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Title: Letter and Papers from Prison by Dietrich Bonhoeffer ISBN: 0-684-83827-3 Publisher: Touchstone Books Pub. Date: 01 July, 1997 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.9 (10 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Bonhoeffer's last great writing
Comment: If nothing else, you just have to admire Dietrich Bonhoeffer for the stand he made for the truth. Whether or not you agree with his role in the murder plot of Hitler, you have to salute the German theologian for his honesty in this book, which is comprised of letters sent mainly to Eberhard Bethge and his parents. An appendix includes letters that he penned to his fiance Maria. If you want to read this book for pure theology sake, then I would probably turn to The Cost of Discipleship first (which, he mentions in one letter, he wrote partly out a false hope to acquire faith by trying to live a holy life, a very honest admission). But if you want to better understand the man and what he was truly made of in the time of his last two years of life, then this book is very insightful. I don't think anyone can do better to get into the head of this great theologian than to read Letters and Papers From Prison.
Rating: 5
Summary: Poignant, connected, universal
Comment: Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Letters and Papers from Prison show the reader the thoughts of a man who wrote with immense insight under circumstances fraught with the deepest despair. Prior to the war, Bonhoeffer had established himself as a visionary, if somewhat moderate, young Christian theologian. His imprisonment by the Nazis in the wake of the failure of the conspiracy to assasinate Hitler gave rise to this series of letters, ranging from the trivial to the most profound, reflecting the thoughts and ideas of a man whose ideas continued to evolve, even as hope dwindled. It is tempting to see Bonhoeffer as a sort of modern Christian saint "set-piece" of a man, or a Spielberg movie waiting to be made. Such an interpretation of the man would trivialize the flesh and blood reality of his life, as these letters demonstrate. Collections of letters typically suffer from one of two defects--either they are inanely trivial and gossippy, or they spend far too much time on being "literary" for posterity, and not enough time giving real insight into the writer. Bonhoeffer's letters avoid both of these traps. Although the letters collection is not overly burdened by the confessional, letters to his parents and fiance help us understand in very human terms the horror of imprisonment by the Nazis, notwithstanding their careful phrasing to avoid the censor's pen. The letters do contain some of the intentionally "literary"--Bonhoeffer writes poetry which is reasonably spare and connective and sometimes writes for the hypothetical future reader. But the real tour de force is Bonhoeffer's analysis of the evolution of his theological thought in light of the changes wrought by modernity and made apparent to him through his experiences. In several reasonably succinct but incredibly sweeping letters, he outlines a new vision of Christianity, a form of post-Christian Christianity if you will, which has generated a half century of debate and provided inspiration to Christian and non-Christian alike. In this age in which "liberal" religion has been sadly equated by some with "flaccid" religion, we see through these letters a deeply disciplined thinker outlining the way for Christianity to remain relevant in a world all too ready to try to "outgrow" the faith. Although his thinking is complex, and in some instances he assumes a base of knowledge of late 19th C and early 20th C. Christian theology the 21st C. casual reader may not have, the letters are quite accessible and profoundly human. This is not a man building a neat construct out of his dissertation. This is a condemned man hinting at the blueprint for the transformation of a faith. Although it is tempting to suggest that this is a "Christian masterpiece" of 20th C. faith, the suggestion is a disservice. This is a masterpiece of literature which transcends genre or faith. In the interminable list of intellectual heroes of the 20th C., we rarely see Pastor Bonhoeffer among the honorees. But this book is a powerful argument that this man, who saw the need for religious people to use religion less as a crutch and more as a transformation, should be included prominently in our intellectual heroes list.
Rating: 5
Summary: Food for the soul
Comment: An excellent selfportrait of Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran minister, while in a nazi German prison during the war.
It reveals the immense power of the spirit that helps us go through the most cruel experiences life can have awaiting for us. My first book by Bonhoeffer and I am glad I started with this one. What a great man!
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Title: The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer ISBN: 0684815001 Publisher: Touchstone Books Pub. Date: 01 September, 1995 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Ethics by Dietrich Bonhoeffer ISBN: 068481501X Publisher: Touchstone Books Pub. Date: 01 September, 1995 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community by Dietrich Bonhoeffer ISBN: 0060608528 Publisher: Harper SanFrancisco Pub. Date: 25 October, 1978 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Christ the Center by Dietrich Bonhoeffer ISBN: 0060608110 Publisher: Harper SanFrancisco Pub. Date: 25 October, 1978 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A Biography by Eberhard Bethge, Victoria J. Barnett, Clifford J. Green ISBN: 0800628446 Publisher: Fortress Press Pub. Date: February, 2000 List Price(USD): $39.00 |
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