Is there a Faith beyond Religion? Bonhoeffer's Religious Clothes

Kevin Hart (University of Virginia, Australian Catholic University)

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was one of the 20th century's most important theologians, and he has also been read by philosophers of religion and ethicists who value his contributions to post-secular philosophy and ethical thought. However, Bonhoeffer has been read in very different ways. What he was advocating, what its roots are, and what follows from it have been much debated. One interpretation has him committed to a "religionless Christianity" according to which God and Christ can be translated without loss into authenticity, life, freedom and charity. On this view, Bonhoeffer is part of a stream of thought that considers positive religion to have been largely been played out, with a mature understanding of Christianity being orientated towards selfless service, and requiring all talk of God to be negotiated in the terms of philosophy. A different interpretation has Bonhoeffer sharing cause not with Hegel or Nietzsche, but more with Barth or Kierkegaard. This is a theologian opposed to Liberal Christianity (that would remove the contingent mythological clothing of Christianity to reveal its philosophical core) and who was dedicated to revealing the truth of Christian doctrine, even in casting off all trappings that impede it. In this talk, Prof Hart with argue that neither reading of Bonhoeffer is entirely persuasive. However, in exploring some of the complexities and paradoxes of his life and thought, much can be learnt about the complex relationships among philosophy, ethics, religion and Christian theology.  

Kevin Hart is Eric D'Arcy Professor of Philosophy at Australian Catholic University and Edwin B Kyle Professor of Christian Studies at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville. Professor Hart works in the field of philosophy of religion, especially with reference to phenomenology, and largely in the area where philosophy of religion shades into Christian theology. He also works in the field of religion and literature. He has written extensively on philosophers such as Jacques Derrida, Emmanuel Levinas, and Jean-Luc Marion. Among Prof. Hart’s recent books are The Exorbitant: Emmanuel Levinas between Jews and Christians (Fordham UP, 2010), Counter-Experiences: Reading Jean-Luc Marion (Notre Dame UP, 2007), and The Dark Gaze: Maurice Blanchot and the Sacred (Chicago UP, 2004). He has recently edited Jean-luc Marion: The Essential Writings (Fordham UP, 2013). He sits on the comité scientifique of the works of Emmanuel Lévinas (Grasset). His poetry is collected in Flame Tree: Selected Poems (Bloodaxe) and Young Rain (Notre Dame UP). Several new scholarly and poetic works are forthcoming, as well as a major work on theology and phenomenology.