Augsburg Fortress

Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A Biography

Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A Biography

At a time when much of the world was either enticed with or entrapped by fascism, Dietrich Bonhoeffer dared to live the morally responsible Christian life to its most expressive, and tragic, end. As a theologically rooted opponent to National Socialism, and later as a member of the political resistance against Nazism, Bonhoeffer was recognized as a leader even by his enemies and was hanged by the Gestapo in 1945. His legacy has inspired many and has demonstrated his landmark life and works to be among the most important of the twentieth century and the most relevant for our times ahead.

This celebrated biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer by Eberhard Bethge—Bonhoeffer's friend, pupil, close associate and relative by marriage—has been fully reviewed, corrected, and clarified by leading Bonhoeffer scholar Victoria Barnett for this new edition of the classic and definitive work. With previous sections updated and expanded, and entirely new sections on Bonhoeffer's childhood never before seen in English, this edition is sure to be the most accurate and inspiring textual rendering of Bonhoeffer to date.
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  • Publisher Fortress Press
  • Format Paperback
  • ISBN 9780800628444
  • eBook ISBN 9781451407426
  • Age/Grade Range Adult
  • Dimensions 6 x 9
  • Pages 1068
  • Publication Date February 18, 2000

Endorsements

"Some words Gorky used about Tolstoy come into my mind: 'Look what a wonderful man is living on this earth!''...Bethge has produced a monumental study of him which will surely stand as the definitive and authoritative work on the subject. Reading...it is a spiritual experience."

— Malcom Muggeridge, The Observer
 

Table of Contents

  1. Foreword
    Preface to the First English Edition
    Portrait
    Abbreviations

    PART ONE: THE LURE OF THEOLOGY


  2. Childhood and Youth: 1906-1923
  3. Ancestors
    Parents' Home in Breslau
    Berlin
    The Decision to Become a Theologian


  4. Student Years: 1923-1927
  5. Family
    Tübingen
    Rome
    Berlin
    Dissertation
    Seminar Essays
    First Ties to a Regional Church


  6. Assistant Pastor in Barcelona: 1928
  7. Selecting a Post as Vicar
    The Country
    The Parish
    Plans for the Future


  8. Assistant Lecturer in Berlin: 1929-1930
  9. Postdoctoral Work
    Family and Friends
    American Plans


  10. America: 1930-1931
  11. The Country
    Friends
    Union Theological Seminary
    The Return Home

    PART TWO: THE COST OF BEING A CHRISTIAN


  12. Lecturer and Pastor: 1931-1932
  13. Bonn
    Catechism
    Cambridge
    The Transition from Theologian to Christian
    The University
    The Church
    Ecumenism


  14. Berlin: 1933
  15. February: Controlled Chaos
    March: Hitler's Laws
    April: The German Christians
    May: The Young Reformation Movement
    June: The State Commissar
    July: Church Elections
    August: The Bethel Confession
    September: The Aryan Clause


  16. London: 1933-1935
  17. Parish Minister
    First Attack against the Reich Church Government, Winter 1933-1934
    George K.A. Bell, Bishop of Chichester
    Fanö
    Second Attack against the Reich Church Government, Winter 1934-1935
    Plans


  18. Preachers' Seminary: 1935
  19. The Seminaries
    Zingst and Finkenwalde
    The Syllabus
    The House of Brethren
    The Ecumenical World
    The Steglitz Resolutions


  20. Finkenwalde: 1936-1937
  21. The Fifth Implementation Decree
    The Journey To Sweden
    The Essay on Church-Community
    The Memorandum to Hilter
    "Service to Others"
    Chamby, 1936
    The Last Year in Finkenwalde
    The End of Finkenwalde


  22. The Collective Pastorates: 1938-1940
  23. The Backwoods of Pomerania
    The Low Point of the Church Struggle
    Legalization
    The Lure of the Political Realm
    England: March and April 1939
    America: June and July 1939
    The War
    Christian and Man for His Times

    PART THREE: SHARING GERMANY'S DESTINY


  24. Travels: 1940-1943
  25. Section One: The Church
    Section Two: The Conspiracy


  26. Tegel: 1943-1944
  27. The Trial of Hans Von Dohnanyi
    The Investigation of Bonhoeffer
    The Cell in Tegel
    The New Theology


  28. In the Custody of the State: 1944-1945
  29. Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse
    Buchenwald
    Flossenbürg
    The Bitter End

    Appendix 1: The Zossen Files
    Appendix 2: Bonhoeffer's Reading in Prison

    Notes
    Chronology
    Index
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