Does Divine Retribution Generate Human Violence?—Bonhoeffer, Guilt, and Resistance

In contemporary soteriological discourse, several voices have raised the concern that atonement theologies that assume divine justice has a retributive element end up justifying violence.  Though this may be the case in some instances, Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s theology and ethics present a more complicated picture.  While Bonhoeffer presumed retributive justice was operative in God’s saving work in Christ, this never resulted in an outright justification of his work in the resistance.