Christonomy

In my research this quarter, I am focusing in on the question of how discipleship takes action in the world.  In particular, I am looking at Abraham Kuyper's notions of sphere-sovereignty and common grace and Bonhoeffer's concept of the divine mandates.  I'm wondering if the idea of Christopraxis can be a viable synthesis of Kuyper and Bonhoeffer, but need to do some more research before I commit to that conclusion.  In the meantime, I've come across a fascinating concept in Bonhoeffer that is new to me, and I imagine will play a key part in my current work.

Bonhoeffer was working on the essay "The Concrete Commandment and the Divine Mandates" for his Ethics when we was arrested on April 5, 1943 - the unfinished manuscript laying open on his desk.  In this essay, he explains that the commandment of God revealed in Jesus Christ claims all of human life and the world through the reconciling, all-encompassing love of God.  This commandment finds its concrete form in the unity of four mandates: the church, marriage and family, culture, and government.

Bonhoeffer says, "To be sure, the commandment of Jesus Christ rules church, family, culture, and government.  But it does so by simultaneously setting each of these mandates free to exercise their respective functions.  Jesus Christ's claim to rule as it is proclaimed by the church simultaneously means that family, culture, and government are set free to be what they are in their own nature as grounded in Christ.  Only through this liberation, which springs from the proclaimed rule of Christ, can the divine mandates be properly with-one-another, for-one-another, and against-one-another, as we will have to discuss extensively at a later point" (Ethics, 402).

In the midst of this quote, Bonhoeffer inserts a footnote - and this is what really caught my attention: "Here the antagonism between heteronomy and autonomy is overcome and taken up into a higher unity, which we could call Christonomy."

Christonomy - that's a new word to me; but I think I see where he's headed with it.  He's describing how the clash of autonomy - where one acts completely on their own will - and heteronomy - where one acts based upon external forces and obligations - is overcome when we understand that only through and in Jesus Christ can one act in complete freedom.  This is because true freedom is only when we are with- and for-one-another - and this is only possible in Jesus Christ.

Although Bonhoeffer does not use this term anywhere else in his writings, I think that what he is describing here is really a central theme of his entire theology.  And others agree.  I found an article by Ulrik Nissen, titled "Disbelief and Christonomy of the World" who argues that indeed Bonhoeffer's adoption of the term "Christonomy" is an accurate and helpful way to understand his theology in general, and Ethics in particular.  Nissen is especially helpful in the final section of his article when he describes how Bonhoeffer's ethic of Christonomy can be a useful way to engage issues of contemporary politics.

Considering Kuyper's commitment to Christian engagement in politics, I think there will be quite a bit to work with in a Bonhoeffer-Kuyper dialogue.

On a final note, here's a quote from Nissen that reminds us of Bonhoeffer's commitment to the world: "True worldliness does not exist in an endorsement of the autonomy of the worldly.  Any attempt to separate the worldly from the proclamation of Christ leads to a deification of the worldly."  Bonhoeffer affirms the world and its mandates (church, family, culture, and government), but only in its reality - the reality of Jesus Christ.

You'll have to give me the rest of the quarter to figure how this all works out...

Creating a Christian Worldview

My studies this quarter are taking me deep into the characters and ideas that form Neo-Calvinist theology and ethics.  One of the main tenets of Neo-Calvinist thought, as put forth by its leader Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920), is the belief that Christianity (as interpreted in Reformed/Calvinist thought) equips people for wide engagement in the whole of society, because all of the world is under God's grace and sovereignty.

There is much to be unpacked in even that one statement, and most of my quarter will be spent trying to understand and articulate the nuances and implications of Kuyper's and his colleague Herman Bavinck's thought.  I'm hopeful that I will have some time to work through some of the ideas that I am confronted with here on this blog in the coming months.  And I should mention that I am especially looking forward to working with the president of Fuller Seminary, Dr Richard Mouw, in this course.  He is my professor and Neo-Calvinism is his specialty - so I'm definitely in for a good ride.

In addition to Neo-Calvinism, I'm going to be turning my attention once again to Bonhoeffer.  I'm counting on some of the issues from this seminar to spur further questions and insight into how I might approach Bonhoeffer's thinking on theology and discipleship.  As a German Lutheran, Bonhoeffer is definitely not in the same camp as the Dutch Neo-Calvinists Kuyper and Bavinck.  But I have a hunch that in many ways they are after the same thing - creating a way to faithfully bear witness to the truth of Jesus Christ in every aspect of life.

It will be interesting to see where my research on Bonhoeffer takes me this quarter.  Is there a Neo-Calvinist influence in Bonhoeffer - perhaps that depends on Barth's connection to the movement...?  But, whether or not I engage with Neo-Calvinism and Bonhoeffer's thought, I am planning on pursuing Bonhoeffer's formation of a "Christian worldview" in his Ethics.  I am also beginning to mine volume 16 of the Bonhoeffer Works collection, Conspiracy and Imprisonment: 1940-1945 in hopes of substantiating the interplay of the concepts of discipleship and ethics in Bonhoeffer.  In a very real sense, ethics is discipleship for Bonhoeffer; participating in the conspiracy against Hitler was discipleship for Bonhoeffer.   Our theology of discipleship in effect creates our Christian worldview.  How Kuyper, Bavinck and Bonhoeffer converse around these issues will be an interesting, and fun, exercise.

Oh, and one last note...  I'm currently working through Kuyper's Lectures on Calvinism for discussion in my seminar.  Kuyper (who was also prime minister of the Netherlands from 1901-1905) delivered this series of six lectures at Princeton Theological Seminary in October of 1898, in Miller Chapel.  This picture was taken in October of 2009, with my wife Jackie, when our daughter Maddie Mae was four months old.  Miller Chapel is the white building.  Pretty cool.