rsvp HERE
German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer was greatly attracted to pacifism but eventually felt called to participate in a plot on Hitler’s life. Inspired by the release of the new movie on Bonhoeffer's life, Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin., Beatrice Institute—in collaboration with the Bruderhof community—invites you to join the conversation this semester as we interrogate the tension in Christian ethics between a preference for non-violence and the responsibility to protect the innocent. (Seeing the movie is not necessary to attending the Salon, but click here if you’re interested in joining us!)
Our annual Winter Salon invites four panelists with a range of viewpoints to speak about Bonhoeffer's historical context and the theological commitments that swayed both pacifist and activist responses to Hitler's regime:
Pastor Eric Andrae is the Campus Pastor and Outreach Minister at First Trinity Lutheran Church in Oakland. He earned a B.A. degree in 1993 from Valparaiso University and a Master of Divinity Degree in 1997 from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO. He has traveled extensively and earned a Master of Sacred Theology in pastoral care from Concordia Seminary in 2003. Eric is also a published Bonhoeffer scholar.
Amber Hindley worked for several years as a Bruderhof archivist and now lives in the Woodcrest Bruderhof community. She brings a perspective on the Bruderhof church experience in Nazi Germany (until the expulsion in 1937), insight on some of the similarities and differences between different church responses to the rise of the Third Reich, and thoughts on the theme of non-violent pacifist resistance.
Patrick Jones is a PhD in Theology from Catholic University of America and currently teaches at St. Vincent College in Latrobe. His studies focus on the intersection of political philosophy and moral theology, with a special focus on 19th and 20th century Catholic political thought. His dissertation was entitled, “The Nation-State and Global Governance: A Question in Modern Catholic Social Doctrine.”
Ben Burkholder is a PhD in Systematic Theology from Duquesne University, an Associate Pastor, and an adjunct professor at La Roche University. Ben has a particular interest in questions regarding how certain accounts of the atonement might encourage people—in the face of oppression—toward either violence or passivity. He has a passion for the integration of Christian worldview, theology, and higher education and has always been interested in how Bonhoeffer’s ethics and theology inform a Christ-centered approach to nature.
Drinks and heavy hors d’oeuvres provided!
Founded over a century ago in the wake of World War I in the small German village of Sannerz, the Bruderhof has been shaped and propelled in part by the political and social events of the Western world. Despite inter-continental migrations due to religious persecution during World War II, and many challenges and changes, God’s protection, guidance, and blessing have been evident over the decades since the hardscrabble beginnings in 1920.