Those with active and sensitive consciencesĨ. People who trust their reasonable instincts Bonhoeffer briefly describes the failure of different ethical orientations to come to grips with the evil of Nazism. Why are ethicists (those people who think they are professionally trained to distinguish right from wrong) so 'blinded' by the current situation in Germany? Why can’t they see the difference between good and evil? (66-67)ħ.

Who is it who responds to the gospel of Jesus Christ in time of stability? In times of crisis? Why the difference in audience? Do you think Bonhoeffer’s generalization is correct?Ħ. He that is not with me is against me (Matthew 12:30)ĥ. He that is not against us is for us (Mark 9:40) What does each mean, and how do they fit together? (59-61) Bonhoeffer sees no contradiction between these two sayings attributed to Jesus. In what way does Jesus create a safe haven for the values of culture? (58-59)Ĥ. Now Bonhoeffer sees an ironic reversal: who needs whose help in defending against the Nazi onslaught? (58-59)ģ.

Established Christianity had found itself attacked for failing to embody these civilized values ever since the philosophers of the Enlightenment declared their independence of, if not hostility to, religion. What civilized values were particularly threatened by the advent of Nazism? (58)Ģ.

But it begins with a striking outline of the evils which brought his culture into crisis.ġ. This short chapter initiates a line of thinking which B evidently chose not to pursue further: the relation of Jesus Christ to what is genuinely good in culture: its values and the people who resist the destruction of those values.

Bonhoeffer ethics