Reclaiming Dietrich Bonhoeffer: The Promise of His Theology / Edition 1

by Charles Marsh, Marsh

Overview

Reclaiming Dietrich Bonhoeffer is certain to inspire a new consideration of Bonhoeffer's place in contemporary Christian theology. In this groundbreaking study, Charles Marsh offers a new way of reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer - a theologian who was executed for his role in the resistance against Hitler and the Nazis. Focusing on Bonhoeffer's extensive philosophical interests, Marsh examines his work in the context of the German philosophical tradition, from Kant through Hegel to Heidegger. With an eye on the contemporary debate about the self and community, Marsh argues that Bonhoeffer's description of human identity offers a compelling alternative to post-Kantian conceptions of selfhood. By evaluating Bonhoeffer's writings against the background of modern German philosophy, Marsh shows that Bonhoeffer, while working within the boundaries of Karl Barth's theology, provides both a powerful critique and an innovative redescription of the tradition of transcendental subjectivity. Attentive to past scholarly endeavors as well as to recent conversations in critical theory, philosophical hermeneutics, and systematic theology, this fresh and original study of Bonhoeffer will undoubtedly provoke important discussion not only in the theological academy and the church, but also in the broader forums of intellectual life. Offering the most in-depth scholarly study of Bonhoeffer in nearly twenty years, this book successfully reclaims his promise for contemporary theological inquiry.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195111446
Publisher:	Oxford University Press, USA
Publication date:	09/28/1996
Edition description:	REPRINT
Pages:	216
Product dimensions:	6.13(w) x 9.19(h) x 0.56(d)

About the Author

Loyola College in Maryland

Table of Contents

I	The Context of Reclamation
1	Barth and Bonhoeffer on the Worldliness of Revelation	3
	The Biographical Context	3
	Theological Analysis	7
2	Karl Barth on Philosophy	35
	Worldliness and Philosophy	35
	Barth's ad hoc Reflections on the Meaning and Use of Philosophy	36
	Benign Neglect	51
3	Bonhoeffer's Christological Redescription of Philosophy	55
	The Problem of System	55
	Theology's Internal Correlation	59
II	Life Together
4	Christ Between Totality and Otherness: Bonhoeffer's Earliest Theology	67
	Ethical Relation and the Place of the Other	68
	Alterity and Community	71
5	Christ as the Mediation of the Other	81
	Hegel on Spirit in Community	83
	"Christ Existing as Community,"	88
	Community, World, and Obedience	101
	Subjectivity as Servanthood	108
6	On Heidegger and Life with Others	111
	Self and World in Being and Time	112
	Bonhoeffer and Heidegger Against the Self-Reflective Subject	117
	The Problem of Potentiality in Theology	120
	The Continuity of Community	125
	Being-in Christ	127
	Resistance	133
III	The Self for Others
7	The Overabundant I	137
	Christological Relation	139
	Scharlemann's Acoluthetic Reason	144
	Being There for Others: Trinitarian Self-Becoming	150
	Notes	159
	Index	191

Editorial Reviews

"This book is a theological sensation....At the end of the 20th century, I consider it to be an exciting event. Nobody who attempts to define Bonhoeffer's legacy today will be able to ignore Marsh's book."—Eberhard Bethge, friend and biographer of Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"A careful and detailed reading of everything Bonhoeffer wrote. His theological analysis of these writings, few published in his lifetime, is meticulous....Beautifully written....The whole book is well documented throughout and the notes are full and helpful."—Theology

"Excellent....It is a scholarly, although accessible work....The achievement of this book is impressive and amply delivers on its stated goal of 'Reclaiming Dietrich Bonhoeffer'. I hope that it will renew interest in Bonhoeffer's theology and become a sure guide for those eager to make their way into the complexities of his thought."—Reviews in Religion and Theology

"Charles Marsh has done an uncommon thing: he has written an original book on Bonhoeffer."—The Expository Times

"...Marsh's book is excellent....I recommend this book to anyone concerned with theology and the renewal of the church. His book is...innovative...and should not be missed."—Journal of the NABPR

"In this book the author has done something unique..."—The Princeton Seminary Bulletin

From the Publisher