[September 2000 journal entry]
I have only recently noticed Bonhoeffer’s references to time in his 30 April 1944 prison letter. There may be a clue here re his evolving thought about ‘religion’ -- i.e., that he associated ‘religion’ with a period in the history, with ‘religion’ phasing into the narrative around Constantine’s rise and phasing out of the narrative past the early 18th century. As I have wrestled with what the word/phenomenon ‘religion’ means to/for me, the nuances for ‘religion’ I have in mind appear throughout Jewish scripture and Christian scripture as well as throughout Christian history. In other words, I do not see ‘religion’ to be time bound or period specific (as did Bonhoeffer, at least at this early point in his thinking about ‘religion/less’).
I have only recently noticed Bonhoeffer’s references to time in his 30 April 1944 prison letter. There may be a clue here re his evolving thought about ‘religion’ -- i.e., that he associated ‘religion’ with a period in the history, with ‘religion’ phasing into the narrative around Constantine’s rise and phasing out of the narrative past the early 18th century. As I have wrestled with what the word/phenomenon ‘religion’ means to/for me, the nuances for ‘religion’ I have in mind appear throughout Jewish scripture and Christian scripture as well as throughout Christian history. In other words, I do not see ‘religion’ to be time bound or period specific (as did Bonhoeffer, at least at this early point in his thinking about ‘religion/less’).
