Mitch Lewis

The United Methodist News Service reports that delegates to the 2008 General Conference voted Dietrich Bonhoeffer to be "the first martyr officially recognized by The United Methodist Church." I wish they hadn't.

It's not that I have anything against Bonhoeffer. I think he was one of the most significant Christians of the 20th century. Some of his writings among the most profound ever produced by the Christian church. Charles Sigman, the Arkansan pastor who authored the resolution, said, "During a time of grave darkness in Nazi Germany, Bonhoeffer shined the light of Christ all the way to a hangman's noose." Indeed he did. That's not the problem.

Rather, I fear that we have just created another category of things about which to argue. The category of "officially recognized martyr" has all the earmarks of yet another political football. "I hope it will start a precedent," Sigman said. I'm afraid that it will.

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The chapter divisions we find in the Bible did not originate with the authors. As we read Paul's letter to the Romans, the fact that we move from chapter 12 to chapter 13 sometimes hides a remarkable juxtaposition for modern readers.

In Romans 12:12-21, we find echoes of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. In Romans 13:1-4, we find Paul endorsing the use of lethal force by the state to maintain justice and order, echoing the Old Testament (e.g. Psalm 72). How can Paul commend Christian non-violence in one breath and endorse state violence in the next? The tension we find in Romans 12-13 is quite significant for Christians living in participatory democracies in which believers have a voice and a civic role to play.

In Romans 12:12-21, we read:

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." To the contrary, "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
(Romans 12:14-21)

In Romans 13:1-4, Paul says:

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.
(Romans 13:1-4)

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Andy at Think Christian recently posted about the International Day of Non-Violence. In his post, he referenced this 2004 article by Ronald Osborne of the Adventist Peace Fellowship on Bonhoeffer's Pacifism.

Osborne's article addresses the disconnect between Bonhoeffer's pacifism in the 1930's and his active participation in a conspiracy to assassinate Hitler in the 1940's. There are many who would like to retain Bonhoeffer in the canon of pacifist martyrs but struggle to explain his part in an act of intentional, lethal (and in my opinion, justified) violence.

I am certainly not a Bonhoeffer scholar. I've only read the major works available to English speaking audiences - in English, I should add. Perhaps others have access to his private thoughts or unpublished writings. I'll venture, however, to address Mr. Osborne's arguments and wrestle a bit with Bonhoeffer's own writings.

Combatant Bonhoeffer

Bonhoeffer's role in the plot against Hitler must be something of an embarrassment to those who published his works. I read The Cost of Discipleship and Letters and Papers from Prison while still in high school. The forwards and introductory sections of those books make scant mention of exactly why Bonhoeffer was arrested and subsequently executed. It was much later that I learned the full extent of Bonhoeffer's involvement in the German resistance movement.

To avoid being drafted into the regular Army, Bonhoeffer took a position with German military intelligence (Abwehr). In this role, Bonhoeffer was able to travel outside Germany, ostensibly to gather intelligence for the Nazis. Instead, he provided the Allies with information about the activities of the German resistance. In spy novels, that's known as being a "double agent." If being a spy and helping combatants prosecute a war is "non-violent resistance" then that term has no meaning at all. Spies are combatants (but, interestingly, they are not protected by the Geneva Conventions.) Bonhoeffer was arrested by the Nazis in April 1943 after it was discovered that he used his government position to help a number of Jews to escape to Switzerland.

Bonhoeffer was also a part of the resistance circle that attempted to assassinate Hitler and take over the German government by force. The conspiracy came to a head on July 20, 1944 when German Army officer Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg planted a bomb in Hitler's staff meeting. The bomb failed to kill Hitler, but it did kill or injure nine others.

Bonhoeffer was already in jail when the bombing took place, but the coup had been in planning for years. Bonhoeffer's role in the plot was eventually discovered, leading to Bonhoeffer's execution by hanging at Flossenburg in April 1945.

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David Holmes begins Faiths of the Founding Fathers by describing the religious landscape of the colonies in 18th century America. Among the people of European descent living in tolerant Pennsylvania were a number of sects who sought to restore their vision of primitive Christianity in their communal life. Most of these sects were pacifistic in nature, which for them meant more than "we don't join the army."

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... for he does not bear the sword in vain ... Romans 13:4

Have you ever noticed that the root of the verb "enforce" - as used in the phrase "enforce the law" - is "force"?

Law depends on the use or threat of force. All law is coercive. A law is not a suggestion or a recommendation. If you park illegally, you are fined. If you do not pay the fine, your property is confiscated or you are imprisoned. If you resist the confiscation of your property or resist your captors, the agents of the state will use whatever force is necessary to defend themselves and impose the will of the state. Even small crimes can escalate into lethal confrontations if the perpetrators will not submit.

All government agencies are dependent upon the law for their existence. The Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education are just as dependent on the rule of law as the Department of Defense and the Department of Justice. They enforce the nation's will expressed in law. The law creates them and guides their actions.

How, then, do those who champion Sermon-on-the-Mount style non-resistance as the invariable rule for political life then turn around and advocate for the passage of certain laws? Whatever good that you want the law to accomplish will require the state's enforcement. Whether it's feeding the poor or healing the sick or educating the children, when there's law involved, there's force. How can you ask the state to enforce your will and then turn around and denounce the use of force?

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AP reports that Tom Fox, one of the four kidnapped members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), has been found dead in Iraq. He was 54. My condolences to his friends and family. Although he and I obviously approached our Christian vocations as peacemakers very differently, he and his companions demonstrated the courage of their convictions in walking the streets of Iraq. While one can criticize the naivete of CPT, the real criticism belongs to the extremist kidnappers, whose brutality the CPT members severely underestimated. Someday, the wolf will lay down with the lamb, but today, the wolf still acts like a wolf.