Discerning the Will of God by Following the Call of Christ Alone: A Christian Response to the Refugee Crisis

What is a Christian response to the refugee crisis? My thesis answers this question by exposing the problematic of determining right Christian action, which is grown out of the conclusions that theologian Daniel Louw draws in his article. With Louw, I agree that right Christian action cannot bifurcate the refugee dilemma into protecting one’s own or loving the stranger but, instead, must involve self-giving love. However, I find that the specifics of self-giving love cannot be legislated for all Christians. I mine Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Ethics for resources to show that right Christian action is a matter of following the call of Christ alone and so discerning the will of God for the individual, within the church community, that he must obey in faith. This thesis will elucidate the specifics of discerning God’s will by following Christ’s call alone and various cases of action that this might entail.