Bonhoeffer on Resistance: The Word Against the Wheel

Bonhoeffer thought and wrote a great deal about political life, but he did so neither as a political theorist nor a political activist but rather as a Christian pastor and theologian. Most of what he said about political resistance was said as a theologian, as one speaking on behalf of the church. For this reason, his thinking about political resistance can only be understood in the broader context of his theology. Bonhoeffer on Resistance provides an account of Bonhoeffer's resistance thinking as a whole. This involves placing his thinking about violent political resistance in the context of his thinking about resistance of all kinds; placing his thinking about political resistance of all kinds into the context of his thinking about political life in general; and, ultimately, placing his thinking about political life in the broader context of his theology, his thinking about the whole world and God's relationship to it.To establish the conceptual background necessary for understanding Bonhoeffer's resistance thinking, Michael P. DeJonge begins with a brief account of the theological story in which Bonhoeffer imbeds his account of political life: the story of God's creation of the world, the fall of that world into sin, and the redemption of that world in Christ. He introduces some specifically Lutheran accents to Bonhoeffer's theology that are essential for understanding his political vision, such as the doctrine of justification and the distinction between law and gospel. DeJonge then transitions from Bonhoeffer's theology into his political thinking by presenting the basic conceptual structures he employs when thinking through most political issues. Two important agents or institutions in political life are church and state, and DeJonge presents Bonhoeffer's account of these in light of the material presented in the previous chapters. The volume then presents Bonhoeffer's resistance thinking and activity, which can be considered from two overlapping perspectives, one chronological and the other systematic. This study shows that Bonhoeffer has a systematic, differentiated, and well-developed vision of political activity and resistance.

Table of Contents:
Introduction 1: The theological story 2: Lutheran accents 3: Political Life 4: Church and State 5: The Beginnings of Resistance 6: The Indirectly Political Word of the Church 7: The Directly Political Word of the Church 8: Extraordinary Confession 9: Resistance to the State and Mistreatment of Jews 10: The Second Battle of the Church Struggle 11: Into the Conspiracy 12: The Responsible Action of the Individual Conclusion: Bonhoeffer s Politics and our Own

About the Author :
Michael P. DeJonge is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of South Florida, where he teaches on the history of Christian theology and topics in modern religious thought. His previous publications include Bonhoeffer's Reception of Luther (2017), Bonhoeffer's Theological Formation (2012), and The Bonhoeffer Reader (co-edited with Clifford J. Green; 2014).

Review :
DeJonge lucidly retrieves Bonhoeffer's creative engagement with Luther as the engine of his resistance to the political and moral degradations of the Third Reich. Summing up: Recommended ...this is an excellent and extremely important book. There is no other book that focuses sustained attention on Bonhoeffer's theology of resistance and his activities. Teachers, students, and researchers of Bonhoeffer's works would do well to read this book carefully and refer to it often. Michael DeJonge's Bonhoeffer on Resistance: The Word against the Wheel presents the most comprehensive, clear, and compelling study of Bonhoeffer's political theology to date. A key takeaway from this new volume is that Bonhoeffer's conception of resistance is inescapably Lutheran. DeJonge rejects the view that Bonhoeffer left behind his Lutheran assumptions on his way to political resistance. Bonhoeffer's involvement in political resistance was, on the contrary, inextricable from his Lutheran political theology. DeJonge has made a significant contribution to Bonhoeffer scholarship in bringing this point to light, and in such a convincing and compelling way. DeJonge has engaged in a thorough analysis of Bonhoeffer's resistance thinking. Those of us who work on the historical side of the German church struggle would do well to incorporate his and other theologians' insights into our work, to enrich our interpretations and aid us in the cultivation of an undistorted and unpoliticized interpretation of Bonhoeffer's life and work. That said, at a time when more and more people-scholars, clergy, lay people, and activists-are looking to Dietrich Bonhoeffer for theological and ethical guidance in matters of church and civic responsibility, Michael DeJonge has offered an extremely important and helpful guide for understanding what Bonhoeffer says about resistance...I highly commend this book to both serious and casual readers of Bonhoeffer. DeJonge, in crisp clear prose, and with deep textual acuity, has provided a definitive account of what "resistance" in a Bonhoefferian key looks like. Michael P. DeJonge offers a nuanced and original exploration of Bonhoeffer's "resistance thinking" in its proper political, historical and theological context. This is a valuable work that reveals fascinating insights into Bonhoeffer himself and his relation to the church. It will be of deep interest to readers of theology and history alike. Before Dietrich Bonhoeffer could be a pastor, martyr, prophet, or spy he was a theologian, and without an understanding of that theology his actions makes little sense. In Bonhoeffer on Resistance leading Bonhoeffer scholar Michael P. deJonge gives us a clear, accessible, and true account of Bonhoeffer's theology of political life, in particular its relation to Martin Luther. This is an important book which deserves to be widely read.