Volume 78, Issue 4

A passage from one of Bonhoeffer’s prison letters hints at a diversification of Luther’s doctrine of the two kingdoms. Thus Bonhoeffer solves a dilemma: On the one hand, the doctrine of the two kingdoms does not support rogue regimes. On the other hand, Bonhoeffer escapes the danger of dissolving political justice by religious fanaticism. The solution, which is recon­structed in this essay, consists of a non-principal, but nevertheless evident situation of decision in favor of resistance. Any possible objections against this proposition are countered by the theological phenomenon of »Widerfahrnis« of human experience.

In the first years after the end of World War II, Hans Joachim Iwand (1899-1960) was inten­sely engaged for repentance and a radical farewell to the wanderings of the Third Reich in church, society and the political realm. This article traces how he, in doing so, elaborated a genuine theology of peace while practicing pastoral care to refugees from East Prussia. Iwand experienced the antithesis between East and West, resulting in a gradual development of the »Cold War«, as a temptation originating from the continuation of the dualistic worldview of Nazi-ideology. His theological approach is characterized by advancing the question of who and where God is, thus rethinking and renewing Luther’s theology of the cross.

This contribution has its point of departure in an analysis of the tendency of modern brain research to trace mental processes back to neuronal functions, thereby negating human freedom (of will) and subjectivity. In its critique of this tendency, the essay invokes phenomenological evidence that human beings ascribe intentionality and responsibility to themselves and others. With regard to methodology, it denies any primacy of »explaining« over against »understan­ding«. The author counters any »physicalism« with the biblical »idea of humanity« determi­ning humans as God’s creatures. The prohibition of idolatry helps to avoid definitional prede­terminations and creates space for a freedom that serves as orientation through God-likeness.