Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Dietrich Bonhoefferwas 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...
NationalityGerman
ProfessionPhilosopher
Date of Birth4 February 1906
CountryGermany
christian political politics
Politics are not the task of a Christian.
church wheels victim
The church ... is not just to bandage the victims under the wheel, but to put a spoke in the wheel itself.
fall thinking evil
Still more pathetic is the total collapse of moral fanaticism. Fanatics think that their single-minded principles qualify them to do battle with the powers of evil; but like a bull they rush at the red cloak instead of the person who is holding it; he exhausts himself and is beaten. He gets entangled in non-essentials and falls into the trap set by cleverer people.
jesus wish heal
Jesus' commandment never wishes to destroy life, but rather to preserve, strengthen, and heal life.
trying way certain
Certainly one must try everything, but only to become more certain what God's way is.
spiritual stress giving
The consciousness of being borne up by a spiritual tradition that goes back for centuries gives one a feeling of confidence and security in the face of all passing strains and stresses.
suffering christ crosses
The cross is suffering with Christ.
jesus passion share
Once again, Jesus calls those who follow him to share his passion.
jesus real evil
Jesus is no draughtsman of political blueprints, he is the one who vanquished evil through suffering. It looked as though evil had triumphed on the cross, but the real victory belonged to Jesus.
jesus prayer heart
If we want to read and to pray the prayers of the Bible and especially the Psalms, therefore, we must not ask first what they have to do with us, but what they have to do with Jesus Christ...It does not depend, therefore, on whether the Psalms express adequately that which we feel at a given moment in our heart. If we are to pray aright, perhaps it is quite necessary that we pray contrary to our own heart. Not what we want to pray is important, but what God wants us to pray.
important use share
It seems to me more important actually to share someones distress than to use smooth words about it.
tired grace world
The world upon whom grace is thrust as a bargain will grow tired of it.
grace repentance preaching
The preaching of grace can only be protected by the preaching of repentance.
christian heart thinking
It is a dangerous error, surely very widespread among Christians, to think that the heart can pray by itself.