From Bishop’s Resource Corner
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
First, a huge shout-out to Grace Lutheran in Wenatchee for hosting the Bonhoeffer Weekend with presenter Dr. Mark Brocker. Here is a LINK to one of Brocker’s sessions at Grace.
You may have seen that a new film about German Lutheran Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer will be coming to theaters Thanksgiving Weekend.
In response to the film and growing references to Bonhoeffer in the public sphere, both Bonhoeffer’s family and the Bonhoeffer Society have made public statements.
You can follow this LINK and find both statements.
After reading the statements by the family and Society, you may wonder about next steps.
Here is what I suggest. If you want to see the film, go see it and understand that it is entertainment AND see it with some friends and have a discussion about the film afterwards.
And/Or
Read Bonhoeffer himself
Life Together - Bonhoeffer
Discipleship - Bonhoeffer
Letters and Papers from Prison - Bonhoeffer
Read one of these books about Bonhoeffer:
Bonhoeffer as Youth Worker: A Theological Vision for Discipleship and Life Together - Andrew Root (I trust Root on Bonhoeffer and have heard great things about this book and this is the shortest and most affordable book on my biography list)
Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A Biography - Eberhard Bethge (this is still the gold star, but it is long, so I’m adding some other suggestions).
Dietrich Bonhoeffer 1906-1945: Martyr, Thinker, Man of Resistance - Ferdinand Schlingensiepen (when the Metaxas biography was published I asked a mentor about Bonhoeffer biographies and he steered me away from Metaxas, as the Bonhoeffer Society does, and towards this one, based largely on Bethge’s biography but with new information).
Bonhoeffer’s Black Jesus: Harlem Renaissance Theology and an Ethic of Resistance - Reggie Williams (I heard Williams speak a few years ago and have read this excellent piece)
Read anything by or about Bonhoeffer published by our publishing house: Augsburg Fortress.