Keith Clements sets out how and why Dietrich Bonhoeffer, more than seventy-five years after his execution by the Nazis, still speaks cogently both to the churches and society. Beginning with the earlier reception of him as a martyr-figure and then as a provocatively original theologian, this book argues his relevance to contemporary engagement with public ethics, ecumenism, truth-telling and reconciliation, the relation between faith and democracy in a time of political extremisms, the issues of national identity signalled by Brexit, and the challenge of finding an ethical response to such challenges as the global pandemic. Bonhoeffer's perception that living representatively on behalf of others is both the key to who God is as known in Jesus Christ, and the basis of all truly human community, provides the connecting thread running through these chapters on what it means to believe and be responsible in a fragmenting world. Clements also links this thread to the seventeenth-century spiritual writer Thomas Traherne and the Catholic Modernist Friedrich von Hugel.

A survey of how Bonhoeffer's theology provides a critique of contemporary secular and religious forms of individualism, and offers a way towards a truly communal future of freedom in responsible relationship to others.

About the Author
Keith Clements was a Baptist minister and a General Secretary of the Conference of European Churches, Switzerland.

Reviews
This book invites us to consult with Bonhoeffer on matters of faith and responsible living in church and all spheres of society. It reveals the amazing relevance and significance of Bonhoeffer for ecumenical Public Theology today. Clements is one of the most authentic messengers to invite us to such appointments. -- Nico Koopman, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa



Book Information
ISBN 9780567707055
Author Rev'd Dr Keith Clements
Format Hardback
Page Count 224
Imprint T.& T.Clark Ltd
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC