‘Bonhoeffer’s Vision of Christian Life is Not Realistic Today’ Discuss.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German Theologian who played a vital role in the development of
the Confessing Church during the Second World War. His lucrative training base in
Finkenwalde solidified his views of religious authenticity to a wider audience. To accept his
vision of Christian life as unrealistic would be to accept the notion that a completely
authentically Christian Life is not achievable in the everyday world. However, after turning to
scholars such as Luther, as well as Bonhoeffer himself, it quickly becomes plausible to argue
that whilst Bonhoeffer did have some valid points concerning his vision of Christian life,
others were simply too idealistic and contextually dependent.
There are many compelling arguments as to why Bonhoeffer’s vision of Christianity may be
viewed as unrealistic today, one of which being that the practices which he enforced in
Finkenwalde would be difficult to emulate in the ‘real world’. Within the seminary training
site, those who attended would perform countless religious duties in the name of Christian
authenticity, including attending two church services every single day, and not speaking at all
until that first service of the day. Being a key member of the Confessing Church himself,
theologian Karl Barth would disagree, stating that the uniform and structured format of the
training at Finkenwalde- and therefore Bonhoeffer’s vision of Christian life- is completely
realistic and achievable, and should therefore be implemented into everyday life in order to
better the Christian actions of the general population. However, when analysing the situation
from a modern lens it is abundantly evident that this rigid vision of Christian life is not
realistic today, as it would be difficult to have a functioning society in which every single
person attended church twice a day, with nobody speaking a word until they were inside the
morning service. Therefore, one may come to the conclusion that some aspects of
Bonhoeffer’s view of Christian life was perhaps too idealistic.
Whilst this may be the case, it may also be argued that the focus that Bonhoeffer placed on
the authenticity of faith rather than academic intellect make his vision of Christian life even
more accessible to a greater majority. Holding focus of Bonhoeffer’s practices at
Finkenwalde, it may be observed that in some ways, he ‘broke the mould’ in terms of how he
would conduct the training of aspiring priests of the Confessing Church. During this period in
history, those who would go and train to become priests would be forced to undergo rigorous
examination and testing, making the training rely more on academic ability rather than faith
to Christianity. For Bonhoeffer, he believed that this was not preparing people to be effective
servants of God. Therefore, in his training, he placed greater emphasis on religious
authenticity. For example, conducting lectures on the Bible in order to encourage intelligent
development of ancient Christian teachings would prevent the new clergy from simply
regurgitating archaic teachings which may not be relevant or may be seen as problematic in a
more progressive era. This has been argued by many to be a completely realistic vision of
Christian life, as it places a greater emphasis on how authentic a person’s faith was, rather
than how well they were able to perform academically. This notion would be completely
supported by Martin Niemoeller, another significant member of the Confessing Church.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German Theologian who played a vital role in the development of
the Confessing Church during the Second World War. His lucrative training base in
Finkenwalde solidified his views of religious authenticity to a wider audience. To accept his
vision of Christian life as unrealistic would be to accept the notion that a completely
authentically Christian Life is not achievable in the everyday world. However, after turning to
scholars such as Luther, as well as Bonhoeffer himself, it quickly becomes plausible to argue
that whilst Bonhoeffer did have some valid points concerning his vision of Christian life,
others were simply too idealistic and contextually dependent.
There are many compelling arguments as to why Bonhoeffer’s vision of Christianity may be
viewed as unrealistic today, one of which being that the practices which he enforced in
Finkenwalde would be difficult to emulate in the ‘real world’. Within the seminary training
site, those who attended would perform countless religious duties in the name of Christian
authenticity, including attending two church services every single day, and not speaking at all
until that first service of the day. Being a key member of the Confessing Church himself,
theologian Karl Barth would disagree, stating that the uniform and structured format of the
training at Finkenwalde- and therefore Bonhoeffer’s vision of Christian life- is completely
realistic and achievable, and should therefore be implemented into everyday life in order to
better the Christian actions of the general population. However, when analysing the situation
from a modern lens it is abundantly evident that this rigid vision of Christian life is not
realistic today, as it would be difficult to have a functioning society in which every single
person attended church twice a day, with nobody speaking a word until they were inside the
morning service. Therefore, one may come to the conclusion that some aspects of
Bonhoeffer’s view of Christian life was perhaps too idealistic.
Whilst this may be the case, it may also be argued that the focus that Bonhoeffer placed on
the authenticity of faith rather than academic intellect make his vision of Christian life even
more accessible to a greater majority. Holding focus of Bonhoeffer’s practices at
Finkenwalde, it may be observed that in some ways, he ‘broke the mould’ in terms of how he
would conduct the training of aspiring priests of the Confessing Church. During this period in
history, those who would go and train to become priests would be forced to undergo rigorous
examination and testing, making the training rely more on academic ability rather than faith
to Christianity. For Bonhoeffer, he believed that this was not preparing people to be effective
servants of God. Therefore, in his training, he placed greater emphasis on religious
authenticity. For example, conducting lectures on the Bible in order to encourage intelligent
development of ancient Christian teachings would prevent the new clergy from simply
regurgitating archaic teachings which may not be relevant or may be seen as problematic in a
more progressive era. This has been argued by many to be a completely realistic vision of
Christian life, as it places a greater emphasis on how authentic a person’s faith was, rather
than how well they were able to perform academically. This notion would be completely
supported by Martin Niemoeller, another significant member of the Confessing Church.
