I have been invited to return to Canadian Mennonite University and offer the six week lecture series on Dietrich Bonhoeffer that was cut short last spring due to the pandemic. The series entitled, “Theological Resistance in Troubled Times: The Compelling Witness of Dietrich Bonhoeffer,” is being offered through CMU’s Xplore program that encourages learning among those 55 years of age and older. My first lecture, this Thursday at 11:30 am Central Time, will provide a biographical orientation to Bonhoeffer’s life and legacy. The series is being offered on Zoom this year, so if you fall into that demographic, you can register for $40. You can learn more about the CMU Xplore series and register for the course here.
Tag Archives: Bonhoeffer
Claimed by Costly Grace (Video Resource)
This spring I was scheduled to deliver a series of lectures as part of the Xplore program at Canadian Mennonite University entitled, “Theological Resistance in Troubled Times: The Compelling Witness of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.” Unfortunately, COVID had other ideas. I was only able to give two of the planned six lectures. Because I was teaching an intensive course on Bonhoeffer at Providence Theological Seminary the week that Xplore was scheduled to start, I had to record my first lecture: “Claimed by Costly Grace: The Life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.” You can watch that recording below: Continue reading Claimed by Costly Grace (Video Resource)
Bonhoeffer on “Stolen Words” (Series on “Minding the Web”)
This is the fourth in a series of posts highlighting captivating, provocative, or simply entertaining quotes from the forthcoming book Minding the Web: Making Theological Connections by Stanley Hauerwas with Robert J. Dean (Cascade).
“To find the proper words” strikes me as the great challenge for the recovery of the church’s visibility. Consider, for example, Bonhoeffer’s reflections in the Ethics—tellingly in the section “Ethics as Formation”—in which he describes how Hitler, the one who tyrannically despises humanity, makes use of the meanness of the human heart by giving it other names. Continue reading Bonhoeffer on “Stolen Words” (Series on “Minding the Web”)
Bonhoeffer and the Canadian “Values Test”
A few weeks ago, I was interviewed by Olivia Lavallee, a student at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, about Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s views on church and state for an article she was writing about the controversial “Attestation” required by the Canadian federal government on summer grant applications. You can read the full article here.
“Livin’ on a Prayer”: A Prescription for Pastoral Ministry
This past Sunday (June 10, 2018) I had the great privilege of preaching at the ordination of my friend and former student Robyn Elliott at Yorkminster Park Baptist Church in Toronto. The following is the text of my sermon. The Scripture readings were Isaiah 50:4-9 and 2 Timothy 1:3-14. Continue reading “Livin’ on a Prayer”: A Prescription for Pastoral Ministry
Salvation by Allegiance Alone – Chapter 3
This is the fourth in a series of posts engaging with Matthew Bates’s Salvation by Allegiance Alone. The earlier posts can be read here: first, second, third.
In chapter 3, “Jesus Proclaims the Gospel,” Bates turns to confronting a longstanding problem in modern Protestant Christianity: the reconciliation of the Letters of Paul with the Gospels.1 The writings of Paul have long been a haven for certain forms of Lutheranism and conservative evangelicalism espousing the centrality of a particular understanding of justification by faith. While the Gospels have often been the playground of some liberal forms of Christianity attempting to advance a social agenda based upon ethical principles. The irony is that in their readings of their respective canons-within-a-canon both groups have lost sight of the animating center of the canon as a whole, as well as Paul’s Letters and the Gospels in particular, namely the crucified and living Lord Jesus Christ. Continue reading Salvation by Allegiance Alone – Chapter 3
- Interestingly, Bonhoeffer felt the need to make a similar move in his famous treatise Discipleship. Although, Bonhoeffer began with the Synoptic Gospels before turning his attention to Paul. ↩