FOR BONHOEFFER, the term "religion" meant a false substitute for true faith, so "religionless Christianity" meant . . .
. . . true Christianity. Bonheoffer saw that the people in Germany who called themselves Christians were mostly not real Christians. They were just churchgoers . . . . But they weren't deeply committed disciples of Jesus Christ. So when the evil of the Nazis came, they were utterly unprepared and justed floated along with the red-and-black tide.
(Eric Metaxas, quoted by Kathryn Jean Lopez, "Bonhoeffer the Brave," nationalreview.com, December 20, 2010)
More:
Bonhoeffer had no theological problem with deceiving the Nazis. On the contrary, he felt God called him to do it. He knows that when God commands us not to lie, it doesn't mean that if the Gestapo asks us if we are hiding Jews and we really are hiding Jews, we are obligated to say so. . . . Bonhoeffer has a much more nuanced and deeper understanding of these things and he challenges Christians to go beyond mere religious pieties and to really serve God with their whole hearts. In his case, that meant deceiving the Nazis.
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. . . . God does not say we shouldn't kill, but that we shouldn't murder. So we are forced to think about what murder really is. If I am trying to prevent the death and torture of millions of innocent Jews, am I allowed by God to take the life of the tyrant who is overseeing those horrors? Bonhoeffer didn't have a flippant attitude about any of this, and he even thought he might be wrong, but he cast himself on God's mercy. He didn't know for sure that he was right, but he didn't lazily and comfortably ignore his responsibility to do what he though was right just because he had doubts. . . .
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. . . . He saw that the Church was something that transcended nationality and race, and this would change everything for him and would lead him to oppose the Nazis, who saw everything through the prism of race. It was a seminal moment in his life.
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[Bonhoeffer] shows us that Christians have to be careful about allying themselves with a political party. Christian conservatives in Germany during this time were very badly deceived by Hitler. He played them for fools and won. It's a real cautionary tale. But Bonhoeffer also shows us that Christians cannot avoid politics. Sometimes being a Christian means taking a political stand, period. When there is injustice, it is our job to speak out, to act. We can't pretend that the Gospel does not extend into politics. We might not like that, but the fact is that it does. It must.
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Courage isn't something we work up, like an emotion. Courage is simply acting on what we believe. Bonhoeffer simply believed Jesus Christ was Lord and everything followed from that. And he challenges Christians to ask themselves: Do we really believe what we claim to believe? If so, we will live it; we will act fearlessly, knowing that God is with us. If we don't act on it, we obviously don't really believe it.
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[Love is] related to the idea of courage. Love is an action, it's not a feeling. Bonhoeffer's love of God was neither a mere intellectual assent to some theological ideas, not was it merely a warm, fuzzy feeling. His love of God was borne out in his obedience to God, even unto death. If you love God and others, you will act accordingly. . . .
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. . . . Faith without action is simply hypocrisy. . . . To say that one believes something must mean that one actually lives it. . . .
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. . . . The Nazis provide such a disturbing and clear picture of what happens to human beings when they push God out of the picture completely. The depravity of who we are apart from God is writ large in them, in a way that is powerfully instructive.
This interview was inspired by Mr. Metaxas's new book, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy. I've added it to my Amazon shopping list.
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