74 Ducere Est Servire: THE LEADERSHIP JOURNAL OF DALLAS BAPTIST UNIVERSITY er, and he will be acting in a criminal way not only towards those he leads, but also towards himself.27 Much ado has been made of the radio address and how it was abruptly shut off in the middle of his speech. Yet, this was both a bold prediction and declaration, laying the groundwork for further confrontations in the future. Bonhoeffer distinguished himself as an early and bold critic rather than remaining silent, or worse, capitulating in order to keep the peace. Bonhoeffer then wrote an essay titled, "The Church and the Jewish Question," as a response to the Aryan Paragraph that excluded Jews from working in civil service, including ecclesial positions.28 He was troubled that the government would overstep its authority and begin stepping into matters of the Church.29 He suggested the Church could respond in one of three ways: ask the government if their actions are just or not, provide immediate aid to those victims of the government’s actions, or “put a spoke in the wheel itself.”30 He did not clarify what this type of action entailed, but he clearly was suggesting the Church to take more direct and concrete action. He began work with the Pastor’s Emergency League which authored the Barmen Declaration, as Eberhard Bethge explained, that put forth “a comprehensive catalogue of essential grievances couched in unequivocal terms: leadership principle, regime of force, disciplinary measures and racial discrimination ‘without precedent in the history of the Church….incompatible [sic] with the Christian principle'.”31 Bonhoeffer’s work at Finkenwalde represents a prophetic criticism, as well. The ethos at the underground seminary was focused upon the Beatitudes, Christlike service, selflessness, meekness, spiritual discipline, and prophetic resistance: “Finkenwalde’s worshipful community developed while surrounded by the popular Nietzschean might-is-right ethic in the contemporary German worldview of the day."32 Furthermore, during his time at Finkenwalde, he co-authored a memorandum to Hitler, citing the errors of the Nazi government and requesting an open dialogue.33 The tone of the communication was respectful, yet assertive and unwavering. Hitler did not respond, but the co-authors certainly placed themselves within the Führer’s sights as dissidents and
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