While writing my paper I came across this. Bonhoeffer raging a bit at the way in which church can often etherialise symbols and structures to refer to some kind of ‘heavenly reality’ alone, which is other than what is taking place really in the community there and then with Christ in its midst.
Is our time at an end? And has the gospel been given to another people, to be preached perhaps with totally different words and deeds? How do you view the indestructablility of Christianity given the situation in the world and our lifestyles today?… How is one to preach such things to people here? who still believes in these things? The invisibility is killing us… To be continually cast back on the invisible God is insane; we can no longer accept it.”
(Bonhoeffer, Gesammelte Schriften 1:61)
Scott Kirkland
