Exegetical Method of Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Abstract

In this article we try to describe the most significant features of the exegetic method of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The report «Lecture on Contemporizing New Testament Texts» lies in the center of the narrative. It is perhaps the most systematic presentation of the author’s views on the problems of biblical exegesis and homiletics, which was formulated by himself. The time limits of the study cover the period from 1925 to 1940; the article does not deal with «religion- sless Christianity» problems of the late period. The sources of our research refer to Bonhoeffer’s texts that appeared in the early (1925–1929) and middle (1930–1939) periods (the book «Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible», published in 1940, is an exception here, although its content relates more to the middle period than to the late one). In the first part of the article, we show the way Bon- hoeffer’s sympathy for «neo-orthodoxy» reflects in his early texts: working with the text of the Bible, he tends to neglect scientific tools, paying attention primarily to the narrative, not to the form. Already during this period Bonhoeffer often emphasizes the otherness of the Word of God in relation to human aspirations, and we see the influence of Karl Barth to this phenomenon. After a brief account of the changes that took place in Bonhoeffer’s worldview in the early 30s, we turn to the report «Lecture on Contemporizing New Testament Texts», in which the author speaks about the christocentricity of all Scripture. Bonhoeffer considers it is the aspiration to Christ that makes the sermon relevant and modern, since it is Christ who is the criterion of modernity and relevance. This thesis extends to the interpretation of the Old Testament, which Bonhoeffer considers not just as books about Christ, but as books in which and through which Christ himself speaks. It becomes most clearly obvious in the way Bonhoeffer interprets Psalms. He claims that the psalms not only prophetically testify about Christ, but they themselves are the prayer of Christ, Who spoke through the prophet David. In conclusion of the article, we briefly explain the possibilities of fur- ther research in this area, outlining some perspective directions.