Rogue Pastor, Theologian and Spy
by on June 11, 2010
After three years of research, Eric Metaxas has recently published Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy. A masterful mix of sociological explanation, historical analysis, and selective quotation, this much needed work reexamines Dietrich Bonhoeffer as a theologian who incarnated theology in a radical way against the backdrop of an encroaching Nazi regime.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer is most famous for The Cost of Discipleship, Letters and Papers From Prison, Ethics and Life Together. But more obscure titles like Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible and Christ the Center are worth the read.
Several years ago, I stumbled upon Love Letters From Cell 92, a compilation of the letters Bonhoeffer wrote to Maria Von Wedemeyer, his fiance. Unfortunately, Bonhoeffer was martyred before he could marry.
It’s always interesting to see how a man’s theology morphs when he’s under pressure, particularly when his life is in jeopardy. One of things that struck me from this compilation of letters is that Bonhoeffer’s theology within the bars of cell 92 was just as consistent as his theology outside of them.
Biography
Born in Breslau, Germany on February 4, 1906, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was the son of a professor of neurology and psychiatry. Bonhoeffer studied at Tübingen where he published his doctoral thesis, Sanctorum Communio (Communion of Saints), a fresh take on ecclesiology. In 1931, he became a professor at Berlin where many of his greatest theological works were crafted. Two days after Adolf Hitler was elected as Chancellor, Bonhoeffer delivered a radio address attacking Hitler. The broadcast was interrupted and terminated before he could finish.
In 1941, Bonhoeffer was ordered to cease all publications, and in 1943 he was incarcerated at Tegel Prison. He was interrogated for his involvement in a plot to assassinate Hitler, and in 1945 he was transported from the concentration camp in Buchenwald to Regensburg. He was executed on April 9 in Flossenbürg.
Ten years after his death, a concentration camp doctor who had witnessed Bonhoeffer’s execution reflected on the execution: “Through the half-open door in one room of the huts, I saw Pastor Bonhoeffer, before taking off his prison garb, kneeling on the floor praying fervently to his God. I was most deeply moved by the way this lovable man prayed, so devout and so certain that God heard his prayer. At the place of execution, he again said a prayer and then climbed the steps to the gallows, brave and composed. His death ensued in a few seconds. In the almost fifty years that I have worked as a doctor, I have hardly ever seen a man die so entirely submissive to the will of God.”
At the height of Nazi regime, Bonhoeffer’s teacher, Karl Barth, drafted the Barmen Declaration, a product of the Confessional Synod of the German Evangelical Church that met in Barmen, May 29-31, 1934. Signed by Bonhoeffer, the Barmen Declaration brought German Christians together and gave theological backbone and identity to the widespread resistance against the Führer.
Inspired in part by the Barman Declaration, which opposed the marginalization of Jews, Gypsies, Christians, elderly, and others, the Manhattan Declaration is a present-day confession that has already accumilated over 450,000 signatures.
Here’s a portion of the Manhattan declaration: “While the whole scope of Christian moral concern, including a special concern for the poor and vulnerable, claims our attention, we are especially troubled that in our nation today the lives of the unborn, the disabled, and the elderly are severely threatened; that the institution of marriage, already buffeted by promiscuity, infidelity and divorce, is in jeopardy of being redefined to accommodate fashionable ideologies; that freedom of religion and the rights of conscience are gravely jeopardized by those who would use the instruments of coercion to compel persons of faith to compromise their deepest convictions.”
Have you signed it?
Here’s a youtube clip from the movie, Bonhoeffer: Agent of Grace:
Bonhoeffer’s Challenge To Us
In his radical stance for truth and his uncompromising adherence to Christo-centric, incarnational, community-driven ministry, I believe Bonhoeffer has something significant to say to our modern (or rather, postmodern) culture:
Bonhoeffer shows us that it is possible to maintain evangelical convictions about Scriptural authority against the flow of a relativistic pluralism and deconstructionism that seeks to replace absolute Truth with “what’s true for me may or may not be true for you.”
In our great “age of increase” Bonhoeffer reveals the beauty of decrease. His life, writings and witness show what happens when a Christian is informed, reformed, and transformed through the life-changing power of Jesus Christ.
Bonhoeffer challenges us to live as if faithfulness were more important than success – or even survival – as anti-intuitive as that may be.
Christianity is costly. A faith that doesn’t cost much isn’t worth much.
How has Dietrich Bonhoeffer challenged you?
Resources
Timeline of Bonhoeffer’s Life
Rare Photographs of the life and family of Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Dietrich Bonhoeffer: German Theologian and Resister in Christian History
Essay on Bonhoeffer by Victoria Barnett
A Study of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Accusation of “Positivism of Revelation” Against the Critically Realistic Dialectical Theology of Karl Barth
A Teacher’s Guide to the Holocaust
Bonhoefferblog
Dietrich Bonhoeffer by Eberhard Bethge
Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Quotes by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Bonhoeffer: The Cost of Freedom Focus on the Family Radio Theatre audiodrama on CD
Bonhoeffer: Agent of Grace (full feature length movie, $17.99)
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Ann Gardner