link - I just printed it out and read it. That was a great article that I only knew of from secondary sources, much appreciated!
Your paper on Niebuhr sounds interesting - and I remember as well those days of doing research in person, at the library, before the internet put so much information at our fingertips! : )
Thank you for a thoughtful and unexpected read. Have you read "Strange Glory" by Charles Marsh, another biography/theological analysis of Bonhoeffer? And I am sure you have read Niebuhr's contemporary essay, Death of a Martyr.
Thank you for your kind comments and your suggestions on related material. I have not read "Strange Glory" but I just ordered it. I have heard of Niebuhr's essay (and of his positive opinion of Bonhoeffer), but I have not read that either. Do you happen to have a link to a pdf or know where I could find a copy (perhaps in some of his collected essays?) Much thanks! Dave
Peace be with you!
Bonhoeffer’s "world come of age" is a metaphysical euphemism for atheism. By exiling God as a "working hypothesis," he doesn't bring maturity; he performs an ontological deportation of the Creator to justify a world without Divine participation.
Hi Anthony, thanks for your comments, much appreciated. In Bethge's biography, he notes that Karl Barth thought that it was the stress and conflict of his arrest and imprisonment that led Bonhoeffer to shift his views in his final days. He too, appeared to think Bonhoeffer was going "in the wrong direction" as your comments suggest.
David, I was able to find this link that provides a reprint of the original Niebuhr essay in his publication, Christianity and Crisis. It brought back memories of being a college student in 1981 poring through microfilm of Christianity and Crisis for a long paper on Niebuhr and the Cold War that I submitted for a course in American Intellectual History.
https://providencemag.com/2020/08/political-questions-irrelevant-faith-reflection-dietrich-bonhoeffer-martyrdom/
Thanks for the link - I just printed it out and read it. That was a great article that I only knew of from secondary sources, much appreciated!
Your paper on Niebuhr sounds interesting - and I remember as well those days of doing research in person, at the library, before the internet put so much information at our fingertips! : )
Thank you for a thoughtful and unexpected read. Have you read "Strange Glory" by Charles Marsh, another biography/theological analysis of Bonhoeffer? And I am sure you have read Niebuhr's contemporary essay, Death of a Martyr.
Thank you for your kind comments and your suggestions on related material. I have not read "Strange Glory" but I just ordered it. I have heard of Niebuhr's essay (and of his positive opinion of Bonhoeffer), but I have not read that either. Do you happen to have a link to a pdf or know where I could find a copy (perhaps in some of his collected essays?) Much thanks! Dave