Quotes about Judgment
If we would answer the question of the existence of the Evil then we would not be sinners, we could make something else responsible.
— Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Only when we have felt the terror of the matter, can we recognize the incomparable kindness. God comes into the very midst of evil and death, and judges the evil in us and in the world. And by judging us, God cleanses and sanctifies us, comes to us with grace and love…. God wants to always be with us, wherever we may be—in our sin, suffering, and death. We are no longer alone; God is with us.6 "The Coming of Jesus in Our Midst
— Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Whoever despises another human being will never be able to make anything of him. Nothing of what we despise in another is itself foreign to us.
— Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Talk about one's own guilt can be just as far from the Word of God as talk about one's innocence.
— Dietrich Bonhoeffer
How can I possibly serve another person in unfeigned humility if I seriously regard his sinfulness as worse than my own?
— Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The most astonishing observation one makes today is that people surrender everything in the face of nothingness: their own judgment, their humanity, their neighbors. Where this fear is exploited without scruple, there are no limits to what can be achieved.[130]
— Dietrich Bonhoeffer
if we are on the look-out for evil in others, our real motive is obviously to justify ourselves, for we are seeking to escape punishment for our own sins by passing judgement on others, and are assuming by implication that the Word of God applies to ourselves in one way, and to others in another.
— Dietrich Bonhoeffer
We cannot approach the manger of the Christ child in the same way we approach the cradle of another child. Rather, when we go to his manger, something happens, and we cannot leave it again unless we have been judged or redeemed. Here we must either collapse or know the mercy of God directed toward us.
— Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Judging others makes us blind, but love gives us sight. When I judge, I am blind to my own evil and to the grace granted the other person. But in the love of Christ, disciples know about every imaginable kind of guilt and sin, because they know of the suffering of Jesus Christ.
— Dietrich Bonhoeffer
What will really matter is whether those in power expect more from people's folly than from their wisdom and independence of mind.
— Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The disciples are not to judge. If they do so, they will themselves be judged by God. The sword wherewith they judge their brethren will fall upon their own heads. Instead of cutting themselves off from their brother as the just from the unjust, they find themselves cut off from Jesus.
— Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The form of the crucified disarms all thinking aimed at success, for it is a denial of judgment. Neither the triumph of the successful, nor bitter hatred of the successful by those who fail, can finally cope with the world. Jesus is certainly no advocate for the successful in history, but neither does he lead the revolt of the failures against the successful.
— Dietrich Bonhoeffer