Abstract
Bonhoeffer, Religion and Politics
Christiane Tietz and Jen Zimmermann, eds.
New York: Peter Lang, 2012. 156 pp. $58.95
Ivan Petrella, in The Future of Liberation Theology (SCM Press, 2006), argues that what differentiates much writing in liberation theology in recent years from its peak in the 1970s and 1980s is the loss of a historical project. In the early years, liberation theologies were clear about their core ideas—the preferential option for the poor, the reign of God, and the critique of idolatry. What made this core relevant to poor and oppressed communities was the way in which these values were theoretically and socially mediated to improve the life chances of the poor and their quest for liberation. The bottom line for Petrella revolves around the question, “What kind of life does God support?” According to him, God does not support an abstract idea of the soul, but deals with persons in terms of their bodily needs, such as hunger, thirst, and lack of shelter. Because the body becomes the site of salvation and liberation, the historical project highlights an analysis of the economic, social, and political spheres in institutional terms. This is the missing link, Petrella argues, in liberation theologies today.
The essays in Christiane Tietz's and Jen Zimmermann's volume were presentations given at the 4th International Bonhoeffer Colloquium, May 2010, in Mainz, Germany. These essays point in the direction of Bonhoeffer as a theologian, who combined religion and politics in his theory of peace studies and in the explication of the mandates. His passion for the least of these, as expressed in his work against the Nationalist Socialists' portrayal of Jews, and his sensitivity to racial stereotyping of African Americans, is duly noted. But what sets this work apart is the desire to recapture Bonhoeffer’s historical project, although this term is not used throughout the book, which relates Bonhoeffer’s theological core in Ethics to issues in economics and politics.
The early part of the text raises questions concerning how Bonhoeffer’s conceptualization of worldliness is related to politics, while at the same time notes that much of his core ideas were formulated, both in Sanctorum Communio and Discipleship, several years prior to Hitler’s reign of terror. This means that while it is true, as the prison papers indicate, that much of Bonhoeffer’s work was hammered out in relation to the political events from 1933 onwards, there is a sense in which his theological core of Christ’s presence among us as community, and his engagement with the Sermon on the Mount, provide a theological baseline for his worldly theology.
The second set of essays portray Bonhoeffer with a similar starting point as many liberation theologians, namely that of highlighting the Lordship of Christ as a theological basis for the church’s engagement with politics. The gist of these essays stipulate that the world holds together, in Christ and for Christ, and any attempt to talk about the world outside the notion of Christ as King is an abstraction. If Christ is King, everything stands in relation to Christ, whether it is acknowledged or not. Here, the relationship between the kingdom of God and human history is spelled out. Confidence in the ultimate hope of history gives the penultimate a basis for its aspirations. The church’s reality is revelation. These essays highlight incarnation coupled with eschatology as central themes in Bonhoeffer’s work.
It is in the third set of essays that authors highlight the meaning of Bonhoeffer’s work for political action. The mandates provide a new model for interreligious discourse, coupled with a new conceptualization of political action inspired by the changing financial and economic system. Questions are raised concerning the measurement of happiness in relation to economics and politics. The text addresses questions regarding the place of happiness in Bonhoeffer’s thinking. However, it is worth remembering that Scripture presents joy, not happiness, as a fruit of the Spirit. Joy does not only make room for happiness, but also for unhappiness, and it is in both states that we are called to trust Christ.
The book is written in a fluid style, which makes it easy to read. It speaks to important areas of Bonhoeffer research.