Bonhoeffer Resources and Lessons for Today

This photo is of Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Tegel prison, prior to his move to the notorious concentration camp of Buchenwald. Though visits weren’t frequent or long, at Tegel his parents and his fiancé Maria were sometimes allowed to bring him books, such as the one in his hand.

One of the great joys of Christmas for Nanci and me, and many of you, is being with family. Dietrich knew that most of his family and his Maria were gathering for Christmas, while he couldn’t. He wrote from prison this thought about Christmas:  

A prison cell, in which one waits, hopes… and is completely dependent on the fact that the door of freedom has to be opened from the outside, is not a bad picture of Advent.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer and The Cost of Discipleship

When I mentioned Dietrich Bonhoeffer last week, five people told me they’d like to hear about him. I’m glad to oblige, in this blog and the next.

I first read The Cost of Discipleship in the summer of 1971 (I wrote the date in the front of the book). I was a teenager who’d known Christ less than two years. It made a great impression on me.

Three weeks ago I picked up my original copy (Nanci located it for me on one of my bookshelves, since being a man I can’t find things). Two weeks ...