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Show 154 Bonhoeffer viewed the situation: There must be punishment by God. to escape repentance. We do not want Our action must be understood by the world as an act of repentance. Christians do not want to escape repentance, or chaos, if it is God's will to bring it Egon us. We must take this judgment as Christians. (Notice here the clear implication that whoever succeeded in assassinating the tyrant would be carrying out divine judgment against him - a notion found earlier in medieval and monarchomach writings. Notice also how it is a mirror image of Hitler's own notion that his escape from assassination was a sign from providence that he was intended to succeed.) On another occasion, Bonhoeffer declared: If we claim to be Christians, for tactical considerations. . . we must allow no room . The meaning of free reSponsibility rests on a God who demands the free witness to faith of reSponsible action and who promises forgiveness and comfort to him who becomes a sinner in the process. . . . Hitler is the antiChrist. We must therefore continue with our work whether or not he is successful. In other words, Bonhoeffer was saying that killing an anti-Christ was a sin but that a generous God would forgive the killer -- an argument which is at least highly debatable. Moreover, he went on to say that while anyone intending to kill Hitler could consult others on the loRoger Manvell and Heinrich Fraenkel, Tried to Kill Hitler (New York: p. 34. 111b1d., p. 75. The Men Who Coward_McCann, Inc., 1964), |
