THE THEOLOGICAL ENEMY: HOSTILITY AND COMMUNITY IN DIETRICH BONHOEFFER

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This article examines the relationship between community and hostility in the theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The article focuses particularly on texts from the period 1937—1940, in which the notion of enemy has been extensively developed by the Lutheran theologian. It then discusses how, in Bonhoeffer’s theology, the notions of friend, brother and enemy have a differentiated but constitutive place in both community and Christianity. This work also aims to determine the continuity or rupture of Bonhoeffer’s thought in relation to philosophical or theological traditions that have used the terms friend, brother and enemy as criteria for discriminating between living beings who favor or rather threaten life in common.

KEYWORDS: Bonhoeffer. Enemy. Community. Theology. Politics.