The contribution of Dietrich Bonhoeffers Interpretation of the Old Testament

             "The Contribution of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Interpretation of the Old Testament"
             In reviewing the works of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the study of the Old Testament seems to be almost non-existent. It is not until his time in Tegel Prison, nearly one year prior to his execution, that he fully commits himself to serious thought on the subject "My thoughts and feelings seem to be getting more and more like those of the Old Testament, and in recent months I have been reading the Old Testament much more than the New (Bonhoeffer, Letters, 156)." Though his Old Testament study was fairly dicey and incomplete, the contributions of his interpretation have been tremendous. Bonhoeffer's distinct Christological approach to the Old Testament may not have pleased an orthodox readership, but the "kerygma" and additional impact of it was in one word, masterful, especially in view of the theological and historical context of his day. Due to his tumultuous academic life resultant of the German crisis (Bethge 1025), his cohesion of the Old and New Testaments centered in Christ was not systematically expressed and was primarily encountered in his exegetical studies, sermons, and letters and miscellaneous papers (Harrelson 115). As with all biblical interpretation, careful evaluation is required.
             Bonhoeffer views the Bible as the place where God reveals himself to the individual in the context of the church (Ballard 116). The Bible is not merely an instruction book or a magical book of answers to confirm or order human thinking about God and the world. It is not something to be manipulated, rather it to be come to humbly and in expectation of God's revelation of himself in relation to humanity (Harrelson 116). It is where "God speaks" to humanity and it listens (Kuske 20). To do otherwise is "to make man the measure of the Gospel rather than to learn from the Gospel the true norm for human existe...

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The contribution of Dietrich Bonhoeffers Interpretation of the Old Testament. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 14:13, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/48082.html