Theological IssuesTheological IssuesWAR & PEACEWAR & PEACE

Trinity International University

© John Stevenson, 2009

Dietrich BonhoefferDietrich Bonhoeffer1906 - 1945

Dietrich BonhoefferDietrich Bonhoeffer

• Bonhoeffer eventually decides to join a plot to assassinate Hitler. What theological positions that he held served previously to keep him from doing this?

• What made him finally decide to do it?

1906 - 1945

Dietrich BonhoefferDietrich Bonhoeffer

• Would you have responded to the Nazi regime in the same way that Bonhoeffer did?

• What would have caused other Lutheran pastors to remain subservient to the German state?

1906 - 1945

Paul HillPaul Hill• Murdered a

physician outside an abortion clinic in 1993.

• Some of his supporters cited Bonheoffer as justification for his actions.

© 1989

What impressed us about Falwell’s statement was that it began to recognize that Christian ethics are church dependent… the church legislatively demanding the state to do what it cannot do even among its own members through persuasion and conversion alone… (Pg 71).

© 1989

Christian ethics, like any ethics, are “tradition dependent.” That is, they make sense, not because the principles they espouse make sense in the abstract, as perfectly rational behavior, which ought to sound reasonable to any intelligent person…

• What do the authors mean when they say that “ethics are church-dependent” and that “Christian ethics. . .are tradition dependent”? (p. 71).

• Do you agree?

© 1989

• Can you give a “Christian ethic” that appears to be universally rational rather than peculiar to the Christian community/Scripture? (e.g.. “Love your neighbor as yourself, Do not murder”)

• How do these authors interpret and apply the Sermon on the Mount?

© 1989

© 1989

The Christian ethical question is not the conventional Enlightenment question, “How in the world can ordinary people like us live a heroic life like that?” The question is, “What sort of community would be required to support an ethic of nonviolence, marital fidelity, forgiveness, and hope such as one sketched by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount?” (p. 80)

• According to the authors, What does it mean to be the church?

• Why should one live life in the church? (see p. 77).

• The authors say, “There is no way to remove the eschatology of Christian ethics.” What do they mean by this?

• How is eschatology related to ethics and to Christian discipleship?

© 1989

• How is one’s view of the Kingdom of God (as now but not yet) related to one’s interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount and to Christian ethics?

• How does their view of the Kingdom of God affect their view of War and Peace? (see pages 88-89)

© 1989

Matthew 6:19-21Matthew 6:19-21 Do not store up for yourselves

treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; 21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

What does this passage say What does this passage say about Christians and about Christians and

possessions?possessions?

Matthew 6:22-23 Matthew 6:22-23 The eye is the lamp of the body;

so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

Figure of Speech in Proverbs 22:9

He who is generous (literally, “he who has a good eye”) will be blessed,For he gives some of his food to the poor.

Matthew 6:24 Matthew 6:24 No one can serve two masters;

for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

Matthew 7:1-2 Matthew 7:1-2 Do not judge so that you will not

be judged. 2 For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.

Matthew 7:3-5 Matthew 7:3-5 Why do you look at the speck

that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” and behold, the log is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

Matthew 7:6Matthew 7:6Do not give what is holy to

dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.

What are to be some of the What are to be some of the characteristics in living kingdom characteristics in living kingdom

truths for today?truths for today?