The Political Responsibility of the Church

Join us as we welcome Dr. Mark Brocker for an online lecture, followed by a moderated Q&A Discussion with attendees. 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a well-known Lutheran German theologian and pastor, and hero and martyr against the Nazi Third Reich, has been again in the news lately. A mainstream Hollywood movie has depicted Bonhoeffer’s involvement in a secret plot to kill Hitler in a sensationalized way that earned the condemnation of Bonhoeffer’s family. It’s important that we accurately understand Bonhoeffer’s legacy and model for our present moment. As this talk will show, Bonhoeffer may have felt compelled in an extraordinary situation to do what he did. But the last thing he would have wanted is for his extraordinary involvement in a violent conspiracy to be used as a model for followers of Jesus. The International Bonhoeffer Society spearheaded a petition in the Fall of 2024 strongly critiquing the misuse of Bonhoeffer to support political violence and Christian nationalism.

In fact, unlike what is implied in the subtitle of the recent Bonhoeffer movie, “Pastor, Spy, Assassin,” Bonhoeffer did not condone violence. In this talk, Mark will take us through the story of Bonhoeffer’s years as a budding theologian and pastor in the time of the emergence of the Third Reich. In the aftermath of the ”Night of Broken Glass” (November 9, 1938), in which Nazi henchmen vandalized Jewish synagogues and businesses all over Germany, for instance, Bonhoeffer was deeply disillusioned by the tepid response of official leaders of the Confessing Church. Invited by Reinhold Niebuhr and others who were concerned about his safety to come to the United States, after only a short stay there he decided to return to Germany, writing Niebuhr that “I will have no right to participate in the reconstruction of Christian life in Germany after the war if I do not share the trials of this time with my people.” Back in Germany, he became increasingly involved in conspiratorial efforts to neutralize Hitler, and was ultimately put to death by Reich. Mark will show us how understanding the evolution of Bonhoeffer’s theology and life experience can help us to better judge his involvement in this plot to kill Hitler, and suggest what Bonhoeffer more truly has to show us today as a model in troubled political times.