The Church and the Jewish Question in Dietrich Bonhoeffer: From Theological Critique to an Ethics of Responsibility

Abstract

This study explores Dietrich Bonhoeffer's essay The Church and the Jewish Question (1933) within the historical context of Nazi Germany and the position of the Jewish population in both society and the Church. At the heart of the analysis lies the question of how Bonhoeffer conceptualizes the responsibility of the Protestant Christian community toward the Jews under conditions of state-sponsored institutional injustice. The article argues that this early text constitutes one of the first formulations of the ethics of responsibility that would later become a defining characteristic of Bonhoeffer's theological thought. Employing historical-critical and theological-ethical approaches, the study examines the relationship between the Church, the state, and the Jewish question in Germany during the 1930s. The analysis demonstrates that, as early as 1933, Bonhoeffer had already developed a concept of active ecclesial responsibility toward victims of injustice. At the same time, it identifies certain limitations in his approach, insofar as the principal focus of his argument remains the responsibility of the Church rather than the development of a theology of Judaism in the modern sense. The article concludes that this essay possesses both historical and contemporary relevance, as it raises enduring questions concerning the limits of ecclesial neutrality and the Church's responsibility in the face of social injustice.