The Spring 2007 issue of Christian History & Biography, contains an intriguing article about Dietrich Bonhoeffer entitled , Following Jesus in the Dark. The article culminates with a discussion of “responsible action” in the face of evil.
…When things become extraordinary and unnatural, however, Bonhoeffer also saw clearly that our only choice is to do the best we can, to be as faithful to Jesus as we can. And that means not to sort out our actions on a neat ethical grid of right and wrong, but to strive to accomplish as much good as possible.
“Responsible action does not lay claim to knowledge of its own ultimate righteousness. When the deed is performed with a responsible weighing up of all the personal and objective circumstances and in the awareness that God has become man and that it is God who has become man, then this deed is delivered up solely to God at the moment of its performance. Ultimate ignorance of one’s own good and evil, and with it a complete reliance upon grace, is an essential property of responsible historical action. The man who acts ideologically sees himself justified in his idea; the responsible man commits his action into the hands of God and lives by God’s grace and favour.”–Bonhoeffer
If getting God’s will done in the world means one must engage in conspiracy, deceit, and assassination, then Bonhoeffer was prepared to incur whatever guilt those evil actions entailed. Indeed, he did not want to call evil good, and thus he speaks of guilt that one would obtain if these actions were undertaken.
I have always been intrigued by this discussion, and before we get to high up on our horse to condemn Bonhoeffer, we need to take a look at Rahab and Esther (among others) in the Bible and see how they fit into this discussion. I certainly don’t have all the answers, but things certainly are never as black and white as we would like them to be in a universe that is fallen.
I’m not sure if Jesus spoke about “ends-justifies-means” dynamics, but could it be that this is somewhat similar?
“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” - Matthew 10:16
Comment by Anthony Martin — July 20, 2007 @ 2:22 pm
I don’t know either, but I tend to think it isn’t so much the end justifies the means, but that the means is necessary to bring about best possible end, and that there is still some problem with “sin” involved, but it must be (and has been) taken care of by Christ’s sacrifice.
One thing is for certain. Those that would take a hard line stance on this topic have to come up with some interesting ways to deal with the blessings Rahab received for being deceitful, and what she did was nothing compared to Esther.
Comment by Aaron Jackson — July 20, 2007 @ 3:45 pm
This line of thinking implies that one knows exactly what “end” it is that God is after and no one can know that but God. Without direct knowledge of the future it is impossibe to determine what “means” would be best to use in getting there. In this case, we can only follow Christ’s example as we are directed to do and, as we know, he was without sin. Being human, we can only do our best,and we will certainly fail, but God has an amazing way of turning our failures into his successes. To deliberately go out with the intention of commiting a sin, no matter what the intention, would be a serious lack of faith in God’s ability as well as a breach of trust with our Lord.
Comment by E.M. Hale — August 23, 2007 @ 3:27 pm
I’m not suggesting that we know exactly what “end” it is that God is after, but that we have at least some idea of what is a moral and ethical outcome to a situation based on special revelation.
Are you suggesting that when Bonhoeffer and others conspired to assassinate Hitler that they were living in sin? I’m not sure I’m willing to go there, particularly because it would lead to a passive stance on many humanitarian issues, practically if not philosophically.
Certainly I agree that we must not go around looking for situations in which God is expecting us to take care of the problems surrounding us by using ethically questionable means, but then again I’m not suggesting that God would have us sit on our hands and do nothing in the face of the worlds “Hitlers”.
Thanks for the feedback!
Comment by Aaron Jackson — August 23, 2007 @ 5:39 pm