Who was Dietrich Bonhoeffer?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran pastor and theologian from Germany executed by the Nazis in 1945 at age 39 for his role in a resistance movement that included attempts to assassinate German leader Adolf Hitler.
Bonhoeffer was born in 1906 in Breslau, Germany (present-day Wroclaw, Poland), one of eight children in a prominent, well-educated family.
He early showed a strong piety, studied theology and by age 21 completed a doctoral dissertation.
He did further study at Union Theological Seminary in New York. There, he also worshipped at Harlem鈥檚 famed Abyssinian Baptist Church, considered the , and was deeply shaped by its emphasis on faith-based social justice.
Back in Germany, Bonhoeffer opposed Nazi efforts to coopt the Protestant church with its racist ideology. In defiance of the compromised church, Bonhoeffer led an unofficial seminary for a while.
Bonhoeffer traveled widely and was involved in efforts to build church unity across denominations and nations 鈥 contacts that served him well in his later espionage work.
Bonhoeffer joined other relatives and officers within the German intelligence service who were secretly conspiring to overthrow Hitler and end the war. Bonhoeffer knew of and approved plans to assassinate Hitler, though he wasn鈥檛 an active participant. The plot failed. Bonhoeffer was imprisoned in 1943 for resistance work and executed by hanging on April 9, 1945.
What has been Bonhoeffer鈥檚 legacy?
His theological and devotional works, as well as his prison letters, have been widely read and published since his death. Biographies and documentaries have further spread his renown, as has a new biopic, 鈥淏onhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin.鈥
He has been widely honored as a martyr to the cause of anti-Nazi resistance. He鈥檚 reverently depicted in stained glass windows in churches the world over. He鈥檚 included among statues of 20th century martyrs in Britain鈥檚 Westminster Abbey, which also include the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero.
Some have questioned the extent of honors lavished on Bonhoeffer. While recognizing his sacrificial courage, scholars say his role in the resistance has sometimes been exaggerated. Skeptics also note focusing on the heroics of resisters like Bonhoeffer helps deflect attention from larger failures of the German churches to resist the Nazis.
Yad Vashem, the Holocaust remembrance center in Israel, has declined to include Bonhoeffer among its Righteous Among the Nations 鈥 non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews, such as Oskar Schindler of 鈥淪chindler鈥檚 List.鈥 Bonhoeffer did help make arrangements for a group of Jews to escape to neutral Switzerland. But in a 2003 statement, Yad Vashem said that while it didn鈥檛 question Bonhoeffer鈥檚 character, he didn鈥檛 meet its criteria for having directly protected Jews at his own risk. It also noted Bonhoeffer鈥檚 longstanding advocacy for Jews to convert to Christianity.
What are some famous Bonhoeffer quotations?
鈥淲hen Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.鈥 鈥 from the 1937 book, 鈥淭he Cost of Discipleship.鈥
鈥淏oth too much law and order and too little law and order compel the church to speak 鈥 not just to bandage the victims under the wheel, but to put a spoke in the wheel itself.鈥 鈥 from the 1933 essay, 鈥淭he Church and the Jewish Question.鈥
鈥淲hat is bothering me incessantly is the question of what Christianity really is, or indeed who Christ really is, for us today. 鈥 We are moving towards a completely religionless time.鈥 鈥 from a prison letter.
What is a famous Bonhoeffer misquotation?
鈥淪ilence in the face of evil is itself evil. 鈥 Not to speak is to speak.鈥 According to researcher Warren Throckmorton, this is a popular quote and meme, but there鈥檚 no evidence Bonhoeffer ever said it.
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Sources:
鈥淏onhoeffer for Armchair Theologians,鈥 by Stephen H. Haynes and Lori Brandt Hale.
鈥淭he Battle for Bonhoeffer,鈥 by Stephen R. Haynes.
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Warren Throckmorton .
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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP鈥檚 with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
