Theological Journal – February 6 What Dietrich Bonhoeffer (DB) Would Say to the North American Church (2)
2. Bonhoeffer’s second word for a church seeking faith in a “world-come-of-age” is: “We’re not in Kansas anymore.” Corollary : “You can’t get there (to a faithful church in that new world) from here (Christian religion).” No longer living in a “Christian” (religious) world, we must act like missionaries and do reconnaissance on this new world we hope to engage. This “world-come-of-age” (WCOA) according to DB is the fruition of developments in Western culture from the 13th century through the Renaissance and Enlightenment. Human confidence in its ability to manage and order its own life without any need of God had reached its apogee. All of life was now enveloped in this confidence. Bonhoeffer did not think this WCOA meant this epoch was better or more moral than its predecessor. Or that religion had vanished and no longer played any role in anyone’s life any more. It did mean, however, that for large swathes of people in Europe religion and its God no long...