Trinity College Faculty of Divinity in the Toronto School of Theology

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1 Trinity College Faculty of Divinity in the Toronto School of Theology THE CONTENT OF THIS DESCRIPTION IS NOT A LEARNING CONTRACT AND THE INSTRUCTOR IS NOT BOUND TO IT. IT IS OFFERED IN GOOD FAITH AND INTENDED AS A HELPFUL GUIDE TO THE STUDENT. ============================================================================= TITLE: The Life and Thought of Dietrich Bonhoeffer PROFESSOR: Jeff Nowers jeff.nowers@utoronto.ca COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course is an exploration of the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer ( ) and an examination of his select writings. The course investigates the wider socio-political and theological contexts of Germany s Weimar Republic, the ascendency of Hitler and Nazism, the Confessing Church, and the covert resistance to Hitler that Bonhoeffer later joined. The course also asks how these realities, together with Bonhoeffer s writings, inform our 21st-Century North American context of Christian existence. Students successfully completing this course will be able to: PREREQUISITES: TEXTS: understand the basic contours of Bonhoeffer s evolving theological project and grasp the fundamental arguments of his major writings understand the wider socio-political and theological contexts in which Bonhoeffer was operative critically assess Bonhoeffer s theological insights vis-à-vis the demands of Christian living and ministry today None John de Gruchy, ed., Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Witness to Jesus Christ (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1991) Ferdinand Schlingensiepen, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, : Martyr, Thinker, Man of Resistance (London: T. & T. Clark, 2010) supplementary readings to be posted on Blackboard or distributed in class WRITTEN & ORAL ASSIGNMENTS/TESTS: Short presentations and discussion of readings; take-home multiple-choice exam; 12-page research paper

2 CLASSROOM PROCEDURES: Lectures; discussion of readings (seminar format); video (film) GRADING PROCEDURES: seminar presentation and/or general participation: 20% multiple-choice exam: 40% : 40% ATTENDANCE: Required ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: All TST students are subject to U of T s Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters. Copies of the code are available at < Please take special note of the section on plagiarism. For a helpful set of guidelines on how to avoid plagiarism, see < This is part of a more general and equally helpful website that provides advice on academic writing (< PROGRAM OUTCOMES: KNOWLEDGE OF THE AREA OF CONCENTRATION COURSE ELEMENT PROGRAM OUTCOMES Students successfully completing this course will be able to: understand the basic contours of Bonhoeffer s evolving theological project and grasp the fundamental arguments of his major writings understand the wider socio-political and theological contexts in which Bonhoeffer was operative This outcome will be achieved through these course elements: lectures multiple-choice exam lectures video (film) multiple-choice exam This course outcome corresponds to this aspect of the Basic Degree Learning Outcomes Religious heritage Cultural context Religious heritage Cultural context critically assess lectures Personal well-being,

3 Bonhoeffer s theological insights vis-à-vis the demands of Christian living and ministry today vocational formation, and spiritual practices Leadership in ecclesial and public contexts ABILITY WITH SCHOLARLY TOOLS AND SKILLS 1. Depth and Breadth of Knowledge 2. Research and Scholarship 3. Level of Application of Knowledge 4. Professional capacity/autonomy COURSE ELEMENT course as a whole PROGRAM OUTCOMES 5. Level of communication skills 6. Awareness of limits of knowledge course as a whole SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY: Critical editions of all of Bonhoeffer s writings have been published in the 16-volume series Dietrich Bonhoeffer Werke (DBW). Fortress Press is publishing English translations of each volume (DBWE). * Bethge, Eberhard. Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A Biography. Rev. and ed. Victoria J. Barnett. Minneapolis: Fortress, De Gruchy, John W., ed. Bonhoeffer for a New Day: Theology in a Time of Transition. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, * The Cambridge Companion to Dietrich Bonhoeffer. New York: Cambridge University Press, Dramm, Sabine. Dietrich Bonhoeffer: An Introduction to His Thought. Peabody: Hendrickson, Dumas, André. Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Theologian of Reality. New York: Macmillan, Feil, Ernst. The Theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Philadelphia: Fortress, Floyd, Wayne W., and Charles Marsh, eds. Theology and the Practice of Responsibility: Essays on Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Valley Forge: Trinity Press International, Frick, Peter, ed. Bonhoeffer's Intellectual Formation: Theology and Philosophy in His Thought. Tübingen: Mohr-Siebeck, Please see the Degree Level expectations for the Province of Ontario.

4 Godsey, John D. The Theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Philadelphia: Westminster, * Green, Clifford J. Bonhoeffer: A Theology of Sociality. Rev. ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, Haynes, Stephen R. The Bonhoeffer Legacy: Post-Holocaust Perspectives. Minneapolis: Fortress, The Bonhoeffer Phenomenon: Portraits of a Protestant Saint. Minneapolis: Fortress, Kelly, Geffrey B., and F. Burton Nelson The Cost of Moral Leadership: The Spirituality of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, Klassen, A. J., ed. A Bonhoeffer Legacy: Essays in Understanding. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, Ott, Heinrich. Reality and Faith: The Theological Legacy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. London: Lutterworth, Pangritz, Andreas. Karl Barth in the Theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, Phillips, John A. The Form of Christ in the World: A Study of Bonhoeffer's Christology. London: Collins, Plant, Stephen. Bonhoeffer. London: Continuum, Plant, Stephen, and Ralf K. Wüstenberg, eds. Religion, Religionlessness and Contemporary Western Culture: Explorations in Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Theology. Oxford: Peter Lang, * Rasmussen, Larry L. Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Reality and Resistance. 2nd ed. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, Robertson, Edwin H. Bonhoeffer's Heritage. London: Hodder & Stoughton, Slane, Craig J. Bonhoeffer as Martyr: Social Responsibility and Modern Christian Commitment. Grand Rapids: Brazos, Tödt, Heinz Eduard. Authentic Faith: Bonhoeffer's Theological Ethics in Context. Ed. Ernst-Albert Scharffenorth. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, Zimmermann, Wolf-Dieter, and Ronald Gregor Smith, eds. I Knew Dietrich Bonhoeffer. New York: Harper & Row, * = a highly recommended volume of significance COURSE OUTLINE: Monday: Tuesday: Wednesday: - overview and discussion of course and syllabus - Germany from the Weimar Republic to the Third Reich - Bonhoeffer s family and intellectual formation - Sanctorum Communio and Act and Being [read De Gruchy, 43-97; Schlingensiepen, 1-37] - Bonhoeffer in the U.S. - Bonhoeffer as pastor (Barcelona, Berlin) - Christology [read De Gruchy, ; Schlingensiepen, ] - conversion: from the phraseological to the real : beginnings of the Confessing Church

5 - Discipleship [read De Gruchy, ; Schlingensiepen, ] Thursday: Friday: - Bonhoeffer and the Jews - Bonhoeffer and pacifism - Ethics [read De Gruchy, ; Schlingensiepen, ] - Bonhoeffer as conspirator - new theological ideas in prison - Letters and Papers from Prison [read De Gruchy, ; Schlingensiepen, ]