Being and Action Coram Deo: Bonhoeffer and the Retrieval of Justification's Social Import

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Koert Verhagen not only provides the first in-depth treatment of how the doctrine of justification crucially frames Bonhoeffers approach to questions surrounding human being and action, he also addresses the ethical implications of retrieving this perspective for the Church today. Drawing on his early academic theology and his later ethics of discipleship, Verhagen argues that Bonhoeffers emphasis on the social implications of justification leads to an understanding of human existence that is fundamentally relational. Along the way, he draws Bonhoeffers thinking on this front into conversation with Luther, German idealism, the Nazi Weltanschauung, and contemporary Pauline scholarship. With an eye to the contemporary, practical value of Bonhoeffers theology, Verhagen concludes by making the case that the retrieval of justifications social implications provides a critical corrective to ecclesial responses to white supremacy.

Reviews

Verhagens clearly structured, well-written and intelligently argued monograph, the first to tackle the central evangelical doctrine of justification in Bonhoeffers thought, is an excellent addition to T&T Clarks steadily expanding New Studies in Bonhoeffers Theology and Ethics series. * Theology *
In this in-depth treatment of Dietrich Bonhoeffers doctrine of justification, Koert Verhagen provides a brilliant discussion of the centrality of justification in shaping Bonhoeffers thought. In particular, he indicates convincingly how Bonhoeffers understanding of the social implications of justification informs his relational and embodied account of human existence and discipleship. Hereby this fine study makes an invaluable contribution for our engagement today with the crucial question what justification has to do with justice. -- Robert Vosloo, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
The heated disputes between partisans for the New Perspective on Paul and contemporary defenders of classic accounts of the doctrine of Justification are socially and ethically sterile, as Koert Verhagen brilliantly displays. Bonhoeffer both insists on the ethical importance of the doctrine of Justification, and does so in a way that cuts through todays academic stalemate to offer a renewed vision of Christian action as self-critical confession of sinful implication, and repentant and engaged ethical response. -- Brian Brock, University of Aberdeen, UK
Koert Verhagens work epitomizes what Bonhoeffer scholarship in the 21st century can and should be a careful analysis of Bonhoeffers theological thinking in light of pressing contemporary concerns. In Being and Action Coram Deo, Verhagen establishes the ways in which Bonhoeffer is committed to an understanding of human existence as embodied existence, then demonstrates the way Bonhoeffers use of the doctrine of justification challenges the white supremacy endemic to the Western church. This book is necessary reading. -- Lori Brandt Hale, Augsburg University, USA

Author Bio

Koert Verhagen is Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Taylor University, USA