Barth, Bonhoeffer, and Modern Politics

by Joshua Mauldin

Recent political events around the world have raised the spectre of an impending collapse of democratic institutions. Contemporary concerns about the decline of liberal democracy are reminicent to the tumult of the 1930s and 1940s in Europe. Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer lived in Germany during the rise of National Socialism, and each reflected on what the rise of totalitarianism meant for the aspirations of modern politics. Engaging the realities oftotalitarian terror, they avoided despairing rejections of modern society. Beginning with Barth in the wake of the First World War, following Bonhoeffer through the 1930s and 1940s in Nazi Germany, and concluding with Barth's post-war reflections in the 1950s, this study explores how these figures reflected onmodern society during this turbulent time and how their work is relevant to the current crisis of modern democracy.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics

175 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 18, 2021

Reviews

[Jon Coutts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful book! "Even in the midst of this crisis, they sought neither the retrieval of a premodern synthesis, nor .. some postmodern alternative... They offered up their service to their time" (151).

[Adam Shields · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: A reappraisal of Barth and Bonhoeffer's thinking around modernity and politics.

I regularly recommend the Audible Plus lending library, where Audible members can borrow several thousand audiobooks at no additional costs beyond the membership. Barth, Bonhoeffer, and Modern Politics is a book that has been on my to-read list for a while, but currently, the Kindle version is over $70, and the Hardcover is $66. While I borrowed the audiobook, if I had purchased it, it was less than $10 when I picked it up. I am never going to make sense of that type of pricing disparity.

I was glad I listened to it, even if it may be a book that would be better read in print. It was a helpful book to think about and even had some aspect of discernment (and an ongoing reading project of mine) that I had not anticipated. But I do want to note that I did not love the narration. The British narrator did not pronounce some of the names and theological, philosophical, or political terms correctly. It is not just variations between American and British pronunciations. More importantly, I thought the tone of the narration was just off, but not so much that I didn't listen to the whole book in just a few days.

Mauldin is concerned about the state of democracy and is using Barth's and Bonhoeffer's political thought to grapple with how they addressed the changes in Germany. To start, Mauldin looks at the critiques of modernity by Brad Gregory, Alasdair MacIntyre, and Stanley Hauerwas. I read After Virtue recently and have read several books by Hauerwas over the years. However, I did not have any background on Brad Gregory. The introduction to their ideas was thorough enough that I felt like I was clear.

From that introduction, Mauldin explores Barth and Bonhoeffer's understanding of modernity, progress, ethics, and politics. I have read more by and about Bonhoeffer than Barth. But these are topical areas that I don't have much background in.

Mauldin was right that, quite often today, Bonhoeffer's theology and writing are overshadowed by his biography. There is a long history of Bonhoeffer being appropriated for political purposes, and Mauldin does a good job exploring the limitations of modern uses of Bonhoeffer.

Some of Barth, Bonhoeffer, and Modern Politics was above my head, but I think I understood all the main points. I would like to explore more how philosophers and theologians influenced by those continental philosophers think about the relationship between God's sovereignty and progress and the limitations of knowledge regarding how to think about discernment by individuals and communities.

I was somewhat surprised that there was some overlap in Mauldin's exploration of how Barth and Bonhoeffer understood the church's role and how Michael Emerson and Glenn Bracey explored The Religion of Whiteness. In both cases, there is a grappling with what it means to prod the church to a more careful connection between church and politics and what happens when the church begins to follow something more than just Jesus. In Emerson and Bracey's case, they posit that a significant portion of White Christians in the US are treating Whiteness (the belief in racial superiority and hierarchy) as a type of religion (in the Durkheimian sense of the term.) In Barth and Bonhoeffer's cases, they were grappling with how Nationalist Socialism and the belief in Aryan superiority also became a type of religion that distracted the church from its proper role in society. The comparison has problems; not everything transfers, and going directly to comparisons with Nazi ideology does violate Godwin's law. However, in discussions about how to respond either to Christian Nationalism or support of Whiteness (overlapping but different issues), it is reasonable to think about where there are limited overlapping concepts.

After I finished Barth, Bonhoeffer, and Modern Politics, I started reading Hot Protestants: A History of Puritanism in England and America. That history is also relevant because, in many ways, the Puritans in England and America were attempting to enact a Christian Nation in terms that are not unlike the way that some current Christian Nationalists want to operate. Again, no history is completely parallel. The Puritans arose out of a desire for a more radical reformation than the Church of England as a whole wanted. The political realities of a monarchy and the congregationalism that arose in Puritan New England that was part of what gave rise to the impulse toward democracy in the United States is just different from the reaction to pluralism that seems to be central to Christian Nationalism today. But still, the parallels that exist can inform our thinking, help us be more humble about the limits of reform, and keep us from utopian thinking.

This was originally posted on my blog at https://bookwi.se/barth-bonhoeffer/

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book focuses on the beliefs of Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer and their thoughts on modern politics, particularly in a Trump era. It is a good rebuke to the "American Church" on the fusion of politics and Christianity (similar to what happened in Germany and the German Lutheran Church during World War II). The "American Church" acts there is a war going on and tries to force people to conform to their ideas.

I listened to the audiobook of this book, which was read by Bruce Mann. He does a great job and his British accent was a good addition.

[Derek Kreider · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't in the best mental frame to soak this book in, so take my rating with a grain of salt.

I found Mauldin's discussion of Alasdair MacIntyre helpful, in that MacIntyre is dense to work through. So this was helpful for me to understand him a little more. Overall, the book is a great unpacking of some of the greatest theological minds in the 20th century. The one thing I would push back against is Mauldin's critique of Hauerwas at the end. I don't think Mauldin has a clear picture in that regard.

As Barth and Bonhoeffer were unpacked, I was disappointed with how much they seemed to (at least as Mauldin interpreted and quoted them) flirt with consequentialism and lesser of two evils morality.

This book would pair well with "Bonhoeffer the Assassin" to provide an alternative look at Bonhoeffer through a different line of his writing.

[Corey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great little book on Barth and Bonhoeffer and how their political theologies could apply today.

[Ryan Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was Interesting to see these two theologians examined primarily through a political lens rather than a religious one. The book overall was a little dry, but had good and fascinating stuff in it.