Bonhoeffer & Civil Disobedience
Religious Studies: OCR A Level, topic 3.6.2
Bonhoeffer and Civil Disobedience
Civil disobedience is when a group fails to comply with certain laws in peaceful protest. Bonhoeffer failed to join the Nazi party and instead joined the resistance against them.
Bonhoeffer's resistance
- Bonhoeffer spoke against Hitler in public and even joined a plot to assassinate Hitler.
- Bonhoeffer rejected the idea that there were two separate areas of life: the private life and the public one.
- For Christians, there is only one realm and that realm must be entirely led by obedience to Jesus Christ.
Bonhoeffer's proactivity
- Bonhoeffer was very proactive in his beliefs.
- For example, he spoke out against Nazi ideas at the university where he worked and lost his job for it.
- He spoke out against the Nazis in public lectures and was banned from attending any more.
- He eventually criticised the Confessing Church - a Church he had originally been a part of - when it faltered under pressure from Hitler to conform and he participated in an illegal seminary.
Test yourself on Bonhoeffer & Civil Disobedience
What institutions and individuals did Bonhoeffer criticise?
Why did Bonhoeffer criticise the Confessing Church?