Becoming simple and wise: the place of moral discernment in Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s vision of Christian Ethics
View/ Open
Kaiser2012.pdf (1.266Mb)
Kaiser2012.doc (737Kb)
Date
26/06/2012Item status
Restricted AccessEmbargo end date
31/12/2100Author
Kaiser, Joshua Andrew
Metadata
Abstract
In this thesis I argue for the centrality of moral discernment in Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s
vision of Christian ethics. I contend that a close reading of his understudied Ethics
manuscript, ‘God’s Love and the Disintegration of the World’, not only reveals the
importance of discernment, but also exposes a tension in his thinking between a
simple, unreflective approach to God’s will and a rational, reflective mode of moral
deliberation. At several points in the 1930s and early 1940s, his emphasis on
simplicity seems to preclude the very idea of moral reflection; however, a closer
inspection reveals that the two are not mutually exclusive. I argue that Bonhoeffer’s
theology contains the necessary resources to incorporate, on Christological grounds,
both simplicity and reflective moral deliberation into a coherent vision of moral
discernment. Furthermore, I contend that this conceptual unity, premised on the
relationship between Christ’s two natures, becomes efficacious in the lives of
Christians through a process of conformation to the form of Christ, which includes as
an essential element the disciplined practice of spiritual exercises. Finally, drawing
on Bonhoeffer's entire corpus, I investigate the theme of God’s commandment,
focusing in particular on simple obedience, and the concept of natural life, paying
special attention to the shape of the created order. I conclude that simple obedience,
while precluding self-centred moral reflection, nevertheless creates space for
meditative reflection that understands reality through a Christological lens. In so
doing, this meditative reflection finds its orientation in the natural, penultimate
world, which serves as a crucial context and guide for those who want to become
simple and wise.