Why Doctrine Matters

I recently finished reading Eric Metaxas’ biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and it was, quite simply, excellent. Bonhoeffer lead one of those lives that makes you sit back and marvel. The substance of this post is going to be largely driven by that book, but I really can’t do it justice, so feel free to ignore me and buy the book here.

Bonhoeffer was a priest in the German Church during the rise of Hitler and the Nazis. In the early 1930s, a segment of the German church was trying to justify the Nazis vis-a-vie Christianity. These “German Christians” tried to co opt the church and rewrite scripture to focus on ‘Nordic Jesus’ and expelling all ‘Jewishness’ from the Bible.

Bonhoeffer, had already figured out exactly where he stood in terms of his Christian values, but based it on intellect,
study, what the Holy Spirit showed him and his emotions. Heart mind and soul. He prophetically saw what the Nazis would become and immediately spoke out.

Unfortunately, between these two extremes there was a huge middle that didnt want to speak out, that were afraid of men, that wanted to reconcile German Christians and the rest of the church. They weren’t rooted in Doctrine, weren’t rooted in scripture. and it led to tragic outcomes. The other thing is this was the middle of the 1930s, people didnt know exactly what the Nazis were going to become, but Bonhoeffer was so immersed in doctrine, so immersed in scripture that he knew what the Nazi Christians meant for the church. But those who were weak doctrinally, made way for the Nazis to infiltrate and corrupt the church.

What this means, in simpler terms, is that Bonhoeffer was so steeped in doctrine and intellectual study that he allowed his beliefs to drive his actions. He was so steeped in doctrine that when he faced moral crises he did not waffle, he didn’t have to figure out where he stood, he already knew and acted accordingly.

So figure out what you believe. And that takes time and effort.