Until then, I’d love to hear your thoughts. I confess I have not spent much time studying Boyd. I’ve only read one of his books and it dealt with Christianity and Politics.

I don’t think that we are allowed to be totally detached from the world. We can fight back, but it’s not using the world’s methods.

One human life that perpetuates great evil being killed or many lives destroyed by that evil?

It wasn’t about politics, it was about life.

I’m not saying assasination is good, but I’m saying that for all our belief in guidelines, rules, standards, etc. life still gets incredibly murky….

Millions of people being put on trains for no reason other than their political beliefs, their sexuality, their education, their ethnic heritage…and the answer would be: prayer, a Bible study, giving them a care package for the train ride with sandwiches and juice packs?

I’m with you in principle, Rick. I’m a pacifist, and have no faith in the political processes of any form, but I don’t think it was simply the human tendency toward political power for Bonhoeffer….who, I’ll say again, acknowledged the ironic evil of the assasination attempt itself….

it’s just too easy now, when people are not being put on trains and your neighbors are not being dragged out of their homes to make these things simple.

Of course, but levels of corruption and evil was not the question. The issue centers around political activism in the church. Before we even consifer political activism maybe we should get more active in prayer, in the Word, in humanitarianism, in humility, etc., but in the end political activism is a diversion and biblically ill advised.

But that should not negate someone like Bonhoeffer’s entire ministry just because he may have been misguided on one front. I am no expert but I believe he was spiritually couragous in the face of persecution, was he not?

We may see the current admin. as warmongering, etc., but there is a categorical difference between Bush and Hitler.

And to be clear I think Bush has surrounded himself with some pretty evil people, but the Nazis they ain’t.

I’m not saying ultimately Bonhoeffer was right, but I hope that clarifies what I meant about his being “ambivalent”.

Blessings to all…even the Bush lovers! =)

The secong sentence was in all spiritual seriousness.

RA: Yeah, and probably if you look closer, you’d see he also thinks it’s run by a secret cabal of Jews seeking world domination. Sad.

RA

Oh well, that makes everything clear. He was ambivilent about involving the church in murder and governmental overthrow. For a minute I thought he was unscriptural.

What if a preacher today considered this administration as hedonistic, war mongering, using torture, and only in office through questionable tactics in 2000. And this preacher came upon a plan to assasinate President Bush and was ambivilent about it.

I still search for the New Testament church’s role in affecting the government politically. Are we allowed to murmur and complain? Can we criticize and label them? When we don’t like them do we still have to show them honor, or can we malign them? Was Hitler God’s representative concerning the use of capital punishment?

You see, trying to place any government within New Testament parameters becomes an ecclesiastical exercize in political/moral reasoning that is subjective and found nowhere in the teaching epistles. Democracy itself is not of God, prophetic judges was God’s way, everything else is a creative representative of fallen imaginations. And the church is never to be unequally yoked with thses carnal, lying systems of Adam.

Just a thought. Have you read Minister Farakahn’s new book entitled “More Streams in the Desert”? =) The entire American political and governmental structure is anti-christ at its core.

His involvement in the assassination was an example of what DOESN”T work.