Dietrich Bonheoffer: A wishy-washy Christian agnostic?

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The story is told of a budding philosopher who set out on a search for truth, during the process he discovered Christianity. There were many aspect of this new discover that he liked; however, being the honest man that he was, he was not sure about some of the deeper mysteries of the religion, so he decide to wait before he embraced it full on. Unfortunately one day as he set about to meditate on this new religion in order to unravel some of the knots of doubts in this new discovery, he was shot with an arrow filled with a slow action poison. None-the-less, he resolved to get all of his questioned answered

before he signed on. So, he continued in his pursuit. As he edged closer and closer to declaring himself a fully committed Christian convert the poison finally took his life.

At the time of his funeral a great debate broke out among his fellow philosophers as to whether or not he such be buried a Christian or an agnostic. Finally it was decided to bury him as an agnostic Christian, and so it was, and perhaps rightly so from their perspective.

The point is, Christianity is not a philosophy and, in my opinion, those that approach it as such are in for a great disappointment. I will also goes so far as to say that it is totally impossible to prove any of the claims of Christianity through the use of philosophy. I say this because all philosophy is open ended—there is always room for doubt; therefore, certainty is out.

Scripture speaks of this phenomenon when Paul writes to Timothy with criticism of those that are always learning but never come to any understanding, that is to say, any conclusion [2 Tim. 3:7].

Now, back to our story. Life in a sense is as if we have all be shot with a poison arrow at that time of our conception which slowly but surely works its way through our system until we eventually die. There is no escape either, as Alan Seeger's poem, I Have a Rendezvous with Death, so aptly reminds us. The sad fact is that most live their lives as it they have ever and a day to make up their minds on such an important subject as what happens when we face the Grim Reaper, and what can I do to assure a safe passage into something better?

Here take time to read the poem, it's loaded with insightful possibilities:

I have a rendezvous with Death
At some disputed barricade,
When Spring comes back with rustling shade
And apple-blossoms fill the air
I have a rendezvous with Death
When Spring brings back blue days and fair.

It may be he shall take my hand
And lead me into his dark land
And close my eyes and quench my breath
It may be I shall pass him still.
I have a rendezvous with Death
On some scarred slope of battered hill,
When Spring comes round again this year
And the first meadow-flowers appear.

God knows 'twere better to be deep
Pillowed in silk and scented down,
Where Love throbs out in blissful sleep,
Pulse nigh to pulse, and breath to breath,
Where hushed awakenings are dear...
But I've a rendezvous with Death
At midnight in some flaming town,
When Spring trips north again this year,
And I to my pledged word am true,
I shall not fail that rendezvous.

I have a Rendezvous with Death
by Alan Seeger

As Blaise Pascal, the great French mathematician and philosopher once remarked—

“In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don't.”

So, if we have the notion that we will ever have enough faith to answer all our questions, my answer is that no you never will; however, you can have enough trust to navigate the course of this thing we call life, and die with the full confidence that you have done your best and that you are comfortable with the choice to leave the rest up to God.

Now, the question is: Can one be a Christian and harbor doubt at the same time? The answer we should know is that yes, a Christian can; but is there anything like a Christian agnostic? Well, we must answer both yes and no depending on how we define being a Christian. An agnostic, for instance, may have good "Christians morals" but seriously doubt whether or not the is a God to ultimately for judgment on those who do not live accordingly.

Then, we have the Dietrich Bonhoeffer type, who although thoroughly a practicing Christian with a strong faith in God finds himself locked up in prison like John the Baptist and serious doubt sets in as to whether or not there is a higher power that really cares at all. In that sense we must say that, yes, nothing can separate us from the love of God, not even this type of doubt. He feels, He knows, He understands, and all because of Gethsemane. Not because He questioned as to whether or not God the Father had abandoned Him, but because He persistently clung to God as His only hope, thus setting for us an impeccable example for us to emulate in times of deep distress, including our hour of death. Yes, we, too, have a  rendezvous with death and may we face it with the utmost confidence that He will take us by the hand and lead us the valley.