Bonhoeffer's Black Jesus: Harlem Renaissance Theology and an Ethic of Resistance

By Reggie L. Williams and Ferdinand Schlingensiepen

Dietrich Bonhoeffer publicly confronted Nazism and anti-Semitic racism in Hitler's Germany. The Reich's political ideology, when mixed with theology of the German Christian movement, turned Jesus into a divine representation of the ideal, racially pure Aryan and allowed race-hate to become part of Germany's religious life. Bonhoeffer provided a Christian response to Nazi atrocities.

In this book author Reggie L. Williams follows Dietrich Bonhoeffer as he encounters Harlem’s black Jesus. The Christology Bonhoeffer learned in Harlem's churches featured a black Christ who suffered with African Americans in their struggle against systemic injustice and racial violence—and then resisted. In the pews of the Abyssinian Baptist Church, under the leadership of Adam Clayton Powell Sr., Bonhoeffer was captivated by Christianity in the Harlem Renaissance. This Christianity included a Jesus who stands with the oppressed, against oppressors, and a theology that challenges the way God is often used to underwrite harmful unions of race and religion.

Now featuring a foreword from world-renowned Bonhoeffer scholar Ferdinand Schlingensiepen as well as multiple updates and additions, Bonhoeffer’s Black Jesus argues that Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s immersion within the black American narrative was a turning point for him, causing him to see anew the meaning of his claim that obedience to Jesus requires concrete historical action. This ethic of resistance not only indicted the church of the German Volk, but also continues to shape the nature of Christian discipleship today.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Baylor University Press
• Release date: Sep 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781481315869

Book preview

Praise for BONHOEFFER’S BLACK JESUS

"Reggie Williams’ Bonhoeffer’s Black Jesus fundamentally disrupted Bonhoeffer studies for the better, breathing new life into conversations too long caught in an endless feedback loop. Now with this second edition which includes an extraordinary foreword from Ferdinand Schlingensiepen, arguably the world’s leading Bonhoeffer scholar, we see even more clearly the path Williams has laid for us to move Bonhoeffer from Eurocentric intellectual isolationism toward a Bonhoeffer listening and learning from the black diaspora—would that others could follow his example and Williams’ insights."

—WILLIE JAMES JENNINGS, Associate Professor of Theology and Africana Studies, Yale University

"In Bonhoeffer’s Black Jesus, Reggie Williams does what no other Bonhoeffer scholar has done in the history of the guild. His turn to interrogate Harlem, its historic Abyssinian Baptist Church, and the significance of Black life and resistance for Bonhoeffer’s theological vision and ethical formation is groundbreaking and field-shifting. This book is required reading for all who desire a more expansive treatment of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s life, and who want to know how Black lives matter then and now for his enduring legacy."

—EBONI MARSHALL TURMAN, Associate Professor of Theology and African American Religion, Yale Divinity School

"Bonhoeffer’s Black Jesus is destined to transform Bonhoeffer studies. Previously scholars have focused on Bonhoeffer’s experience that year at Union Theological Seminary, but Williams makes a plausible case that his experiences in neighboring Harlem were far more decisive in shaping the man who returned to Germany to take on the Nazis and the Nazifying Protestant churches."

—DAVID P. GUSHEE, Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics & Director, Center for Theology and Public Life, Mercer University

"Bonhoeffer’s Black Jesus is a compelling study of Bonhoeffer’s encounter with the Christianity he found alive in the streets of Harlem and the sanctuary of Abyssinian Baptist Church. These formative experiences inspired Bonhoeffer’s efforts to undermine the false connection between White imperialist identity and Jesus. The Black Christ that Williams finds in Bonhoeffer challenges all of us to live more authentically and fully into the call to do justice. Bonhoeffer’s Black Jesus is a must read."

—EMILIE M. TOWNES, E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of Womanist Ethics and Society, Vanderbilt Divinity School

"In recent years, scholars have begun to name Bonhoeffer’s experience in Harlem as central to his development, but no one until now has provided such a rich analysis of the embedded cultural thinking he had to shed and the degree and manner in which he did so. Bonhoeffer’s Black Jesus not only will ignite new discussions on Bonhoeffer and race, but also will guide readers into more honest reflection on the entrenched nature of racism and the deliberative thinking and action necessary for resistance."

—JENNIFER M. MCBRIDE, Associate Dean of Doctor of Ministry Programs and Continuing Education and Associate Professor of Theology and Ethics, McCormick Theological Seminary

This study of Bonhoeffer and the black Christ is a revelation, an unveiling that illumines the deep places of Bonhoeffer’s life and thought. Moreover, Reggie Williams’ presentation and writing are exemplary, within reach of any audience serious about Bonhoeffer.

—LARRY RASMUSSEN, Reinhold Niebuhr Professor Emeritus of Social Ethics, Union Theological Seminary, New York City

"Reggie Williams’ Bonhoeffer’s Black Jesus … breaks new ground in offering a detailed and vibrant portrait of the Harlem Renaissance that was in full blossom during Bonhoeffer’s time in New York."

—VICTORIA J. BARNETT, Contemporary Church History Quarterly

"Bonhoeffer’s Black Jesus stands as a turning point in Bonhoeffer scholarship while offering a fresh and constructive approach to theological ethics in its vision for empathic resistance and solidarity with the oppressed."

—TIMOTHY DWIGHT DAVIS, Anglican Theological Review

Williams’ exploration is a welcome journey into a domain of praxiological substance in a contemporary age where vain ideologies, boisterous pathologies, and impotent philosophies have become normative impersonations of meaningful commitment. His historical framing is invaluable, as he refreshingly covers the development and depth of Bonhoeffer’s thought.

—KEVIN DUDLEY, Journal of Lutheran Ethics

"… What should the reflective life of a global Christian look like? Williams’ Bonhoeffer brings us close and paves the way for deeper reflection on the impact of Bonhoeffer’s global ministry on his theology."

—WILLIAM YOUNG, Black Theology: An International Journal

Williams’ prose is enthralling, and he successfully engages in meaningful dialog with earlier literature in ethics, theology, and black studies. His book is a welcome effort to bridge our understanding of Bonhoeffer’s actions in Germany with motivations inherited from Black America. It might be useful in both undergraduate and graduate settings.

—PAUL HILLMER, Lutheran Quarterly

… a highly significant study of Bonhoeffer’s powerfully formative theological development inside the crucible and sublime beauty of Harlem. It is required reading for anyone seeking a more complex, constructive, and provocative view of Bonhoeffer, especially as it provides a dark-hued and somewhat contested thesis that will surely establish a new benchmark for the vigorous discussions and debates to come regarding Bonhoeffer’s Christological and ethical embrace of racial alterity and Christian identity.

—JAMES S. LOGAN, Modern Theology

In addition to the exploration of Bonhoeffer’s time in Harlem, this book raises important considerations about scholarship and pedagogy that would benefit a broad audience. Williams, using Bonhoeffer’s own words, emphasizes that his early theology had been a demonstration of intellect rather than an expression of faith.

—COURTNEY H. DAVIS, Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics

Bonhoeffer’s Black Jesus

Harlem Renaissance Theology and an Ethic of Resistance

REVISED EDITION

Reggie L. Williams

Foreword by Ferdinand Schlingensiepen

BAYLOR UNIVERSITY PRESS

First edition © 2014. Revised edition © 2021 by Baylor University Press, Waco, Texas 76798

All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission in writing of Baylor University Press.

Cover Design by Andrew Brozyna, AJB Design, Inc.

Book Design by Diane Smith

The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover first edition as follows:

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Williams, Reggie L., 1971–

Bonhoeffer’s black Jesus : Harlem Renaissance theology and an ethic of resistance / Reggie L. Williams.

196 pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-60258-804-2 (hardback : alk. paper)

1. Bonhoeffer, Dietrich, 1906–1945. 2. Black theology.

3. Harlem Renaissance—Influence. I. Title.

BX4827.B57W545 2014

230’.044092—dc23

2014010728

First edition paperback ISBN: 978-1-60258-805-9

Revised edition paperback ISBN: 978-1-4813-1585-2

ePub ISBN: 978-1-4813-1586-9

Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper with a minimum of 30% recycled content.

For my wife, Stacy, and our children, Darion and Simone.

For my dear mother; thank you for believing in me.

For Glen, my fiercest advocate.

CONTENTS

Foreword to the Revised Edition

Preface to the Revised Edition

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1  To Harlem and Back: Seeing Jesus with New Eyes

2  A Theology of Resistance in the Harlem Renaissance

3  Bonhoeffer in the Veiled Corner: Jesus in the Harlem Renaissance

4  Christ, Empathy, and Confrontation at Abyssinian Baptist Church

5  Christ-Centered Empathic Resistance: Bonhoeffer’s Black Jesus in Germany

Conclusion

Notes

Works Cited

Index

FOREWORD TO THE REVISED EDITION

The times that Dietrich Bonhoeffer spent with African Americans in Harlem were decisive experiences for him during his year in New York, which began in September of 1930. Reggie Williams provides an important key to understanding that experience, showing what Bonhoeffer sought and learned in Harlem. That year in New York changed Bonhoeffer from abstract theology to a passionate following of Christ. We can see the mark Harlem left on him in the way he took up his subsequent radical struggle against the National Socialist regime of terror. He was one among a community of Christians who resisted the Nazis early, after seeing them clearly for what they were.

My father undertook an early study of Hitler and National Socialism. In 1931, when he took over a teaching position at Kiel University, he held a lecture there on The Church and the Modern Political Movements. As part of his preparation he had read Hitler’s Mein Kampf and realized what National Socialism would mean for the Jews and also for the Church. (Very few people had read Hitler’s book.)

Many years later, after the war, my brother Wilhelm cycled through northern Germany and rang the doorbell at a rectory, to ask if he could look at the church from the inside. When he introduced himself, the pastor said, Are you a son of Hermann Schlingensiepen? Wilhelm said, Yes, and the pastor’s response was, Your father kept me from becoming a Nazi. I visited his lectures in Kiel.

On January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler became Reich Chancellor. A few weeks earlier, on January 1, my father had become principal of the Auslandsseminar (seminary that eventually joined in the effort to train pastors for the Confessing Church) in Ilsenburg, in the Harz region. Here students were trained for service in German congregations in South America. I was four years old when, a day after Hitler seized power, my father’s forty or so students wore brown uniforms. They had secretly been members of the SA. A few months later, due to my father’s influence, they had all left the SA.

In order to understand Bonhoeffer, one must study German history. Only then can one see his development. He always fought for critical thinking. The church held a centuries-old, theologically founded anti-Semitism. Even my pro-Jewish father would say Yes, but … , until he realized that people heard only the but. Then he left out the but and would say that we must stand by the Jews, no ifs, no buts. I do remember this Yes, but … from my childhood. Dietrich Bonhoeffer had followed a similar process, having worked his way out of this earlier position. By 1933, he stood with his Jewish friends Hildebrandt and Leibholz—unreservedly. What people today do not know is that at that time, people could disappear for simply making pro-Jewish statements. Everything that was negative in society, or the economy, was laid at the Jews’ feet, even though it was totally clear that they were not to blame.

The Jews were the most modern, the most artistic, the most literate, and the most political group in Germany, and everything they did crossed a line for conservative Protestants. Germany had had little experience of democracy, and the Jews had been one of the most democratic groups in Germany, whereas conservative groups in Germany would have preferred a return to the old empire with the Kaiser and the Catholic Württembergers and the Bavarians pined for their princely houses.

The Jews had finally obtained equal rights in the Weimar Republic (1918–1933). Jews were among the leading figures in the Social Democrats and Communist parties. These political groups were among the first whom the Nazis targeted for elimination when Dachau and other concentration camps opened in 1933. As a group, the Jews were highly educated. From early on, their schools taught the basic principle that people must be able to ask questions. The properly asked question is more important than any explanation or other display of wisdom. This is what makes astute people. Having this training from early on, young Jews became star pupils in all subjects of study, and this was held against them. They were not only an industrious minority, but also learned from a young age how to conduct research. It was not by chance that there were a comparatively large number of Jews among the first Nobel Prize winners.

Much of what is valuable and worthy of retelling of German history was denounced by the Nazis. For them only those who sang Deutschland, Deutschland über alles or the Nazi hymn Die Fahne hoch were proper Germans.

In 1936, my father’s seminary in Ilsenburg was closed by the Evangelischer Oberkirchenrat, the leading Church Council in Berlin, which had sided with the Nazis, but like Bonhoeffer’s seminary, it continued to operate underground. The seminary students moved in with families who belonged to the newly founded Confessing Church, and in the house with the most space, my father and his colleagues gave their lectures. Then news came that all students who would be found in my father’s presence would be sent off to the concentration camps, and the Confessing Church Council decided to put a stop to the work. Many sons of German expatriate families in Brazil and Argentina were studying under my father, and no one wanted to make them unsafe or endanger them. My father was told to seek a new position. He applied for a pastorate in Siegen, in Westphalia, where they were looking for a member of the Confessing Church as their pastor.

I was ten years old then and so in Siegen I had to join the Jungvolk or Youngsters, the junior group of the Hitlerjugend (Hitler’s Youth). This was mandatory. The Jungvolk covered ages ten to fourteen, after which one had to join the Hitlerjugend. I went once or twice to the Jungvolk and did not like it. Then I heard that one could alternatively join the Hitlerjugend Orchestra. I took my violin and went to the orchestra’s rehearsal. But that entire afternoon, they were practicing Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik, which I found so boring that I never went back. In the orchestra they thought I had gone back to the Jungvolk, and there they thought I was with the orchestra. In that way I avoided becoming ein Hitlerjunge.

In the spring of 1939 my father was arrested. Like other pastors, he was soon released, but only because the war was close. He had been arrested on the accusation that he had dealt improperly with an offering by sending it to the Board of the Confessing Church. One of the prison guards who began work at the prison long before 1933 must have secretly remained anti-Nazi. One day, when he and another guard were going through the prison with a basket full of books, he stopped at my father’s cell and said mockingly, That is a priest. Let us give him a Bible. But, he was most likely aware that he was fulfilling an urgent wish. My father was comforted by looking up all the passages in the Bible in which people were put in prison, beginning with Joseph in Egypt.

While my father was imprisoned, my mother and I went on a gloomy summer vacation in the Black Forest. When we returned home, my father stood at the train station, waiting for us in his light grey summer suit. He had red marks on his face and neck where the bugs had bitten him. In the church youth group and while conducting Bible studies with the women’s groups, he told of his time in custody. One night, a district police officer came and warned him that he should be careful with his stories, because there were some people who would want to put him back in prison, simply because of these stories. But Siegen was a city with many pious people in it, and my father had become very popular by spending time in prison for his faith.

My father’s example made it clear to me early on that I wanted to become a pastor. Shortly after the war, one of my godfathers sent me my first text in memory of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Zeugnis eine Boten (The Witness of a Messenger), by Willem Visser’t Hooft. I found the little booklet fascinating, and I asked my father about Bonhoeffer. He told me that he was once arrested along with Bonhoeffer in Martin Niemöller’s house. They had met several times, because they were both active in the training of Confessing Church pastors, which had been forbidden by Himmler and Heidrich.

In 1948, after my final high school exams, I began to study theology in Wuppertal. Here, all of the instructors had been members of the Confessing Church. They had not known Bonhoeffer personally, but knew who he was. Soon after the war, Eberhard Bethge began the process of publishing Bonhoeffer’s writings. The first to be published was Letters and Papers from Prison. In 1950, I met Bethge in London. I was cycling from Wuppertal to Edinburgh in Scotland to visit my girlfriend and future wife, who was working there as a nurse. In London, I rang the doorbell of Bethge’s rectory in search of a place to sleep for the night. Because I had my violin with me, I was instantly popular with Renate Bethge. She was a gifted pianist. We played Mozart sonatas together. Thus began our lifelong friendship.

In 1954, I became pastor of the tiny German congregation in Bradford, Yorkshire, even though I had not yet taken my final exams. I took care of this a short time later in Düsseldorf, and then Martin Niemöller came to ordain me in Bradford. The British were fascinated that the world-famous Martin Niemöller should come to England, and I made arrangements for him to give a lecture in a large hall in Huddersfield seating two thousand people. But at first, he was denied entry by a somewhat surly immigration officer and had to fly back to Germany. Only after the intervention of the Member of Parliament for Huddersfield could Niemöller be invited again and his entry be guaranteed. He came, gave several lectures, and ordained me.

In 1960, I became the executive officer of foreign affairs for the Protestant Church of the Union in Berlin. Among my duties was to maintain contact with the German pastors and congregations overseas. Among many other things I was able to arrange for all nine hundred of them to receive Eberhard Bethge’s Bonhoeffer biography as a Christmas present.

By 1969 I was the director of the Diakoniewerk Kaiserswerth in the North of Düsseldorf. It was here that I was able to send out invitations to the first International Bonhoeffer Congress, and 120 guests from ten different countries came. At the end of my welcoming speech I proposed that we should found a Bonhoeffer society. To this day, the International Bonhoeffer Congress takes place every four years. The society’s first task was to secure funding so that Bonhoeffer’s handwritten legacy could be secured. It was then housed simply in several boxes in Bethge’s study.

Shortly after the publication of Eberhard Bethge’s Bonhoeffer biography he suggested that I should write a shorter Bonhoeffer biography, intended for a broader audience. To this day Bethge’s biography, with over one thousand pages, is still a standard reference work for Bonhoeffer scholars. In it he summarized everything that he knew about and could report about his teacher and friend, as well as all of the facts that he had brought together. It was only after my retirement that I was able to get to work on fulfilling Bethge’s wish. Over fifty years after Bonhoeffer’s murder certain basic points of history needed to be explained to the reader, points that had been experienced firsthand by people at the time Bethge’s biography first came out. On top of that, Bonhoeffer research had brought many more facts to light that I was able to take into consideration in my book.

I find it fascinating that, unlike the other (white) students at Union Theological Seminary, Bonhoeffer was passionately interested in the Black community in Harlem. In 1960, his friend Paul Lehmann remembered,

What was so impressive was the way in which he pursued the understanding of the problem to its minutest detail through books and countless visits to Harlem, through participation in Negro Youth Work, but even more through a remarkable kind of identity with the Negro community, so that he was received there as if he had never been an outsider at all. (Paul Lehmann, quoted in Schlingensiepen, Dietrich Bonhoeffer 1906–1945: Martyr, Thinker, Man of Resistance [London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2010], 65)

It seems that Bonhoeffer could not find a single fellow (white) student who showed a similar interest. In what was for him an entirely foreign situation, he investigated the question of racism. It prepared him for his fight against the anti-Semitism of the Nazis in Germany and changed him forever. Through these experiences in the United States, he could see developments in Germany differently and earlier than most other church people. One can quite clearly see a sensitization in him. How can there be second-class people? He brought this awareness with him from the United States, and this made him immediately sensitive to the situation of the Jews during the Nazi period. Reggie Williams is the first person to have intensively engaged with Bonhoeffer’s time in Harlem. If one does this as an American, one can gain new insight into one’s own nation, which also