This is a continuation of my series following Dietrich Bonhoeffer words about his belief that stupidity caused the Nazi era in Germany. I am trying to learn if his experiences mirror what is happening today in the U.S. Up to … Continue reading Understanding Stupidity #6 – Stupidity Of Following The Herd
“ People become stupid when they do not want to understand, where understanding would cause anxiety or guilt feeling, or would endanger an existing neurotic equilibrium. Deitrich Bonhoeffer This is a short quote from Bonhoeffer, but it speaks volumes about stupidity. I like … Continue reading Understanding Stupidity #4 -Neurotic Equilibrium
As promised on my December 23rd post, this is the first in a series about Stupidity. It might seem strange to make this topic for a weekly series, but stupidity has serious connotations for our times, as it did during … Continue reading Understanding Stupidity #1 – The Origins Of This Study
In the new RJsCorner, I want to get back to my roots, and Will Rogers is one of those roots I have avoided for too long. Years ago, when I started creating my personal style of writing, Will Rogers was … Continue reading Understanding Stupidity – Will Roger’s Style…
Today I will continue my discussions of a book by Tony Jones entitled The New Christians; Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier. I’m sure if there are any pastors or theologians who accidentally come across the blog post their first reaction is to adamantly disagree with the title that all theology is local. Here is what Tony Jones says about that: theology is not universal, nor is it transcendent. The God about whom we theologize is transcendent, but our human musings about God are not. To think that our theology is not local and specific is a falsity that has been … Continue reading All Theology Is Local….
Toward the end of his life, while in a Nazi prison, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was a well known Lutheran theologian, wrote some tantalizing letters to his friend Eberhad Bethage where he wrestles with what he calls “religionless Christianity.”The letters in question were written in 1944 not long before he was executed by the Nazi’s. What did Bohhoeffer mean by Religionless Christianity? Here are some of the words from those letters: What is bothering me incessantly is the question what Christianity really is, or indeed who Christ really is, for us today. The time when people could be told everything by means of … Continue reading Religionless Christianity???
The term Cheap Grace was originally found in a book by Dietrich Bonhoeffer entitled The Cost of Discipleship. Bonheoffer was a Lutheran pastor and theologian in Germany during Hitler’s rise to power. He was hung by the SS as a traitor in 1945 as he rejected Hitler’s rule. To get started let’s look at the following excerpt is from Wikipedia: In Bonhoeffer’s words: “cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline. Communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ.” Or, to put it even more … Continue reading Cheap Grace is VERY Expensive!!
RJ's Corner - Having My Say 