Books

The Bonhoeffer Reader, edited by Clifford J. Green and Michael DeJonge

This volume is arguably the best introduction to the theological writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Excerpts are taken from the completed works of Bonhoeffer, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, in English in 16 volumes plus an index published by Fortress Press. The editors of this reader, an older and a younger Bonhoeffer scholar, chose texts that are most representative of Bonhoeffer as a theologian, rather than Bonhoeffer as preacher or individual. Texts are arranged chronologically from across his career and from a variety of genres. Each section has an introduction setting those texts in the context of Bonhoeffer’s life circumstances. Readers new to Bon­hoeffer might not want to begin at the beginning, which represents the academic work of his student years. For those who want to go more deeply into a subject, page numbers in the margins identify the sources of the excerpts.