Steven C. van den Heuvel - Bonhoeffers Christocentric Theology and Fundamental Debates in Environmental Ethics

Steven C. van den Heuvel

I was introduced to Dietrich Bonhoeffer during my first year as a student in training for Christian ministry at Ede Christian University of Applied Sciences. Bonhoeffer was mentioned in class one day, and the reference sparked my curiosity. After purchasing a copy of a Dutch translation of Bonhoeffers Discipleship , I started to read it. This reading had a profound impact on me personallyindeed, it proved to be a formative experience for my own spirituality, an experience that, as I later found out, is shared by many readers of Bonhoeffer. As I came to desire to know more about him, in the Summer following that first year, I borrowed a copy of a Dutch translation of Letters and Papers from Prison from the local library. Day after day I cycled the twenty kilometers from my home city of Elburg to the rustic city of Kampen, by the river IJssel. There, I would sit on a bench located on the green dike, near an old mill, enjoying the scenery of the river while reading Bonhoeffers letters from prison.

Though I could sense that these letters contained important thoughts, I didnt yet grasp what they were about. Coming from the context of the conservative Dutch Reformed tradition, his thoughts on living in the world etsi Deus non daretur sounded quite strange, and even heretical, to me. But for the most part, I simply couldnt connect with Bonhoeffers prison writings, for they represented a world far too different from my own. Therefore, after a few days, I gave up on his prison writings and started reading his more familiar sounding Life Together . While I was much better able to connect with Bonhoeffers devotional writings, throughout my student years, I kept wanting to explore the other aspects of his theology as well.

This opportunity presented itself when I was accepted into the doctoral program of the Evangelische Theologische Faculteit. Under the guidance of my promotor, I came to hone my intitial desire to do something with Bonhoeffer on the question of the potential contributions that his theology could make to the field of environmental ethics. The project later transformed into a joint-doctorate with the Theologische Universiteit Kampen, which required that I return to the city of Kampen, no longer for a leisurely reading of Bonhoeffer, but for a deeper study of his theology; and instead of doing so surrounded by natures beauty, I read through his theology, much more systematically, in light of the ecological crisis. Despite these differences, I still managed to enjoy myself as I worked on exploring the intersection between Bonhoeffers theology and environmental ethics. This not only helped me to come to understand Bonhoeffer better as a theologian, but to further open my eyes to the importance of bringing Christian theology to bear on the many challenges that we face in our contemporary world in general, and the challenges of ecology in particular.

I have a number of people I would like to thank for their involvement in this project. First and foremost I want to mention both of my promotors in this regard. My first promotor, Prof. Dr. Patrick A. Nullens, helped me sharpen the focus of my research project (as indicated above), and also spurred me on through his continual enthusiasm for the project. His ability always to keep the bigger picture in mind was quite refreshing whenever I happend to get bogged down in the details of my research. I am also grateful to my second promotor, Prof. Dr. Ad L. Th. de Bruijne. Not only was he also quite enthusiastic about the project, but he kindly and carefully read through the drafts of the chapters and made many suggestions for improvement. I also want to thank Prof. Dr. Barend Kamphuis for his willingness to read most of the chapters. From his perspective as a systematic theologian and a scholar of Bonhoeffer, he offered me valuable advice. I am also grateful to Dr. Edward van t Slot, president of the Dutch section of the International Bonhoeffer Society. In meeting with me to discuss my research plans, he kindly recommended some valuable resources that I should use for the section on Bonhoeffers conception of the divine mandates. Also, I would like to mention Dr. Brian Robertson, who, as a native English speaker, made many helpful suggestions in correcting and improving the English.

After having defended my dissertation in January 2015 , I subsequently contacted Wipf & Stock, who agreed to publish a revised version of it in the Princeton Theological Monograph Series. Preparing the manuscript for commercial publication meant cutting down on footnotes and bibliographical referenceswhile it felt painful to do so, I hope these changes have improved the readability of the book. I am very grateful to the editors who were involved in this processId like to specifically mention Dr. Charlie Collier and Brian Palmer in this regard.

It is my wish that this book will contribute to a positive and thorough Christian engagement with ecological concerns, thereby contributing to a fuller answer to the call of Jesus Christ to be his disciples in this world.

Leuven, July 2016