Themes The theological doctrines of justification and sanctification feature prominently in this chapter as Bonhoeffer explores God’s work of the justification of the sinner and the ongoing work of sanctification that takes place within the church-community, with some side examination of lists of vices and sins. The result is some difficult-to-navigate reading. The helpful question […]
Chapter 12: The Saints Read More »
Themes What is the proper relationship between the church—the Body of Christ—and the world as well as those who hold authority? What should that relationship look like when those who hold power and authority use it to persecute the church or to commit injustices in the world? These are the questions that Bonhoeffer tries to
Chapter 11: The Visible Church-Community Read More »
Themes Building on the concept of being baptized into the Body of Christ from the previous chapter, Bonhoeffer turns his attention in this chapter to exploring what it means for the church to be the Body of Christ in the world today. For Bonhoeffer, this is not metaphor, but a literal statement. In the time
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What an odd group of people to have for a dinner party! A parishioner of mine at a former church made this observation to me years ago, and it has stuck with me ever since. Because, you know what? They are right; this is a bizarre dinner party! First, we have Martha, the ever dutiful,
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Themes For a book on the nature of discipleship, it might be surprising that Bonhoeffer has not brought up baptism until this point. Here he attempts to address that by connecting his understanding of discipleship, an understanding deeply rooted in the Synoptic Gospels, with the teachings about baptism as found in Paul’s writings in the
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Themes Was not the experience of the disciple who heard Jesus’ call from his own lips different than ours, who listen for Jesus’ call through the distance of scripture and the teachings of the church? Bonhoeffer tackles this question head on in this brief chapter. Should we fall trap to the belief that the experience
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Themes In previous chapters, Bonhoeffer has laid out the relationship of the disciple to Christ, the relationship of the disciple to the world, and even the relationship of the disciple to the neighbor. In this chapter, he moves his attention to the relationship of the disciple to the work of mission through his interpretation of
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This is our first in an ongoing series that pairs art from local artists with their reflections on topics of spirituality and faith. Come by St. Faith’s Anglican Church to experience the artist’s work Tuesday-Friday from 9:30 to 4pm or on Sundays. There is something electric about being in community spaces, public spaces and gathering
Themes In this chapter, and in the next, Bonhoeffer shifts the style and content of his writing. Building on the theological arguments of the first five chapters, Bonhoeffer turns to the exegesis (the critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially scripture) of the Sermon on the Mount. This extended teaching of Jesus, which in
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I think we’ve all had times in our lives where we had a clear plan for ourselves. Perhaps a plan related to our career, or a plan for our family, or as was the case for me, a plan for my education. I remember when the first college brochure arrived in the mail when I
The Best Laid Plans Read More »