Jacob Phillips presents a critical study of a neglected aspect of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's theology: his writing on human subjectivity, self-reflection, and individual identity 'in Christ'. In response to the rise of chronic self-representation through digital technology, Phillips argues that Bonhoeffer presents a radical challenge, maintaining that – from the perspective of Christian theology - there is something deeply negative about beholding representations of oneself. Bonhoeffer instead holds that discipleship means adopting a posture of radical agnosticism toward one's own identity. Phillips focuses on the interrelation of 'simplicity' and 'reflection' in theological cognition and ethical deliberation, showing a wider significance in contemporary theological anthropology, soteriology and ethics. By following the tradition of reading Bonhoeffer in relation to the philosophical sources, such as Wüstenberg , Janz, Whitson-Floyd, Marsh, Zimmermann, Gregor, Phillips highlights the ways in which Bonhoeffer's work relates to modern debates in epistemology and ethics generally, and that of Wilhelm Dilthey and hermeneutical phenomenology in particular. This volume offers a detailed theological analysis of the themes of self-identity, human subjectivity, and self-understanding, which are highly pertinent for contemporary society.

Bonhoeffer's writings include a significant amount of biblical interpretation, but his potential contributions in the fields of biblical studies and theological exegesis of Scripture have not been sufficiently explored. This study reassesses some of his key exegetical writings in light of his theology of revelation and bibliology, unfolding the ways in which his reading of the Bible is determined by his theology of Scripture. Through this analysis, Joel Banman demonstrates that the uniting factor of Bonhoeffer's biblical interpretation is not methodological but bibliological: he reads Scripture as the living word of the present Christ.

The key question this volume addresses is 'how does Bonhoeffer's thought help to re(dis)cover the doctrine of Christ's two natures and one person and understand and renew it in its significance for a modern post-metaphysical and secular world?' The volume takes a fresh look at Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Christology and brings it into a fruitful dialogue with current Christological debates. In a multi-perspectival, pluralistic world, Bonhoeffer's thinking offers a productive basis for conceptually incorporating the openness required for this task into academic theology. Bonhoeffer's theology offers a starting point for the recovery of a productive Christology that reflects the plurality of the globalized world, as Bonhoeffer's Christology begins precisely with this integration into worldly reality, whereby the world is understood in its plurality and polyphony. In this way, he characterizes his enterprise as follows: “What keeps gnawing at me is the question, what is Christianity, or who is Christ actually for us today” (DBWE 8, 362). Accordingly, it opens itself up not only to inner-Christian discussion but also to non-Christian worldviews, from which a basic ethical demand follows.

Jacob Phillips presents a critical study of a neglected aspect of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's theology: his writing on human subjectivity, self-reflection, and individual identity 'in Christ'. In response to the rise of chronic self-representation through digital technology, Phillips argues that Bonhoeffer presents a radical challenge, maintaining that – from the perspective of Christian theology - there is something deeply negative about beholding representations of oneself. Bonhoeffer instead holds that discipleship means adopting a posture of radical agnosticism toward one's own identity. Phillips focuses on the interrelation of 'simplicity' and 'reflection' in theological cognition and ethical deliberation, showing a wider significance in contemporary theological anthropology, soteriology and ethics. By following the tradition of reading Bonhoeffer in relation to the philosophical sources, such as Wüstenberg , Janz, Whitson-Floyd, Marsh, Zimmermann, Gregor, Phillips highlights the ways in which Bonhoeffer's work relates to modern debates in epistemology and ethics generally, and that of Wilhelm Dilthey and hermeneutical phenomenology in particular. This volume offers a detailed theological analysis of the themes of self-identity, human subjectivity, and self-understanding, which are highly pertinent for contemporary society.

Soteriology, not epistemology, is the best entrance to theological hermeneutics and to the doctrine of Scripture. The triune God uses Scripture to make the community of believers live in Christ. We hear the words of Scripture in the light of Easter and Pentecost. We understand Scripture from faith in Christ and with the mind of Christ. At the same time, we come to know Christ in Scripture and we receive the mind of Christ by reading Scripture. We remain in Christ by remaining in the Word. Understanding Scripture and Christlikeness mutually reinforce each other. Living a Christian life with God and our neighbor in God’s world will deepen our understanding of Scripture. This book explores the complex relationships between Jesus Christ, participation in Christ, theological hermeneutics, and the doctrine of Scripture. It shows the necessity of a holistic approach of life, knowledge, understanding, and renewal.

“Things do exist that are worth standing up for without compromise. To me it seems that peace and social justice are such things, as is Christ himself.” These are words Dietrich Bonhoeffer spoke to his brother a few months before he began training future pastors in the ways of discipleship. For several years he had been speaking out against war. Near the beginning of the anti-Semitic Nazi regime, he called on his fellow Christians to speak out against a state that was engaging in oppressive measures, to respond to victims of oppression, and to be willing to suffer, as a church, if it was required to stop such oppression. His vision for training disciples was rooted in pure doctrine, serious worship, a new kind of monasticism, and the Sermon on the Mount. Bonhoeffer was convinced that through the living presence of Jesus and the explosive teachings of the Sermon on the Mount “lies the force that can blow all this hocus-pocus sky-high—like fireworks, leaving only a few burnt-out shells behind.” This is the legacy of this extraordinary theologian that this book seeks to recover—exploring how this was lived out in a world full of Nazis.

Jens Zimmermann locates Bonhoeffer within the Christian humanist tradition extending back to patristic theology. He begins by explaining Bonhoeffer's own use of the term humanism (and Christian humanism), and considering how his criticism of liberal Protestant theology prevents him from articulating his own theology rhetorically as a Christian humanism. He then provides an in-depth portrayal of Bonhoeffer's theological anthropology and establishes that Bonhoeffer's Christology and attendant anthropology closely resemble patristic teaching. The volume also considers Bonhoeffer's mature anthropology, focusing in particular on the Christian self. It introduces the hermeneutic quality of Bonhoeffer's theology as a further important feature of his Christian humanism. In contrast to secular and religious fundamentalisms, Bonhoeffer offers a hermeneutic understanding of truth as participation in the Christ event that makes interpretation central to human knowing. Having established the hermeneutical structure of his theology, and his personalist configuration of reality, Zimmermann outlines Bonhoeffer's ethics as 'Christformation'. Building on the hermeneutic theology and participatory ethics of the previous chapters, he then shows how a major part of Bonhoeffer's life and theology, namely his dedication to the Bible as God's word, is also consistent with his Christian humanism.