Evaluating Christian Moral Action
Evaluating Bonhoeffer’s Theology:
Agree Disagree
● Costly Grace (Bonhoeffer) - We ● Secularism - The Church and State
should not be focused on personal should be completely separate with
salvation and cheap grace but neither influencing the other. The
instead we should be living Church often fails to hold the State
exclusively in this world, including to account and is often more easily
making sacrifices to follow God’s will corruptible, with the Church being
to achieve costly grace. A good relevant when it comes to
example of costly grace is the maintaining social order in the
Parable of the Good Samaritan. modern day
● Solidarity (Bonhoeffer) - Counter : Collective Action, while
Bonhoeffer believed that we also the Church as a potentially
had to make sacrifices and suffer in corruptible institution should remain
order to show solidarity with those separate from the State, individual
facing injustice, shown by his own Christians can assist in holding the
example by returning to Germany State to account through collective
from America. Even if we personally action
are not facing injustice, we should
stand against the injustices faced by ● Biblical Pacifism - Violence, and
others particularly murder, is condemned in
the Bible. Jesus practised pacifism
● Religious Experience and forgiveness, not violence, and
(Bonhoeffer) - Bonhoeffer thought suggested that the Church and
that Christians could discover God’s State should be separate (render
will in the moment or by ‘hearing the unto caesar + st paul on authority)
word of God’ through meditation on
the Bible. In the moment of action Counter : MLK, engaged in civil
God’s will will be evident disobedience without violence.
Bonhoeffer doesn’t endorse any
Counter : Falsificationism (Flew), particular method of civil
experiences and statements that disobedience
cannot be empirically verified or
falsified are meaningless, including ● Problem of Subjectivity -
religious experiences. Understanding God’s will through
individual religious experience is
● Willing to Sacrifice (Bonhoeffer) - ripe for bad actors to abuse this
Bonhoeffer isn’t instructing disciples theology, as it is extremely
to suffer, but instead saying that subjective. For example George W.
Christians should be willing to make Bush explicitly cited a ‘religious
sacrifices and to suffer if it means experience’ he had which was used
serving the Will of God as justification for the Iraq War.
● Spiritual Discipline (Bonhoeffer) - ● Rorschach Test (Cox) -
True Spiritual Discipline itself is a Bonhoeffer’s Theology acts as a
Evaluating Bonhoeffer’s Theology:
Agree Disagree
● Costly Grace (Bonhoeffer) - We ● Secularism - The Church and State
should not be focused on personal should be completely separate with
salvation and cheap grace but neither influencing the other. The
instead we should be living Church often fails to hold the State
exclusively in this world, including to account and is often more easily
making sacrifices to follow God’s will corruptible, with the Church being
to achieve costly grace. A good relevant when it comes to
example of costly grace is the maintaining social order in the
Parable of the Good Samaritan. modern day
● Solidarity (Bonhoeffer) - Counter : Collective Action, while
Bonhoeffer believed that we also the Church as a potentially
had to make sacrifices and suffer in corruptible institution should remain
order to show solidarity with those separate from the State, individual
facing injustice, shown by his own Christians can assist in holding the
example by returning to Germany State to account through collective
from America. Even if we personally action
are not facing injustice, we should
stand against the injustices faced by ● Biblical Pacifism - Violence, and
others particularly murder, is condemned in
the Bible. Jesus practised pacifism
● Religious Experience and forgiveness, not violence, and
(Bonhoeffer) - Bonhoeffer thought suggested that the Church and
that Christians could discover God’s State should be separate (render
will in the moment or by ‘hearing the unto caesar + st paul on authority)
word of God’ through meditation on
the Bible. In the moment of action Counter : MLK, engaged in civil
God’s will will be evident disobedience without violence.
Bonhoeffer doesn’t endorse any
Counter : Falsificationism (Flew), particular method of civil
experiences and statements that disobedience
cannot be empirically verified or
falsified are meaningless, including ● Problem of Subjectivity -
religious experiences. Understanding God’s will through
individual religious experience is
● Willing to Sacrifice (Bonhoeffer) - ripe for bad actors to abuse this
Bonhoeffer isn’t instructing disciples theology, as it is extremely
to suffer, but instead saying that subjective. For example George W.
Christians should be willing to make Bush explicitly cited a ‘religious
sacrifices and to suffer if it means experience’ he had which was used
serving the Will of God as justification for the Iraq War.
● Spiritual Discipline (Bonhoeffer) - ● Rorschach Test (Cox) -
True Spiritual Discipline itself is a Bonhoeffer’s Theology acts as a
