Religion in the Public Sphere—with Dietrich Bonhoeffer towards a Renewed Understanding of ‘the Two K...

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" Religion in the Public Sphere—with Dietrich Bonhoeffer towards a Renewed Understanding of ‘the Two Kingdoms’ "
Torbjörn Johansson

Document Type	:	AL
Record Number	:	1069641
Doc. No	:	LA113270
Call No	:	‭10.1163/15697320-12341402‬
Language of Document	:	English
Main Entry	:	Torbjörn Johansson
Title & Author	:	Religion in the Public Sphere—with Dietrich Bonhoeffer towards a Renewed Understanding of ‘the Two Kingdoms’ [Article]\ Torbjörn Johansson
Publication Statement	:	Leiden: Brill
Title of Periodical	:	International Journal of Public Theology
Date	:	2015
Volume/ Issue Number	:	9/3
Page No	:	269–288
Abstract	:	In this article Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s critical reception of the Lutheran doctrine of the two kingdoms is related to the discussion about religion and politics in liberal democracies. Bonhoeffer experienced not only how the church isolated itself from the political sphere—by a ‘pseudo-Lutheran’ doctrine of the two kingdoms—but also how the church was politicized and abused by Deutsche Christen. His theological thinking is therefore a helpful starting point to formulate a theology which is politically relevant without being transformed into politics. Against the background of Bonhoeffer’s theology an argument is advanced that a renewed understanding of the two kingdoms assists the church in being focused on the Gospel, at the same time as it can also give the church instruments to be present in the public sphere with well-defined pretensions, which clarifies whether the assertions of the church are based on revelation or on public reason. In this article Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s critical reception of the Lutheran doctrine of the two kingdoms is related to the discussion about religion and politics in liberal democracies. Bonhoeffer experienced not only how the church isolated itself from the political sphere—by a ‘pseudo-Lutheran’ doctrine of the two kingdoms—but also how the church was politicized and abused by Deutsche Christen. His theological thinking is therefore a helpful starting point to formulate a theology which is politically relevant without being transformed into politics. Against the background of Bonhoeffer’s theology an argument is advanced that a renewed understanding of the two kingdoms assists the church in being focused on the Gospel, at the same time as it can also give the church instruments to be present in the public sphere with well-defined pretensions, which clarifies whether the assertions of the church are based on revelation or on public reason.
Descriptor	:	Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Descriptor	:	Lutheranism
Descriptor	:	mandates
Descriptor	:	religion and politics
Descriptor	:	secularity
Descriptor	:	two kingdoms
Location & Call number	:	‭10.1163/15697320-12341402‬