To See Responsibility from Below: Bonhoeffer, Niebuhr, and Racism

This article analyzes and compares the theologies of Bonhoeffer and Reinhold Niebuhr regarding race and racial injustice. It examines the ways both theologians responded to the racial crisis in America, and Bonhoeffer in Nazi Germany, in patterns consistent with their own divergent accounts of moral...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Norris, Kristopher (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Sage Publ. 2023
In: Theology today
Year: 2023, Volume: 80, Issue: 2, Pages: 144-161
IxTheo Classification:KAJ Church history 1914-; recent history
KBB German language area
KBQ North America
KDD Protestant Church
NBE Anthropology
NCC Social ethics
NCD Political ethics
Further subjects:B James Cone
B Dietrich Bonhoeffer
B womanist ethics
B White Supremacy
B Responsibility
B Reinhold Niebuhr
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:This article analyzes and compares the theologies of Bonhoeffer and Reinhold Niebuhr regarding race and racial injustice. It examines the ways both theologians responded to the racial crisis in America, and Bonhoeffer in Nazi Germany, in patterns consistent with their own divergent accounts of moral responsibility. The article argues that Bonhoeffer's theology of the responsible life offers deeper ethical resources than Niebuhr's for responding to the contemporary realities of White supremacy. Yet, while celebrating Bonhoeffer's contributions, it concludes by drawing on criticisms of Bonhoeffer from feminist and womanist thinkers to press this notion of acting responsibly in light of white supremacy beyond Bonhoeffer and offering one concrete example of an institution attempting to do that work.
ISSN:2044-2556
Contains:Enthalten in: Theology today
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/00405736231172699