Some Thoughts on Bonhoeffer

Recently I have been reading through two books on Bonhoeffer. The first being "Bonhoeffer Speaks Today" by Mark Devine and the second "Bonhoeffer Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy" by Eric Metaxas. While I have heard many a criticism among my fellow fundamentalists about Bohoeffer everything from resisting Hitler was against the will of God to others suggesting that he was not a born again Christian and still others questioning Bonhoeffer's early ideas about JEDP theory. While Bonhoeffer did name men like Carl Barth being one of his early inspirations we need to look at history in a deeper way to understand exactly what these men thought. Although the name Carl Barth certainly would put any good fundamentalist on edge we have to understand where Barth and Bonhoeffer were coming from. The were the first theologians after a long line of theologians that had strayed farther and farther from God's Word being the foundations of theology. Barth although still far off from the mark was trying to make a movement back to the basics if you will. It was not popular in a world of higher critics, who had basically reduced the Bible to a book of myths, to even suggest that the Bible had the answers for modern man. Bonhoeffer grew in his knowledge of the Bible. He allowed passages like the Sermon on the Mount to examine him not the other way around.

The truth is that is what I admire about Bonhoeffer instead of clinging to what he knew he allowed the Bible change his thinking about life and God. So often we get caught up in one particular idea or concept and we do not allow our selves to see he whole truth from the Word of God. We can make the word say most anything we want it to say but are we interested in what God wants to say to us through it. Throughout the life of Bonhoeffer you can see the evolution of his thinking as a theologian became a Christian. He said later in life: "When Christ calls a man he bids him come and die."

If you want to know about the truth of what Bonhoeffer believed and not simply what you are told I would recommend picking up "Bonhoeffer Speaks Today". It is a fairly short book that is easy to ready and will get you thinking about today's issues from a great, although not perfect, perspective.