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Dietrich Bonhoeffer Quotes about Evil

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Silence in the face of evil is evil itself.

Silence in the face of evil is evil itself.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Evil, Silence, Faces

Judging others makes us blind, whereas love is illuminating. By judging others we blind ourselves to our own evil and to the grace which others are just as entitled to as we are.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Love Is, Judging Yourself, Evil
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (2015). “The Cost of Discipleship”, p.129, SCM Press

Often we combat our evil thoughts most effectively if we absolutely refuse to allow them to be expressed in words.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Evil, Combat, Refuse
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Samuel Wells (2015). “Life Together”, p.70, SCM Press

The question of why evil exists is not a theological question, for it assumes that it is possible to go behind the existence forced upon us as sinners. If we could answer it then we would not be sinners. We could make something else responsible...The theological question does not arise about the origin of evil but about the real overcoming of evil on the Cross; it ask for the forgiveness of guilt, for the reconciliation of the fallen world

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Real, Evil, Guilt

The right way to requite evil, according to Jesus, is not to resist it. This saying of Christ removes the Church from the sphere of politics and law.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Jesus, Law, Evil
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (2015). “The Cost of Discipleship”, p.91, SCM Press

While we exert ourselves to grow beyond our humanity, to leave the human behind us, God becomes human; and we must recognize that God wills that we be human, real human beings. While we distinguish between pious and godless, good and evil, noble and base, God loves real people without distinction.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Real, People, Evil

Jesus is no draughtsman of political blueprints, he is the one who vanquished evil through suffering. It looked as though evil had triumphed on the cross, but the real victory belonged to Jesus.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Jesus, Real, Evil
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (2012). “The Cost of Discipleship”, p.144, Simon and Schuster

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