Derrida’s “deconstruction” is his translation of Heidegger’s “Destruktion.” Benjamin D. Crowe, in his book “Heidegger’s Religious Origins: Destruction and Authenticity” (Indiana University Press, 2006) argues that Heidegger developed his “Destruktion” from Luther’s “destructio.” The following is a quote from Crowe’s introduction, summarizing his project:
“First, Luther uses ‘destructio’ to refer to what he elsewhere calls the ‘‘alien work [opus alienum]’’ of God, i.e., the humiliation of human self-righteousness that is aimed at uprooting the corruption of human nature, which is, paradoxically, an act of grace. Second, Luther also uses this term (and synonyms) to describe what he regards as the proper way of doing theology…. Luther argues that true theologians must join Paul in preaching the ‘‘foolishness’’ of the cross. As I will argue in more detail in chapters 7 and 8, these senses survive Heidegger’s translation of Luther’s destructio into philosophical Destruktion.”
Crowe doesn’t discuss Bonhoeffer, but I’d be interested to know what you think of Crowe’s arguments and whether Bonhoeffer was cognizant of a relationship between Luther’s destructio and Heidegger’s Destruktion.
Note: I posted this comment on https://joshdekeyzer.com/ before I was aware of your Substack and that you've posted here more recently. Meanwhile, deterred by the high price of your book, I found your thesis on academia and was pleased to find material in the intro that was edited out of the intro of the book (I read the sample you provided).
Derrida’s “deconstruction” is his translation of Heidegger’s “Destruktion.” Benjamin D. Crowe, in his book “Heidegger’s Religious Origins: Destruction and Authenticity” (Indiana University Press, 2006) argues that Heidegger developed his “Destruktion” from Luther’s “destructio.” The following is a quote from Crowe’s introduction, summarizing his project:
“First, Luther uses ‘destructio’ to refer to what he elsewhere calls the ‘‘alien work [opus alienum]’’ of God, i.e., the humiliation of human self-righteousness that is aimed at uprooting the corruption of human nature, which is, paradoxically, an act of grace. Second, Luther also uses this term (and synonyms) to describe what he regards as the proper way of doing theology…. Luther argues that true theologians must join Paul in preaching the ‘‘foolishness’’ of the cross. As I will argue in more detail in chapters 7 and 8, these senses survive Heidegger’s translation of Luther’s destructio into philosophical Destruktion.”
Crowe doesn’t discuss Bonhoeffer, but I’d be interested to know what you think of Crowe’s arguments and whether Bonhoeffer was cognizant of a relationship between Luther’s destructio and Heidegger’s Destruktion.
Note: I posted this comment on https://joshdekeyzer.com/ before I was aware of your Substack and that you've posted here more recently. Meanwhile, deterred by the high price of your book, I found your thesis on academia and was pleased to find material in the intro that was edited out of the intro of the book (I read the sample you provided).