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Theology for a World Come of Age: The Meaning of Dietrich Bonhoeffer for Doing Systematic Theology Today
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 February 2024
Extract
What is bothering me incessantly is the question what Christianity really is, or indeed who Christ really is, for us today. The time when people could be told everything by means of words, whether theological or simply pious, is over, and so is the time of religion in general. We are moving towards a completely religionless time: people as they are now simply cannot be religious any more.
These words from a letter of the German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer mark one of the turning points in the history of systematic theological thinking in this century.
Hardly any other theologian has provided as strong a challenge to post-war theologians as Bonhoeffer. In this article I want to give an introduction to Bonhoeffer’s theology as a whole and his concept of ‘religionless Christianity for a world come of age’ in particular. Then, in the final section, I want to discuss the relevance of Bonhoeffer for doing systematic theology in the changing theological landscape of today.
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- Research Article
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- Copyright © 1995 Provincial Council of the English Province of the Order of Preachers
References
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