“Is God dead?”

by Beth Cox (MSN, CPNP; UPSem CPT ’24 and MDiv ’29)

During our preparation for this travel seminar, we read a great deal of material by and about Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Lutheran theologian, pastor, and anti-Nazi dissenter. Bonhoeffer wrote of wrestling with the seeming absence of God during his suffering. It was in this vein that this morning, on the tenth day of our travel seminar, we gathered for a discussion centered around the question “Is God dead?”

In times of unspeakable evil, like the Shoah, has God abandoned us? Has God absented Godself from the human narrative? Does God not intervene in our daily lives? If God does not, is God still relevant?

Today, we visited several locations related to Bonhoeffer’s life and legacy, starting with the Bonhoeffer Monument in Wroclaw. Next, we headed to Wroclaw’s Old City Hall, which was constructed over 250 years, beginning in the early 13th century. On the first floor are twenty busts of key figures in Wroclaw’s history, including Bonhoeffer, who was born here in 1906 when the area was part of Germany. We traveled to the Lutheran St. Christopher’s Church in Bonhoeffer Square and viewed the church’s stained-glass windows, one of which is an image of Bonhoeffer. Finally, we viewed the exterior of the home, located near a tributary of the Oder, where Bonhoeffer lived until age six.

Bonhoeffer believed Christians should not keep silent in the face of evil but that they must be disruptors, and that one must act regardless of the personal cost. He also recognized the gift of community and spoke of living “life together”. It is in this spirit that those of us on this travel seminar are living “life together” in community as we travel, break bread, rest, learn, and study.

Thoughtful study leads to more questions. As part of our spiritual practice during this travel seminar, we are encouraged to read daily the Psalm that corresponds to that day’s date. The Psalm for today is Psalm 29, and verses 1-2a (NRSVue) read, “Ascribe to the Lord, o heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord, glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name”.

What else can we ascribe to God? Can we ascribe events to God? Do we ascribe to God only the good happenings? Can we ascribe the good if we do not also ascribe the evil? Where was God during the Shoah? We are grappling with these questions and more as we continue our journey.