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Article

Bonhoeffer, Kierkegaard, and Conditional Pacifism

Department of Political Science, College of Arts and Sciences, The University of Texas at Tyler, Tyler, TX 75799, USA
Religions 2025, 16(5), 536; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050536
Submission received: 7 January 2025 / Revised: 19 February 2025 / Accepted: 16 April 2025 / Published: 22 April 2025

Abstract

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Christian pacifist who believed Jesus Christ taught nonviolence, yet Bonhoeffer was involved in a conspiracy to assassinate Adolf Hitler. How did Bonhoeffer justify to himself his participation in the plot? This essay makes the argument that Bonhoeffer, influenced by Soren Kierkegaard, distinguishes between ethics and acts of faith, suggesting the possibility that Bonhoeffer believed he was responding in faithful obedience to the direct call of God to participate in the plot despite the fact that this conflicted with the ethics of the Sermon on the Mount.
Keywords: Bonhoeffer; Kierkegaard; pacifism; faith; ethics Bonhoeffer; Kierkegaard; pacifism; faith; ethics

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MDPI and ACS Style

Bock, G.L. Bonhoeffer, Kierkegaard, and Conditional Pacifism. Religions 2025, 16, 536. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050536

AMA Style

Bock GL. Bonhoeffer, Kierkegaard, and Conditional Pacifism. Religions. 2025; 16(5):536. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050536

Chicago/Turabian Style

Bock, Gregory L. 2025. "Bonhoeffer, Kierkegaard, and Conditional Pacifism" Religions 16, no. 5: 536. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050536

APA Style

Bock, G. L. (2025). Bonhoeffer, Kierkegaard, and Conditional Pacifism. Religions, 16(5), 536. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050536

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