Bonhoeffer Chapter Summary

What does Christian community really mean? Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community by Dietrich Bonhoeffer gives insight into what Christians relationships were designed to be like. The main theme Bonhoeffer explores is Christ in the Christian community under the Word of God. Bonhoeffer explains God’s gift of community by arguing the following: “It is grace, nothing but grace, that we are allowed to live in community with Christian brethren” (Bonhoeffer, 1978, p. 20). In addition the author adds, “Christian community is like the Christian’s sanctification. It is a gift of God, which we cannot claim. Only God knows the real state of our fellowship, of our sanctification” (p. 30). Overall Life Together is biblically

In this chapter, Macduff starts off by saying that it is thanks to the actions of agitators in the past that governments have redirected towards more democratic societies. Here, she uses Martin Luther King as an example during the Civil Rights Movement. It was thanks to his civil disobedience tactics that the United States government was able to move forward and recognize its wrong doings. As the chapter continues, Macduff talks about how the Australian government limits and manipulates the meaning of active citizenship to its constituents. She makes the argument that the Australian government fails to support the principle of active citizenship value it promises. For example, the rituals and pledges the Australian government enforces to future

I believe the overall message of Henry David Thoreau´s “Solitude” is to differentiate solitude and loneliness which are totally different. It is more of a state of mind than something real. People around by other people would feel more loneliness than people who are physically alone. For Thoreau being in solitude is the best way to discover your mind and spirituality and is the best way to know yourself.

Although I agree with most of the opinions that Kinzer has put forward in this book, there is one area that he jumps the gun, at least from my perspective. In the last chapter of the book Kinzer talks about how the current Iranian government out of hatred for the west, has been financing terrorist groups like Hamas for years and this on its own is harmless and factual, it’s the assertion he makes next that will cause your head to spin. Out of nowhere he says, “It is not far-fetched to draw a line from operation Ajax through the Shah’s repressive regime and the Islamic Revolution to the fireballs that engulfed the World Trade Center in New York.” (Kinzer, p203-204) To be totally objective he meant that Iranian revolutionary leaders had

Gladding’s begins with Ezekiel’s encounter and sharing of the news of the Temple and Jerusalem is described. The tension is heavy for the crowd does know that hearing the stories of their failing kings brings much anger and sadness. Rehoboam and his advisors’ wickedness is introduced to the crowd, and the crowd responds with distaste, since Rehoboam acted more like the official in Egypt. Rehoboam was credited by the old man for listening to the prophet that informed him to not fight Jeroboam and the northern tribes. Abijam, Rehoboam’s son, followed his father’s wicked ways by practicing evil activities that the surrounding cultures committed. The old man then reminds the crowd that the Lord sent many prophets to the kings in order for the Lord’s

In Chapter 15, Zinsser talks about the difficulties people have writing about science and technology. Zinsser says that most people have trouble with these topics because people don’t really know what they are writing about. A lot of writers won’t put in effort to learn about what they are asked to write about. They can’t write about what they don’t understand, so they are just putting meaningless words on their paper. He even stated that most scientists out there don’t like wring about their own interests and discoveries because they aren’t good at writing. Zinsser says that when you write about science and technology, you should make it simple to readers so that they understand. You should write out and explain the steps that occur so that

Yet, through communal living you aren’t really alone with the divine truth. You depend on other people for other commodities, such as food, clothing, or water. Another difference would be that when you are around other people it can be difficult to use your creative, imaginative side. You feel more forced to conform to others ideas. When you are around other people you are more inclined to copy what they say or do and how they act- everyday plagerism.

From this passage, Bonhoeffer states that our brothers and sisters in Christ reflect the voice of God. He explains that if people do not know listen to their brother and sister in Christ then it means you are not listening to God. God works and reflects on his children-That means all his children. Overall, in what I learned from Bonhoeffer based on this passage is to listen to our brothers and sister in Christ. As Christians, we believe that is to our self and do not listen to the people around us. Personally, I believe as a leader of an important area in my church is very important for me to listen to my fellow brothers and sister in Christ. I also believe that my team (who are children of Christ) should listen to me because if they do not listen to me then that means they are not listening to God.

In 1906, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was born along with his twin sister Sabine in Breslau, Germany to neurologist Karl Bonhoeffer and his wife Paula. Growing up, Dietrich was expected to follow the footsteps of his father and his older siblings into the field of medicine, however it was quite a surprise for them to hear that he had decided to become a pastor. This was shocking news to the Bonhoeffers because they were not religious family. Bonhoeffer graduated from the University of Berlin in 1927 with a doctorate degree in the field theology at the age of only twenty-one. He believed that Christians needed to be involved in politics and work together in order to establish God’s kingdom on earth.

This book starts off discussing the history of applied sciences. Peter Hernquist is named the “father” of veterinary medicine in Sweden and was sent to veterinary school by the Swedish Authorities after Europe was hit with a cattle plague. Later, Hernquist eventually established an agriculture school in attempt to modernize education in his country. Within this school he proposed ideas to improve agriculture. Some ideas entailed increasing pig population, making vinegar from rotten apples and pears, and reducing the import of grain and use the money to reward successful farmers. While Hernquist is coined as the “father”

Thoreau, while not expressing his view as dramatically as McCandless, also viewed isolation as a positive experience. He believed in being able to be entertained even while in solitude, and that the loneliness with being “alone in a crowd” is more likely than the loneliness that comes with solitude. He believes that becoming part of the mass of society is what culminates loneliness, that the need for constant communication is no more than a need to gossip (Thoreau73). He believes that with independence, one can find oneself. Thoreau often mentions that the company of others isn’t needed, stating that if you “follow your genius closely... it will not fail to show you a fresh prospect every hour,” (Thoreau73). This means that if you rely on yourself when enveloped in boredom, you will find entertainment in something more times than not. He strongly follows this philosophy, even cleaning out his cabin or doing housework when bored (Thoreau72). Thoreau often set all his furniture out on the lawn, scrubbing

In this book, Jeffrey Ogbar talks about the beginning of rap, where it started, some of the artists of this genre and some of the controversial topics the artists rap about. He also talks about the usage of the N word as well as men calling women the B word. In the first chapter of the book, Ogbar contextualizes the debate by talking about the history of the minstrel figure in American popular culture, relying mainly on the work of W. T. Lhamon and Patricia Hill Collins. He talks about how the earliest manifestations of hip-hop music in the 1970s came from the Black Power movement and often included direct rejections of minstrel tropes for example in the artist KRS-One’s song “My Philosophy”. Before going on a chronological study of the internal debates that many rappers have over their relationships with the minstrel trope, Ogbar finds the source of the debate in early twentieth-century black writers’, mainly W.E.B Du Bois, interest in elevating many portrayals of African Americans in the arts, versus Harlem Renaissance writers’ rejection of the emphasis on

After reading the both of the chapters written by great historians, it has changed my views on how I look at the Cold War and decolonization in a wider perspective. The ideas and philosophy of the two main great powers, United States and Soviet Union, had a huge amount of influences in many countries. Many in which had to either pick a side of communism or a capitalism. As I was reading these texts it was astonishing how much these great powers did to try to get countries to join their sides, and specially the new countries that were formed during the decolonization.

One of the core features of Bonhoeffer that is consistent throughout his career is his view of an ultimate reality that God has reconciled and redeemed the world through Christ. This is the Christological hinge on which Bonhoeffer’s theological and ethic beliefs hang. Bonhoeffer takes the age old ethical question “How can I be good?” and completely disregards it in favor of “What is the will of God?” Bonhoeffer writes that the former question errs because it is concerned the individual reality as opposed to the ultimate reality. Bonhoeffer writes, “If it turns out, however, that these realities, myself and the world, are themselves embedded in a wholly other ultimate reality, namely, the reality of God the Creator, Reconciler, and Redeemer, then the ethical problem takes on a whole new aspect.” Therefore the ethical objective becomes embodying the ultimate reality of God, even at the risk of not being “good,” or as

Start thinking of solitude as a good thing. Make room for it, because that's when we discover ourselvesStart thinking of solitude as a good thing. Make room for it, because that's when we discover ourselvesStart thinking of solitude as a good thing. Make room for it, because that's when we discover ourselvesStart thinking of solitude as a good thing. Make room for it, because that's when we discover ourselvesStart thinking of solitude as a good thing. Make room for it, because that's when we discover ourselvesStart thinking of solitude as a good thing. Make room for it, because that's when we discover ourselvesStart thinking of solitude as a good thing. Make room for it, because that's when we discover ourselvesStart thinking of solitude as a good thing.