Critically evaluate the view that Christians should not practise civil disobedience (40)
• P: Christians should practice civil disobedience when it serves the higher moral aim of establishing true justice and social order.
E:
• Christians should choose to defend their faith and its moral principles over any nation or government
• Christian responsibility to the state is to ensure that it acts in accordance with God's will
• If the state is making 'reasonable people face unreasonable situations' then we have a duty to disobey it
• Bonhoeffer: tyrannicide may even be a Christian duty if it means establishing social order- 'suffering disobedience'- refused to take
oath of allegiance to Hitler in 1938
• Not easy to justify- not self-evident or clear whether any of our actions are good or not but we will know in the moment what God's
will is. The only obedience that you should have is to God.
•
R:
• Scripture calls for obedience to authority
• Jesus in the Gospels: 'Give back to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's (Mark 12:17)
• "Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established" (St Paul)-
leadership on Earth comes from God
• Luther (Central to Protestant churches belief in Germany)- "There is nothing more devilish than a rebel"
•
E:
• These verses must be read in context—St. Paul wrote under Nero, yet many Christians still chose disobedience in the face of
injustice.
• Doing nothing to combat injustice is just as bad as doing evil ('we are not to simply bandage the wounds of victims beneath the
wheels of injustice, we are to drive a spoke into the wheel itself'- Bonhoeffer)
• Jesus advocated for the oppressed: He criticized the temple as a cult/ challenged the role of the money changers at the Temple
because of their practice of making money out of the ritual obligation that required people to buy suitable animals for sacri ce at the
Temple.
•
L: Therefore, when the state opposes divine justice, Christians must resist—not out of rebellion, but as an act of faithful obedience to God’s
higher authority.
P2:
P: Christians should practice civil disobedience because God's grace can only be achieved through making a dif cult sacri ce
E:
• Bonhoeffer: authentic Christianity has to be based on 3 fundamentals: only Christ, only scripture, only faith
• Originally believed religion as an institution is simply a human invention. For Christianity to avoid being used for political and
personal ends, it is essential for it to remain separate and free from the state but then later changed beliefs- the role of the Church is
to be a moral guide to the state
• Taking on the world, especially an unjust society, will always come with a cost. God's grace cannot be bought like a cheap
commodity, merely by going through rituals- This is CHEAP GRACE
• COSTLY GRACE demands obedience even unto death with authentic Christianity requiring sacri ce and resistance when the state
corrupts moral values
• Jesus said, “I have not come to bring peace, but a sword,” signalling more than just civil disobedience
• Joseph Fletcher’s situation ethics supports civil disobedience as the most loving choice in some situations
• Therefore, civil disobedience is necessary at the risk of suffering because true faith in Christ as leader requires you to be willing to
make the same sacri ce as he did.
•
R:
• Civil disobedience doesn’t need violence: Even when Christians disagree with societal laws, they should take the moral high ground
—voicing their concerns respectfully, but continuing to act lawfully and peacefully
• Jesus could be said to have done this when he spoke out against authorities but submitted to them in cruci xion.
• Some say there should be no disobedience at all: they should trust in God's justice
• Paci sm important in Christianity- "Blessed are the Peacemakers"- Matthew 5:9"
•
E:
• Jesus’ death was not passive submission—it was a radical act of love and resistance.
• In a society like Nazi Germany, passive obedience would allow evil to thrive.
• Fletcher would af rm that love sometimes requires breaking the law for the greater good.
• Any theology that takes a 'bottom up' approach should always put God's protection of the oppressed above the State. Indeed, one
possible understanding of the role of the Church is to be a moral guide to the state.
• Bonhoeffer saw civil disobedience as a re ection of true, costly grace—real faith must be lived out even at great personal cost.
• Link:
◦ Therefore, civil disobedience is not only justi able—it is a necessary expression of Christian faith and sacri ce in the
face of injustice.
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fi fi fl fi fi fi fi fi fifi
• P: Christians should practice civil disobedience when it serves the higher moral aim of establishing true justice and social order.
E:
• Christians should choose to defend their faith and its moral principles over any nation or government
• Christian responsibility to the state is to ensure that it acts in accordance with God's will
• If the state is making 'reasonable people face unreasonable situations' then we have a duty to disobey it
• Bonhoeffer: tyrannicide may even be a Christian duty if it means establishing social order- 'suffering disobedience'- refused to take
oath of allegiance to Hitler in 1938
• Not easy to justify- not self-evident or clear whether any of our actions are good or not but we will know in the moment what God's
will is. The only obedience that you should have is to God.
•
R:
• Scripture calls for obedience to authority
• Jesus in the Gospels: 'Give back to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's (Mark 12:17)
• "Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established" (St Paul)-
leadership on Earth comes from God
• Luther (Central to Protestant churches belief in Germany)- "There is nothing more devilish than a rebel"
•
E:
• These verses must be read in context—St. Paul wrote under Nero, yet many Christians still chose disobedience in the face of
injustice.
• Doing nothing to combat injustice is just as bad as doing evil ('we are not to simply bandage the wounds of victims beneath the
wheels of injustice, we are to drive a spoke into the wheel itself'- Bonhoeffer)
• Jesus advocated for the oppressed: He criticized the temple as a cult/ challenged the role of the money changers at the Temple
because of their practice of making money out of the ritual obligation that required people to buy suitable animals for sacri ce at the
Temple.
•
L: Therefore, when the state opposes divine justice, Christians must resist—not out of rebellion, but as an act of faithful obedience to God’s
higher authority.
P2:
P: Christians should practice civil disobedience because God's grace can only be achieved through making a dif cult sacri ce
E:
• Bonhoeffer: authentic Christianity has to be based on 3 fundamentals: only Christ, only scripture, only faith
• Originally believed religion as an institution is simply a human invention. For Christianity to avoid being used for political and
personal ends, it is essential for it to remain separate and free from the state but then later changed beliefs- the role of the Church is
to be a moral guide to the state
• Taking on the world, especially an unjust society, will always come with a cost. God's grace cannot be bought like a cheap
commodity, merely by going through rituals- This is CHEAP GRACE
• COSTLY GRACE demands obedience even unto death with authentic Christianity requiring sacri ce and resistance when the state
corrupts moral values
• Jesus said, “I have not come to bring peace, but a sword,” signalling more than just civil disobedience
• Joseph Fletcher’s situation ethics supports civil disobedience as the most loving choice in some situations
• Therefore, civil disobedience is necessary at the risk of suffering because true faith in Christ as leader requires you to be willing to
make the same sacri ce as he did.
•
R:
• Civil disobedience doesn’t need violence: Even when Christians disagree with societal laws, they should take the moral high ground
—voicing their concerns respectfully, but continuing to act lawfully and peacefully
• Jesus could be said to have done this when he spoke out against authorities but submitted to them in cruci xion.
• Some say there should be no disobedience at all: they should trust in God's justice
• Paci sm important in Christianity- "Blessed are the Peacemakers"- Matthew 5:9"
•
E:
• Jesus’ death was not passive submission—it was a radical act of love and resistance.
• In a society like Nazi Germany, passive obedience would allow evil to thrive.
• Fletcher would af rm that love sometimes requires breaking the law for the greater good.
• Any theology that takes a 'bottom up' approach should always put God's protection of the oppressed above the State. Indeed, one
possible understanding of the role of the Church is to be a moral guide to the state.
• Bonhoeffer saw civil disobedience as a re ection of true, costly grace—real faith must be lived out even at great personal cost.
• Link:
◦ Therefore, civil disobedience is not only justi able—it is a necessary expression of Christian faith and sacri ce in the
face of injustice.
fi
fi fi fl fi fi fi fi fi fifi
