The Biography of Bonhoeffer

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The biography Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy showcases the vast contributions that Dietrich Bonhoeffer achieved during a life that was cut suddenly to short. Bonhoeffer is memorable for his activity within an anti-Nazi resistance, founding the Confessing Church, creating many new theological ideas, and being brave enough to enter back into a warzone to stop the ongoing eliminations of innocent people. Although, he was hung weeks before Germany surrendered and Adolf Hitler was conquered, Bonhoeffer left an important theological legacy.
Bonhoeffer was influential to theological study. He contributed both negatively and positively. One aspect that many view as a negative contribution is his attempt to create a religionless Christianity. He philosophized that God is dead and many see that as a spite against Christianity even though it is still a large interesting contribution to the faith as well as to theology. Although he wanted a Godless faith, he did prompt the beginning of questions what the meaning of God truly is. Many theologians have attempted to answer that question and it has led to various new theological ideas as well as a better understanding of the Christian faith. (Kappelman, 2014)
Another huge, positive contribution of Bonhoeffer is his theory on ethics. Bonhoeffer states that the goal of ethics for man should be restoring to having unity with God. Bonhoeffer means that our world is separated into many different areas from work, church, family, friends, etc. He discusses how it is a person’s job to better understand themselves in each individual role as well as how the various roles unite and also clash. This will eventually lead to getting back to treasuring the world that God has created and his absolut...

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...ands up for what is right. I feel that I can also take this opportunity to start over with my faith and see Christianity through a whole new viewpoint. I want to look back at my faith’s history and the Bible for guidance in redeveloping my faith to find where God and Jesus are truly leading me. Bonhoeffer showed me that believing in God is not merely just attending church, praying, and singing with the worship service. Being a disciple of God is so much more. It takes knowledge, openness, acceptance, and the ability to learn from my own mistakes. The main and full message that I took away from Dietrich Bonhoeffer is that I need to trust God fully and give all of myself to him whole-heartedly. Bonhoeffer himself said “We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God” and that is exactly what I am waiting for. (“Dietrich Bonhoeffer Quotes”, n.d.)

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