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Bonhoeffer's Theological Appropriation of Heidegger's Existential Analytic of Dasein Nicholas Byle University of South Florida, [email protected]

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Bonhoeffer's Theological Appropriation of Heidegger's Existential Analytic of Dasein Nicholas Byle University of South Florida, Nbyle@Mail.Usf.Edu University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 4-7-2016 Divine Temporality: Bonhoeffer's Theological Appropriation of Heidegger's Existential Analytic of Dasein Nicholas Byle University of South Florida, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the Philosophy Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Scholar Commons Citation Byle, Nicholas, "Divine Temporality: Bonhoeffer's Theological Appropriation of Heidegger's Existential Analytic of Dasein" (2016). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/6196 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Divine Temporality: Bonhoeffer’s Theological Appropriation of Heidegger’s Existential Analytic of Dasein by Nicholas Byle A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Philosophy with a concentration in Philosophy and Religion College of Arts and Sciences University of South Florida Co-Major Professor: Michael DeJonge, Ph.D. Co-Major Professor: Michael Morris, Ph.D. Lee Braver, Ph.D. Benjamin Crowe, Ph.D. Date of Approval: March 25, 2016 Keywords: Act and Being; Being and Time; Christology; ontology; anthropology; epistemology Copyright © 2016, Nicholas Byle Dedication For Natalie Acknowledgments The completion of the following project was gratefully assisted by the University of South Florida’s Dissertation Completion Fellowship. Conclusions, opinions, and other statements are my own and are not necessarily those of the University of South Florida. I thank both the University of South Florida’s Religious Studies and Philosophy Departments for offering a welcoming and conducive atmosphere within which to grow as a scholar, a teacher, and a person. I would like to particularly thank Dell deChant, from whom I learned much both academically and personally. I also thank my dissertation committee. Michael Morris’ masterful understanding of and ability to explain Kant and Hegel and his general support throughout my doctoral work are greatly appreciated. Charles Guignon’s and Lee Braver’s expert knowledge of Heidegger were most welcome. Benjamin Crowe graciously lent his expertise and was consistently supportive. Michael DeJonge has been especially positive and helpful throughout my graduate career in all its aspects going beyond any expectation or hope I could have for a mentor. I thank my family and in particular my wife, Natalie, for their consistent support of my graduate work overall and their dependable encouragement at every step of the project. I also thank Gütersloher Verlagshaus for granting permission to use portions of my previously published “Heidegger’s Adam and Bonhoeffer’s Christ: Evaluating Bonhoeffer’s Appraisals of Heidegger “ published in: Dietrich Bonhoeffer Yearbook 5 – 2011/2012, edited by Clifford J. Green, Kirsten Busch Nielsen, Christiane Tietz. © 2012, Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh, in der Verlagsgruppe Random House GmbH. Table of Contents Abbreviations ................................................................................................................................. iii Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iv Introduction ......................................................................................................................................1 Chapter One: The Problem of Act and Being ...............................................................................21 The Three Conceptual Levels of the Problem of Act and Being .......................................25 The Four Sub-Criteria for a Solution to the Problem of Act and Being ............................32 Chapter Two: Epistemological-Philosophical Attempts at a Solution .........................................41 Bonhoeffer on Philosophy and Its Lutheran Context ........................................................41 Kant and Pure Transcendentalism .....................................................................................52 Hegel and Idealism ............................................................................................................61 Husserl and Idealist Phenomenology .................................................................................70 Scheler and Phenomenological Epistemology ...................................................................76 Chapter Three: Heidegger’s Anthropological Success .................................................................84 From Sanctorum Communio to Act and Being: What Required Fixing ............................86 Anthropology and the Priority of Dasein ...........................................................................92 Average Everydayness and Concreteness ..........................................................................98 Thrown-Projection and Continuity ..................................................................................111 Temporality and Historicity .............................................................................................122 Chapter Four: Heidegger’s Theological Failure .........................................................................132 Bonhoeffer’s Theological Critique of Possibility ............................................................133 Authenticity and the Cor Curvum in se ...........................................................................137 The Boundary of Death ....................................................................................................153 Conscience, Guilt, and Self-Justification .........................................................................164 Pryzwara: An Excursus? ..................................................................................................171 Chapter Five: Bonhoeffer’s Theological Solution: Christ as Ur-Dasein ....................................178 Theological Ontology: Christ as Ur-Dasein ....................................................................180 Theological Anthropology: Human Dasein in Christ as the Church ...............................193 Theological Epistemology: Ecclesial Knowing ..............................................................206 Chapter Six: Bonhoeffer and Heideggerian Theology ................................................................219 Phenomenology and Theology: Two Routes ...................................................................221 Bultmann and the Appropriative Route ...........................................................................234 Bonhoeffer and the Adaptive Route ................................................................................246 i Conclusion .......................................................................................................................252 References ....................................................................................................................................256 Appendix A: Permissions ............................................................................................................268 ii Abbreviations BT Being and Time DBW Dietrich Bonhoeffer Werke DBWE Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works (English) GA Gesamtausgabe (Martin Heidegger) LW Luther’s Works SZ Sein und Zeit iii Abstract This dissertation’s guiding question is: What was the impact of Martin Heidegger’s early philosophy on Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s theology? I argue that Heidegger’s analysis of Dasein, his technical term for human existence, provides Bonhoeffer with important conceptual tools for developing his Christology, from which the rest of his theology follows. Part of recognizing Heidegger’s importance to Bonhoeffer involves understanding the latter’s critiques of previous notable philosophers such as Kant, Hegel, Husserl, and Scheler. As Bonhoeffer evaluates these philosophers, they lead to theologically unacceptable positions. Heidegger, in contrast, has come to a theologically profitable understanding of human existence and epistemology. Though there are theologically useful elements in Heidegger’s philosophy, there are elements that require significant alteration, and even rejection. Heidegger recognizes that epistemology must be based on actual human existence, and he can account for the historical continuity of human existence; however, because of Heidegger’s anthropocentric philosophy, he cannot account for God’s transcendence necessary for proper theology. Bonhoeffer then applies the conceptual tools he has appropriated from Heidegger to revelation, Christology, and the church. This eliminates the anthropocentrism that made transcendence impossible, while maintaining the benefits of Heidegger’s philosophy in order to account for Christian existence. Understanding Bonhoeffer’s appropriation of Heidegger is additionally important for understanding Heidegger’s potential relation to theology. This dissertation concludes by placing Bonhoeffer in the context of other theological appropriations of Heidegger. In light of this iv context and Heidegger’s own understanding of philosophy’s relation to theology, I argue that Bonhoeffer represents one, viable theological
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