Bonhoeffer and Continental Thought

Brian Gregor is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Philosophy at Boston College.Jens Zimmermann holds a Canada Research Chair in Interpretation, Religion and Culture at Trinity Western University in Langley, British Columbia.

"This essay collection explores relationships between the theology of 20th-century Lutheran theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, whom the Nazis executed for his participation in armed struggle against Hitler, and philosophy. Some essays explore the philosophical roots of Bonhoeffer's project and the ways he employed philosophy to do theological work or corrected philosophical assumptions with theological ends. Other essays show the ways Bonhoeffer's theology, especially concerning interactions between human beings, resonates with the philosophy of later Continental philosophers such as Emmanuel Levinas. This collection is insightful and its essays largely careful explorations. However, the essays are also works of fairly technical philosophy and theology that would be most useful to specialists in the field and graduate students working on original research. Libraries with faculty who regularly teach classes on Bonhoeffer or other topics in philosophical theology may wish to consider this volume. Despite its outstanding essays, it is probably too narrow and specialized to be useful in collections that do not support significant programs in theology. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students and researchers/faculty. — Choice"—A. W. Klink, Duke University, March 2010"After decades of focusing on Bonhoeffer's theological oeuvre, recent Bonhoeffer scholarship is finally discovering the philosophical richness that has shaped Bonhoeffer's theology in the first place. This volume is a praiseworthy effort in this respect."—Modern Theology"This is an outstanding collection of essays that aims to read and introduce Dietrich Bonhoeffer as a philosophical theologin."—Heythrop Journal"This collection is insightful and its essays largely careful explorations. ...Recommended. —ChoiceMarch 2010"—A.W. Klink, Duke University"Bonhoeffer and Continental Thought . . . is an important contribution to the philosophical understanding and application of the thought of the German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer."—Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies"Long before the authors of the Radical Orthodoxy movement sought to move beyond the hegemony of secular reason and the false humility of theology, Bonhoeffer was pressing these very same issues."—Barry Harvey, Baylor University

• List of AbbreviationsIntroduction: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Cruciform PhilosophyBrian Gregor and Jens ZimmermannPart 1. Bonhoeffer on the Limits of Philosophy1. Ratio in se ipsam incurva: Bonhoeffer on the Uses and Limits of PhilosophyChristiane Tietz2. Bonhoeffer, This-worldliness, and the Limits of PhenomenologyPaul D. JanzPart 2. Bonhoeffer vis-à-vis Nietzsche and Heidegger3. Aristokratisches Christentum: On Bonhoeffer and NietzscheFrits de Lange4."Who Stands Fast?" Do Philosophers Make Good Résistants?Jean Greisch5. Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Heidegger: Two Different Visions of HumanityJens ZimmermannPart 3. Regarding "Religionless Christianity"6. Philosophical Influences on Bonhoeffer's "Religionless Christianity"Ralf K. Wüstenberg7. The Non-Religious Interpretation of Christianity in BonhoefferPaul Ricoeur8. Bonhoeffer's "Religious Clothes": The Naked Man, the Secret, and What We HearKevin HartPart 4. Bonhoeffer on Ethics and the Eschaton9. Bonhoeffer's "Christian Social Philosophy": Conscience, Alterity, and the Moment of ResponsibilityBrian Gregor10. At the Recurrent End of the Unending: Bonhoeffer's Eschatology of the PenultimateJohn Panteleimon ManoussakisAppendix: The Penultimate and the PrecursorList of ContributorsIndex