36BONHEOFFER, DIETRICH
of St. Francis of Assisi. According to
Bonaventure, human beings possess
innate ideas of God, virtue, and the good.
The life of faith involves illumination and
a living out of the ontological argument
whereby one comes to a living relation-
ship with God. He is the author of
Commentary on the Sentences of Peter
Lombard (1250–1251), On Christ’s Knowl-
edge (1253–1257), On the Mystery of
the Trinity (1253–1257), On Charity and
the Last Things (1253–1257), The Mind’s
Journey to God (1259), Two Lives of
St. Francis (1267), On the Ten Command-
ments (1267), On the Seven Gifts of the
Holy Spirit (1268), and On the Six Days of
Creation (1273).
BONHEOFFER, DIETRICH (1906–
1945). German theologian who was a key
leader of the confessing Church (those
who spoke out against Adolph Hitler) in
Nazi Germany. Implicated in an attempt
to assassinate Hitler, he was killed
shortly before the end of World War II.
Bonheoffer taught that, rather than pro-
mote a cheap view of grace, Christians
need to live in radical dependence on
Christ. The primacy of Christ even sub-
ordinated “religion” to Christ’s Lordship
so that, paradoxically, Bonheoffer pro-
moted a “religionless” form of Christian-
ity. His works include The Communion
of Saints (1930), Act and Being (1931),
The Cost of Discipleship (1937), Ethics
(1949), and Resistance and Submission
(1951).
BOWNE, BORDEN PARKER (1845–
1910). A founding member of a group
of philosophers who came to be known
as personalists. Over against the imper-
sonalism of utilitarianism and the modern
nation state, Bowne stressed the personal
nature of God. His chief works include
Metaphysics (1882), Philosophy of Theism
(1887), The Theory of Thought and Knowl-
edge (1897), Theism (1902), and Personal-
ism (1908). See also PERSONALISM.BOYLE, ROBERT (1627–1691). An
English natural philosopher, Boyle
defended the argument from design. His
chief works include The Origin of Forms
and Qualities (1666), The Excellency and
Grounds of the Mechanical Hypothesis
(1674), The Excellency of Theology (1674),
The Notion of Nature (1686), Final Causes
(1688), and The Christian Virtuoso (1690).BRADLEY, F(RANCIS) H(ERBERT)
(1846–1924). A British idealist, Bradley
defended the idea that reality is most fun-
damentally an Absolute, a unified reality
behind the world of appearances. Truths
that are not seen in relationship to the
whole or Absolute reality are partial. In
ethics, Bradley defended the idea that
human fulfillment is to be found in self-
realization. He also saw community life
as essential to moral and philosophical
development. He is the author of Appear-
ance and Reality (1893), Principles of
Logic (1883), and Ethical Studies (1876).