One of the many important conversations that has emerged in our culture over the past decade or so is the conversation around ‘privilege’ — the structural advantages in a social and political system that make it easier for certain people to thrive based on factors such as class, race and ethnicity, gender, and sexuality. This … Continue reading Paul on Privilege: A Reflection on Philippians 3.3-14
Last week, we saw how Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Christian commitments forced him to resist the Third Reich, speaking out to the point of being labeled an enemy of the state and ultimately involving himself in a plot to assassinate Hitler. His was a theology of Christian responsibility that was formed and articulated in the crucible of … Continue reading On Hope and the Cross: Jürgen Moltmann’s Search for a Life ‘after Auschwitz’
Today in this Lenten series, “Theology from under the Rubble,” I’m going to pause a moment to reflect on a further theme in Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s thought that seems particularly relevant today. As I was reading through his Letters and Papers from Prison, I was struck by his reflections on time — specifically how the prolonged … Continue reading Redeeming Lost Time: Bonhoeffer on Disrupted Lives
We live in a divided world. This is nothing new, but what is perhaps surprising, especially for those of us who grew up in stable times in the West that seemed to carry so much promise for the future, is that the world seems only to be growing more divided, not less. We have increasing … Continue reading The Father’s Love: A Reflection on Luke 15.1-3, 11-32 & 2 Corinthians 5.16-21
So far in this series on what the Christian tradition has had to say in the midst of crises and disasters, the issues have all had outside causes: the Babylonian invasion of Judah, the Visigoths’ sack of Rome, John Donne’s illness, and the Black experience of White oppression. But happens when it’s your own people … Continue reading The Call to Christian Responsibility: Bonhoeffer vs. the Third Reich
Matthew Root 