Bonhoeffer – The Life and Writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian, anti-Nazi dissident, and key founding member of the Confessing Church. His writings on Christianity’s role in the secular world have become widely influential, and his book The Cost of Discipleship became a modern classic.
Apart from his theological writings, Bonhoeffer was known for his staunch resistance to the Nazi dictatorship, including vocal opposition to Hitler’s euthanasia program and genocidal persecution of the Jews. He was arrested in April 1943 by the Gestapo and imprisoned at Tegel prison for one and a half years. Later he was transferred to a Nazi concentration camp. After being associated with the plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, he was quickly tried, along with other accused plotters, and then executed by hanging on 9 April 1945 as the Nazi regime was collapsing.
This DVD-based class will consider the major themes of Bonhoeffer’s writing and speaking, his resistance to Nazism and how his beliefs continue to impact the church today. There will be sessions on Tuesdays at 7:15, and the same material will be repeated on Thursdays at 10am.
Tuesday Oct 11 and Thursday Oct 13: What is the Church?
Tuesday Oct 18 and Thursday Oct 20: Living in Christian Community
Tuesday Oct 25 and Thursday Oct 27: Religionless Christianity
Tuesday Nov 1 and Thursday, Nov 3: Come and Die
The conversation will be led by the Rev. Caroline Hall. A study booklet to accompany the class, Bonhoeffer Study Guide: The Life and Writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, by Eric Metaxas is available at Amazon and other booksellers.