Abstract
This thesis offers a reading of the christology of the German theologian and political dissident Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945) in order to address pressing methodological challenges facing contemporary systematic theology. Specifically, it offers a reading of Bonhoeffer’s christology and theological method in dialogue with three leading Anglo-American theologians who each raise particular methodological crises related to the ongoing continuation of systematic theology today. First, in dialogue with John Webster, I analyse the tensions involved in accounting for divine transcendence amidst the historical particularities in which Christian teaching and doctrine is received and undertaken. Second, in dialogue with Sarah Coakley, I explore the tensions involved in accounting for the entanglements of power with the production of theological knowledge amidst the reality of gender-based violence. Third, in dialogue with Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen, I examine the tensions involved in accounting for competing truth claims in relation to contemporary religious pluralism and interfaith dialogue. Following these surveys, I draw together a reading of Bonhoeffer’s christology in a final chapter on recent literature within apocalyptic theology and the future of systematic theology itself.
Through these dialogues, I seek to explore how Bonhoeffer’s christology offers an alternative response to the various crises facing theology as proposed by my chosen interlocuters. Specifically, I examine how Bonhoeffer draws all theological knowing into a continual moment of christological encounter and disruption—what I call the “critical objectivity” of Christ. In this way, the person of Jesus Christ functions for Bonhoeffer not simply as a central orientating locus in the sustained presentation of Christian doctrine but as the very objective presence of God in history, who determines, creates, and recreates knowledge of God and the conditions of creaturely life itself. Furthermore, this christological encounter is not merely critical or negative; it is both material and social. Because Christ comes as the representative human for others, disrupting and replacing old forms of humanity under Adam, Christ himself thereby makes possible new forms of relational and political life for theology today.
Ultimately, the thesis advocates for a Bonhoefferian theological approach that actively engages with and addresses the crises confronting systematic theology. I argue that such an approach best operates not in relation to a settled or predetermined status quo but as a critical tool aimed at dismantling human idolatries and reshaping theological discourse around the disruptive presence of Christ. Following Bonhoeffer’s best insights, to learn to speak of God and the world that belongs to God is a radically disruptive event, which continually unsettles and remakes the deformed conditions currently feeding our ongoing crises.
Through these dialogues, I seek to explore how Bonhoeffer’s christology offers an alternative response to the various crises facing theology as proposed by my chosen interlocuters. Specifically, I examine how Bonhoeffer draws all theological knowing into a continual moment of christological encounter and disruption—what I call the “critical objectivity” of Christ. In this way, the person of Jesus Christ functions for Bonhoeffer not simply as a central orientating locus in the sustained presentation of Christian doctrine but as the very objective presence of God in history, who determines, creates, and recreates knowledge of God and the conditions of creaturely life itself. Furthermore, this christological encounter is not merely critical or negative; it is both material and social. Because Christ comes as the representative human for others, disrupting and replacing old forms of humanity under Adam, Christ himself thereby makes possible new forms of relational and political life for theology today.
Ultimately, the thesis advocates for a Bonhoefferian theological approach that actively engages with and addresses the crises confronting systematic theology. I argue that such an approach best operates not in relation to a settled or predetermined status quo but as a critical tool aimed at dismantling human idolatries and reshaping theological discourse around the disruptive presence of Christ. Following Bonhoeffer’s best insights, to learn to speak of God and the world that belongs to God is a radically disruptive event, which continually unsettles and remakes the deformed conditions currently feeding our ongoing crises.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Qualification | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Awarding Institution |
|
| Supervisors/Advisors |
|
| Place of Publication | Australia |
| Publisher | |
| Publication status | Published - 2025 |