“We seem especially susceptible to this pitting of spirituality against theology in American evangelical contexts. Perhaps we can chalk this up to the influence of pietism, which courses through the veins of many evangelicals. Pietism should not be confused with… — Stephen J. Nichols Copy Share Image
“We are also brought into the church-community as a result of Christ’s death on the cross—a community of the forgiven, who should be quick… — Stephen J. Nichols Copy Share Image
“Bonhoeffer and Luther draw on Christ’s paradox of gaining one’s life by losing it. So we come to the ultimate paradox: by service—and ultimately,… — Stephen J. Nichols Copy Share Image
“It would be safe to say that by the nineteenth century, pietism had long since dislodged Puritanism as the dominant force in American religious life.” — Stephen J. Nichols Copy Share Image
“The God-man who is humiliated is the stumbling block to the pious human being and to the human being, period.” — Stephen J. Nichols Copy Share Image
“The ethics of the Sermon on the Mount are nothing less than extraordinary. To look at them as something that can be fulfilled within the ordinary and by ordinary means is foolish. Bonhoeffer writes that loving one’s enemies “demands more than the strength a natural person can muster.”4 Only from the perspective of the cross do the ethics of the… — Stephen J. Nichols Copy Share
“Leaning on Augustine’s insight, Bonhoeffer sees the sanctorum communio as “the community of loving persons who, touched by God’s Spirit, radiate love and grace.”17” — Stephen J. Nichols Copy Share Image
“The church is the real thing when it is not consumed with the assertion of power in culture, but it is driven by service to others. The word ministry translates the Greek word diakonia, which means service. The church must be about serving others. When a church can lay claim to all three criteria, namely, preaching of the Word, being… — Stephen J. Nichols Copy Share
“David McCullough has said, “We are shaped by those we never met.” — Stephen J. Nichols Copy Share Image
“A congregation that does not pray for the ministry of its pastor,” Bonhoeffer warns, “is no longer a congregation.”11 He then adds, “A pastor who… — Stephen J. Nichols Copy Share Image
“We could summarize all of this background to Bonhoeffer’s christology in one sentence, albeit a complex one: The cross was a stumbling block to the Romans; the cross was a stumbling block to the Nazis; the cross was a stumbling block to moderns; and—unless we are humbled and brought low beneath the cross to see its power and beauty—the cross… — Stephen J. Nichols Copy Share
“Gratitude is equally underrated and under-practiced. It too requires humility to say “thank you.” Saying “thank you” means one is dependent on the other,… — Stephen J. Nichols Copy Share Image
“His ecclesiology, though, is never an independent topic. It always flows from and back to Christ and his christology. Neither is Bonhoeffer content with… — Stephen J. Nichols Copy Share Image
