Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The tropes that birth the hero
It is admirable that Bonhoeffer endeavors to highlight Black life. But one must be careful that the Black life of one’s representation is not playing in the dark of caricatured Black people.
Common threads among five prophetic voices of the 20th century
“We turn to Thurman, Bonhoeffer, Day, Heschel, and Niebuhr because they never let us forget the important questions.”
The good White Christian women of Nazi Germany
Despite what you’ve read, most of them didn’t resist.
A more intimate portrait of Bonhoeffer
Diane Reynolds’s book would be worth its price for its insistence on noticing the women at every turn in Bonhoeffer’s life.
Alternative facts in Bonhoeffer’s Germany
Bonhoeffer is speaking to his social context, which is shaped by Nazi propaganda. But what he interrogates in Of Folly parallels our current discourse labeled as post-truth or alternative facts.
Point of reference
Like Adam, we may end up treating God as if God were at the periphery. But where there is no center—or where we become the center—the circumference of life disappears.
What Bonhoeffer knew
When the church stops talking about Jesus, it has nothing to say.
In Bonhoeffer’s company: Biographer Charles Marsh
"Bonhoeffer came to embody some of the contradictions modernity imposed on the faith. I could happily spend the rest of my life sorting through this."
Claims on Bonhoeffer: The misuse of a theologian
People appeal to Bonhoeffer to justify a range of moral choices. They tend to ignore his emphasis on context and the need for constant discernment.
Young life together: Bonhoeffer as youth minister
From 1925 till the war broke out, it is nearly impossible to find a period when Bonhoeffer was not working with children or teens.
Lesser-known heroes
Everyone is ready to bow a knee at the mention of Bonhoeffer’s name. Precious few of us have even heard of Ralph Hamburger.
Letters and Papers from Prison
Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Letters and Papers from Prison comes under the category of “Books to Be Read on an Annual Basis”—like Augustine’s Confessions, King Lear, or anything by Flannery O’Connor. In general, we read too many books and return to too few.
Bonhoeffer’s loves
Charles Marsh brings readers closer to Dietrich Bonhoeffer than, at the very least, any prior biographer writing in English.
Thunderous yes: Preaching to the Easter crowds
Our guests know that resurrection defies logic. That is why they come sidling through our doors—every one of them comes hoping for it.
Something old, something new: Innovation in theological education
Why is theological education necessary? What are the conditions of its fruitfulness? Such questions are both basic and perplexing.
The Collected Sermons of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, edited by Isabel Best
These sermons, selected and introduced by Isabel Best, range in time from Bonhoeffer's pastoral tenure in Barcelona to a few months after the start of World War II.