Faith Facing Reality: Stirring Up Discussion with Bonhoeffer

by John W. de Gruchy

Overview

The COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have starkly reminded us of the realities that threaten our future on planet Earth. Christian faith is not a way of escaping these realities, but of engaging them in the struggle for justice and peace--motivated by love, enabled by faith and sustained by hope. This is based on the conviction that in Jesus Christ the reality of God has become redemptively embodied within the reality of the world. Written within the context of South Africa but with global vision, and in conversation with the legacy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, this book is an attempt to stir up discussion and inform action in connecting worldly and transcendent reality. Inevitably this will be controversial, not least because that is something that Bonhoeffer risked. This is certainly true when it comes to the five realities that provide much of the book's substance: the persistence of racism, the will-to-power, scientism and soulless technology, the conflict in Israel-Palestine, and the threat of wars and pandemics. Is it possible to believe in the God of Jesus Christ in such a world? If so, what does that mean, and how does it help us live creatively, redemptively, and faithfully? To answer these questions, the author examines the meaning of faith; the human desire for transcendence; and the need for conversion, wisdom, solidarity, and responsible freedom.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781666795639
Publisher:	Wipf & Stock Publishers
Publication date:	10/21/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	190
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

John W. de Gruchy is emeritus professor of Christian studies at the University of Cape Town, and Extraordinary Professor of Theology at Stellenbosch University. He is the author of numerous books, including several on Dietrich Bonhoeffer. His recent titles include This Monastic Moment (Cascade Books, 2021) and Bonhoeffer’s Questions (2019). He and his wife, Isobel, are members of the Volmoed Retreat Centre, an intentional community in Hermanus, near Cape Town, South Africa.
One of South Africa's most celebrated theologians, John W. de Gruchy is also a woodworker, with pieces in many churches, schools, and homes throughout the country and abroad. Among his recent books are Confessions of a Christian Humanist and Led into Mystery. He and his wife, Isobel, are members of the Volmoed Christian Community near Hermanus, South Africa, where he writes, gives seminars, and does woodworking, while Isobel paints and writes poetry.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“John de Gruchy’s lifelong immersion in South Africa’s struggle for a just society has been deeply formed by his engagement with the life and thought of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. In these reflections he helps us see how Christian faith demands a risky wrestling with the realities of this world—whether its science and technology, its twisted histories of oppression and liberation, or our own ambiguous responses to the mysteries of death, love, and transcendence.”

—William Johnson Everett, Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School



“From local to global level, our age is beset by formidable challenges for humanity’s future. With Bonhoeffer as major interlocuter, de Gruchy presents a wide-ranging and rigorous argument that Christian faith can and must engage creatively with these uncomfortable realities. Soaked in his experience as a South African theologian but with a vision reaching beyond familiar national and religious boundaries, this is an unflinchingly honest book that opens our eyes to both crisis and hope.”

—Keith Clements, former general secretary, Conference of European Churches



“John de Gruchy writes like Bonhoeffer himself. Reflection on their own social and political contexts, and shared sufferings, analyzed through the prism of Christian theology. Just as Bonhoeffer did, so de Gruchy shows that theological reflection offers a distinctive lens on the world’s problems. A book for anytime but especially for our times.”

—Terence Lovat, University of Newcastle, Australia



“Faith Facing Reality will challenge its readers anew not to settle for lazy thinking and cheap consolations in light of our contemporary realities. As it stirs up discussion in dialogue with Bonhoeffer on the persistence of colonialism, racism, imperialism, anti-Semitism, oppression, and other threats to our common life, this book combines moral outrage with theological wisdom to stir, above all else, our imaginations towards justice and hope. This is vintage De Gruchy!”

—Robert Vosloo, Stellenbosch University

Editorial Reviews

John de Gruchy’s lifelong immersion in South Africa’s struggle for a just society has been deeply formed by his engagement with the life and thought of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. In these reflections he helps us see how Christian faith demands a risky wrestling with the realities of this world—whether its science and technology, its twisted histories of oppression and liberation, or our own ambiguous responses to the mysteries of death, love, and transcendence.”

—William Johnson Everett, Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School



“From local to global level, our age is beset by formidable challenges for humanity’s future. With Bonhoeffer as major interlocuter, de Gruchy presents a wide-ranging and rigorous argument that Christian faith can and must engage creatively with these uncomfortable realities. Soaked in his experience as a South African theologian but with a vision reaching beyond familiar national and religious boundaries, this is an unflinchingly honest book that opens our eyes to both crisis and hope.”

—Keith Clements, former general secretary, Conference of European Churches



“John de Gruchy writes like Bonhoeffer himself. Reflection on their own social and political contexts, and shared sufferings, analyzed through the prism of Christian theology. Just as Bonhoeffer did, so de Gruchy shows that theological reflection offers a distinctive lens on the world’s problems. A book for anytime but especially for our times.”

—Terence Lovat, University of Newcastle, Australia



“Faith Facing Reality will challenge its readers anew not to settle for lazy thinking and cheap consolations in light of our contemporary realities. As it stirs up discussion in dialogue with Bonhoeffer on the persistence of colonialism, racism, imperialism, anti-Semitism, oppression, and other threats to our common life, this book combines moral outrage with theological wisdom to stir, above all else, our imaginations towards justice and hope. This is vintage De Gruchy!”

—Robert Vosloo, Stellenbosch University

From the Publisher