We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God. —Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas is a timely book, for such a moment as this.
This New York Times Bestseller has twelve other awards listed inside the book. It is really that incredible!
Using Bonhoeffer for our rhetoric history studies, we learned how and why Hitler rose to power, and gleaned encouragement to take a stand in the midst of evil.
While I read this book, I followed Eric Metaxas on his travels to Bonhoeffer sites in Germany. How cool is that?
Anything I say about this book goes hand in hand with what Bonhoeffer, himself wrote in The Cost of Discipleship, which I blogged about here.
While perusing my annotations, I decided to also share my thoughts that I posted to facebook (in pink) while reading Bonhoeffer intermingled with Metaxas quotes (in blue), with other quote sources (in purple).
BONHOEFFER AND NATURAL LAW
Bonhoeffer was firmly and rightly convinced that it is not only a Christian right but a Christian duty towards God to oppose tyranny, that is, a government which is no longer based on natural law and the law of God. -Eric Metaxas, The Cost of Discipleship, p30
Wow! Bonhoeffer understood what America’s Founding Fathers understood with natural law. This proves my work on a series about our Founding Fathers and how 18th century thought was much different from 21st century thought. (my FB post Feb 3, 2014)
BONHOEFFER LOVED THE ARTS
Now reading Bonhoeffer, not only a man of God who was born ‘for a time such as this,’ but also pulling together German history and the arts through music as well as Roman classical history and literature. The arts seem a deeply German thing to do. Bonhoeffer, by nature, was not a rebellious sort. He enjoyed peaceful ways. However, there comes a time that in order to maintain peace, one must take a stand. He is the epitome of that. (my FB post Feb 17, 2014)
BONHOEFFER AND CHURCHILL SOUND THE ALARM
Later that day, FB, “Now that my son needs his turn to read a few pages of Bonhoeffer, my attention has turned to our other book, The Gathering Storm, by Winston Churchill. The era I was not looking forward to studying has become hopeful, because of finding their books. Men who led the way but ignored by the masses until quite late when hope hung at the edge of a precipice. That is where the “spy” part of the biography comes in. It is a thrilling account to read of how men came together, with Bonhoeffer, in a united effort to take down Hitler. (my FB post Feb 17, 2014)
HOOKED ON BONHOEFFER
If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the opposite direction. -Dietrich Bonhoeffer
My son is hooked on Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy. I am too. I am riveted…I am convicted. (my FB post Feb 19, 2014)
CONTEXT OF COST OF DISCIPLESHIP
First reading The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer as a devotional, I’ve learned the historical context to history in Bonhoeffer’s biography, as it explains how Nazism invaded the German Lutheran Church in the 1930’s, rewriting the Bible, eventually replacing it with Mein Kemp, and replacing God with Hitler. (my FB post Feb 20, 2014)
Cost of Discipleship, written in 1937, now takes on an entirely new meaning when Bonhoeffer says in his treatise on The Sermon on the Mount:
The disciples are not expected to show fear of men, nor malice, nor mistrust, still less a sour misanthropy, nor that gullible credulity which believes that there is good in every man… -Bonhoeffer, Cost of Discipleship, p215
BECOMING BONHOEFFER
With these lessons and ponderings in mind, my son portrayed Dietrich Bonhoeffer at our 1930s Becoming History Presentation on March 8, 2014.
AFTER THOUGHTS
Stayed up late last night to finish reading Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas. This book is powerful because of the man who trusted in his powerful God. Now I know the man I’ve often heard about from the pastors and Bible study leaders at the churches I’ve attended. (my FB post March 27, 2014)
PRAYER
While going through a Chuck Swindoll book yesterday I found a slip of paper I had tucked in from my church in San Antonio, Wayside Chapel.
It was a prayer sheet for our military members which began with a quote by Bonhoeffer.
We must commit our loved ones wholly and unreservedly to God and leave them in His hands, transforming our anxiety for them into prayers on their behalf. -Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Tegel Prison, Berlin, Christmas Eve, 1941.
Since we were part of a military family, this quote encouraged me while leading my young children to pray and entrust to God our loved ones.
ADVENT
One of my favorite Christian musicians, Michael W. Smith, shared this quote in his FB post:
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
EPILOGUE – MAY 2015
Just announced…Eric Metaxas has formatted his Bonhoeffer biography into a student edition, geared for dialectic level students.
