This quarter I am working on my dissertation proposal for Fuller and the VU Amsterdam. Here's a provisional title and brief description of the project:
A Prime Minister and a Prisoner – for the Common Good: The Convergence of
Abraham Kuyper’s and Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Theology of Discipleship
The tradition of the “common good” can be
traced from Cicero to Aristotle and then through Augustine, Aquinas, and
Ignatius. At its base, the common good seeks to find
and affirm the delicate balance between individual and collective pursuits of
human flourishing. In doing so,
the concept supports (as David Hollenbach describes) a practice of dialogic
universalism through the pursuit of deep intellectual and cultural exchanges of
practices and ideas. To this end, my
research will
explore a vision of the common good based upon a nuanced dialogue between the
Dutch neo-Calvinist tradition of common grace and the German Lutheran Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s
Christ-centered model of being-for the other. Scholars have worked to apply separately the theology and
ethics of German Lutherans like Bonhoeffer and of Dutch Calvinists like Abraham
Kuyper to a variety of political and historical circumstances. However, by exploring side-by-side how
Christian discipleship intersects with the notion of the common good in these
two traditions, my project seeks to find a particular line of continuity (while
giving due attention to the discontinuity) between two diverse historical and
theological traditions. To focus
the research, Kuyper’s theological development, political rise, and subsequent
tenure as Dutch Prime Minister from 1894 to 1905 will serve as the catalyst for
investigating and articulating a neo-Calvinist concept of discipleship and
political theology. In comparison
and contrast, the project will then explore the significance of Bonhoeffer’s
life and thought while a pastor and then a political prisoner from 1937 to
1945. These two diverse paradigms
– that of a prime minister and of a prisoner – will provide a unique and
compelling context to define and apply a robust historical and theological
concept of Christian discipleship that is concerned in practice with the
pursuit of the common good.
This is a work in progress, but it is exciting to see that progress is indeed being made!
