I've been meditating on this quote by Bonhoeffer and this idea has been formulating in my brain for a little bit. I am now hashing it out into writing.
Bonhoeffer lived and wrote in an age where the assumption that God exists was not widely held. The idea that "there is no God" in it's positive affirmations found its roots no sooner than in the 18th century and had its way paved by prominent "freethinkers" such as Marx and Nietzsche and propelled by the theories of Darwin and Freud so that by the time of Bonhoeffer and Nazi Germany the presupposition that mankind was inherently religious was under fire. The idea that God exists is now questionable where for thousands of years it was never questioned.
For ancient people until the enlightenment, the question was "Of course gods exist, but which gods do we obey?" The question of the enlightenment era was "Does God exist and do we have need of him any longer?" The question of the post-modern era is takes both a step backward and forward at the same time "What does it matter as long as you believe something?" Bonhoeffer lived at the tail end of the enlightenment era. If you couple all of this with German Higher Criticism of the Bible calling into dispute the sources of scripture and liberal interpretations with an anti-supernatural bias and to top it off add on the atrocities Bonhoeffer witnessed of Nazi Germany, is it any wonder why he said he was living in a world without God?
It is the same world in which we live today. It is a world, as Bonhoeffer puts it, that we must live in esti deus non daretur (Even if God does not exist). The question one might ask Bonhoeffer is "Where did God go that we live without Him?" Of course his answer being that God didn't go anywhere, we left Him. "Before God and with God we live without God" is his assessment of a society that lives ἄθεος (literally without God).
This Greek word ἄθεος meant something very different to the ancient Greeks (an indeed most if not all ancient peoples) who did not question the existence of gods. To the ancient peoples, there was absolutely no such thing as "without God's existence" and to suggest such a thing was untenable. The very word connotes an impossibility because gods inherently existed without question. Then why the word? It was used to denote "godlessness", those who have forsaken the worship of Gods and had fallen into lawlessness. The term is used by Paul in Ephesians 2:12 to describe Gentiles before their knowing of Christ. It was common for Jews to describe all other nations as ἄθεοι because God was only near to the Israelites. In no way does the term necessarily connote or imply that God does not exist. It describes those who have forsaken God.
So what's my point? That secular is an illusion as there is nothing that exists that is completely devoid of God. It exists conceptually but not actually. To affirm that such a thing as "secular" or "atheistic" exists (in the common vernacular and understanding to mean "without God's existence") means that we affirm there are things that are completely separated from God. There is not a single thing God cannot use nor a single person who is not made in His image. Rather I affirm that "the earth is the Lord's and everything in it." (Ps 24:1) and that there is no such thing as "without God" if I understand as the ancients did before me that to be a god is to exist and cause existence. The only thing worthy to be called a god is a being that exists a se and has life in and of itself. All things depend on God for their existence, secular and atheist alike and thus there is nothing without God's existence. So even if God did not exist (esti deus non daretur) we wouldn't be around to ask the question.
This is Anselm's ontological argument which is not intended as a proof of God but as an explanation why the concept of God is self-evident. He defines God as "a being than which no greater can be conceived". If we can conceive of God like this, than either one of two things are true: This great being exists only in our minds conceptually(modern atheism) or it exists in our minds conceptually and ontologically in reality as well (Modern theism). Because a being that actually exists is greater than one that only exists in our thoughts, God must exist in reality in order to be "that than which nothing greater can be conceived". Descartes says a similar thing when he states that the the notion of a supremely perfect God who does not exist is unintelligible so therefore existence must be part of God's character (as it is better to exist than to not exist). While not a perfect proof of God (nor was it ever meant to be), it gives insight into why the word ἄθεος is unintelligible when taken to mean "God does not exist".
To ask the question "Does God exist?" one must first posit a concept of God and if that concept of God does not include existence as a fundamental attribute, it is something less than God. However if existence is part of God's being inherently, then why ask the question? If it is not, then what exactly is being disproved? This is a question to which it is impossible to answer intelligibly with anything other than "Yes". Moreover, God must exist for it is in his nature to do so. To conclude God's non-existence or even to conclude "you cannot know and there is no way of knowing" is illogical (or at very least would take a "leap of faith"). This is why the ancients never sought to ask the question. God's existence is self evident, but his character and identity are not. Those can only be revealed by the deity. This is why the ancient question was "Which gods do we serve?" But again this is all to say without a doubt that "Before God and with God we live..."
So the reality is that we are always "before God and with God" for there is no place that God is not. God holds the universe together and sustains all things so that even Satan exists by God's own will for nothing is sustained without God's creating and sustaining presence. Therefore all things that exist must have some proximity to God and constantly be "before God and with God". However, in the same way Satan can approach God in the book of Job, just because we are in proximity to God does not mean we are in fellowship with Him. Our bodies may be near him, but our hearts can be far from Him. In such a way we are "without God" especially when we live in an ever increasing ἄθεοι society. (The spread of atheism/agnosticism in the world: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Atheists_Agnostics_Zuckerman_en.svg)
Again we have always lived in a world in which peoples hearts are hardened and their consciousnesses are seared. There are some, who despite any action God can take, will not turn an repent. They will perish without ever knowing God and will deny him until their last breath so God has given them up to their mortal desires.
Bonhoeffer goes on in his letter "God lets himself be pushed out of the world on to the cross. He is weak and powerless in the world, and that is precisely the way, the only way, in which he is with us and helps us." God does not demonstrate his power to save through powerful displays of force and combat, but through Jesus, the meek and humble servant, beaten and hung on a cross, weak and powerless and forsaken by all. Indeed God is mighty to save, but the image of Christ on the cross is anything but mighty. Those who rejected God in Christ and denied that God was God where those who were ἄθεοι even though he was in their midst. Just as they had no part with God, he had no part with them. They pushed him out of the world onto the cross, but he came back and is coming back again. But why is the Almighty powerless among these "atheists"?
We find a clue in Mark 6:4-6: "4Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor.” 5He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6And he was amazed at their lack of faith." (NIV)
It is not a question if Jesus can or cannot but of will or will not. Only the faithful are healed and saved. Why is this so? Because only the faithful come to Jesus for healing. You don't go to doctors you do not trust and think cannot help you (needless to say doctors that do not exist). If you have a deadly illness and you don't believe in doctors, you only have one choice: die. It is only by faith that anyone is saved. This is why we pray for those who do not know God; We ask God to heal them when they will not ask for themselves and in his mercy he either does or does not.
Finally, I want to look at one last passage, 1 Corinthians 1:22-25
"22Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength."Jews wanted signs because it would point them to the messiah, however even when Jesus did miracles before their eyes, they did not believe. Needless to say Jesus doesn't waste his time performing miracles as their only goal is to increase faith. The Greeks were preoccupied with wisdom. Literally the term "philosophia" means "love of wisdom". Needless to say, they loved wisdom.
Paul says he preaches Christ crucified, and to those Jews and Greeks who lack faith, Christ is just that, crucified. He's dead, powerless and weak to do anything. Not the messiah Jews are looking for and certainly foolishness to the unbelieving Greeks to follow a crucified leader (the cross was a symbol of shame reserved for the worst offenders). But to those whom God has called, the faithful, Christ is more than crucified; He is the power of God and the wisdom of God. Ironically he is exactly what the unbelieving Jews and Greeks were looking for but could not find and when they did find him, rejected him.
So in the end if we are used the term "atheist" in the same manner as ancient Greeks and Jews would understand ἄθεοι, all peoples who are without Christ can be termed "atheist", not just those who say that God does not exist. There is only one God and the only way to be "with him" is through Christ. Those without Christ are simply put "without God" even though they continually be in God's presence.
So then, we as Christians are tasked to find the faithful and to disciple them, teaching them to obey all that Christ taught. We live in a world that is "without God", but if we are "with God" and "before God", then we bring God with us wherever we go for he dwells in us. He is the light that shines through us in the dark places and my friends, this world's a mighty dark place.
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