Dietrich Bonhoeffer and a Theology of the Exception

<b>Engaging with the many debates about the meaning and character of Bonhoeffer's late</b> <b>resistance theology and action particularly as it relates to his participation in the attempted <i>coup d'état</i>against Hitler <i>Dietrich Bonhoeffer and a Theology of the Exception</i> attends to Bonhoeffer's understanding of the exception.</b> Resisting the common reduction of the exception to a political or ethical concept O'Farrell argues that the exception for Bonhoeffer is an extraordinary moment in history that disarms persons impinging on one's understanding of politics and ethics. <br/><br/>Through a wide engagement with the Bonhoeffer corpus this book claims that this leads to distinctive narrations of key concepts in Bonhoeffer's corpus: responsibility the free venture simple obedience and action beyond the law. It also offers a different portrait of Bonhoeffer to contemporary narrations. The Bonhoeffer that emerges is neither a Niebuhrian realist a pacifist or a religious fanatic but one who is impelled to act apart from the law without this action becoming arbitrary. This Bonhoeffer provides a hopeful political witness that seeks a world beyond the conflicts and divisions of this age.