Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Quote for today

“The point of departure for Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s concrete ethics is the theological question of how the reality of God revealed in Jesus Christ can take form in human life in the world. Bonhoeffer’s ethical reflection tries to understand God’s will and the world’s reality here and now, together, the one not without the other. Rather than treating the reality of the world as a matter of indifference—it is in fact disclosed completely anew—and rather than eclipsing it in some fashion, Bonhoeffer confronts the reality of the world with the Yes and No that God’s presence means for it.”—Editors’ Afterword to the German Edition of Bonhoeffer’s Ethics, page 409 of English edition.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

On pg. 192 of Bonhoeffer's Ethics (1962 Macmillan) you will find these words: "We live when, in our encounter with men and with God, the 'yes' and the 'no' are combined in a unity of contradictions, in selfless self-assertion, in self-assertion in the sacrifice of ourseles to God and to men." I am fascinated by (and have some small grasp on this 'yes' and 'no' condition), but does anyone know of an ethicist who has explained Bonhoeffer's concept in more simple terms that even I could understand?