Standing under the Cross - (T&t Clark New Studies in Bonhoeffer's Theology and Ethics) by Michael Mawson (Hardcover)

About the Book

This collection of essays explores Dietrich Bonhoeffer's cruciform theology in relation to other theological perspectives and contemporary ethical challenges.

Book Synopsis

Establishing the complexity and richness of Bonhoeffer's engagements with the cross over the breadth of his theological corpus, Michael Mawson also draws on Bonhoeffer's theology to engage more recent debates, examining how one can use it to engage with a modern world changed by a pandemic and devastating ecological incidences. Bonhoeffer wrote much of theology in response to theological and political crises in his own time and this book argues that his thinking can thus provide valuable insights for negotiating some of the crises confronting us.

The three parts of this book each focus on distinct areas of Bonhoeffer's theology of the cross., from hermeneutics to themes of suffering through to a focus on Bonhoeffer's engagement with community and discipleship. While previous scholars have focused on one (or sometimes two) of these areas, this book attends to the dense and complex ways in which these aspects of Bonhoeffer's thinking work together.

Review Quotes

In Dietrich Bonhoeffer studies it is common to use the expression, 'Thinking with and beyond Bonhoeffer'. This selection of essays by one of the field's leading scholars is a study in the meaning of that phrase. The range of topics and scholars that Mawson engages here demonstrates dexterity with Bonhoeffer's thought allows for a very rich and constructive engagement with him.
Reggie L. Williams, McCormick Theological Seminary, USA

Mawson has journeyed with Bonhoeffer for two decades, across continents, through his academic career and lifelong ministry. This latest work demonstrates his long-term scholarship on Bonhoeffer and his critics, including contemporary works that engage important issues with which good theology must wrestle. As Mawson demonstrates, Bonhoeffer provides a hermeneutical key to do so. This important book deserves the wide readership it will attract largely because of Mawson's attentive scholarship and his clear and accessible writing.
Dianne Rayson, Pacific Theological College, Fiji

Mawson's Standing under the Cross presents a collection of excellent essays on Bonhoeffer's theology that vividly reminds us that doing theology in our trying times means living the truth in love, with courage and joy. Through a passionate, creative, and scholarly conversation with Bonhoeffer, these essays open fresh perspectives on themes such as reading and embodying Scripture, vulnerable bodily life and grace, and community and cruciform living. Highly recommended!
Robert Vosloo, Stellenbosch University, South Africa

About the Author

Michael Mawson is Pakeha theologian and the Maclaurin Goodfellow Associate Professor of Theological and Religious Studies at the University of Auckland, New Zealand.