BONHOEFFER: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas
This is a very good read—informative, extensive, and captivating. It is as much about a time and location as it is about a person. He was the right man for the right place. Born into an upper class family he grew up in pre-WWII Germany. At a young age he knew he wanted to be a Theologian, although he did not grow up in a religious family.
He grew up in a time that the church in Germany was very weak. Liberal theology and criticism were in control. He sat under some of the most liberal teachers, yet he turned out more orthodox than most of his contemporaries. His favorite theologian was Barth, a neoorthodox. He was educated for a while in America, but did not think that there was any theology at Union Theological Seminary. The most important influence from America was the Nero church. I would classify him as a theologian with a heart for people. His specialty was the church (the subject of his thesis). He had a deeply personal faith, one that led him to commit to extensive periods of personal Bible study, meditation and prayer.
Because he was committed to the Lord and His church, he was a man concerned about the condition of the German church. This led to his prophetic insight that saw nothing good coming from Hitler and his leadership. He was one of the first to preach against him and take a stand in the church against aligning with the Nazis. His voice, like the Biblical prophets, went unheeded. He was not only critical of the Nazis, but became a coconspirator with his brother and brother-in-law to assassinate Hitler. He was arrested and killed just before Hitler took his own life at the end of the war.
I really liked this book. It is a combination of my two favorite areas—theology and history. Read it, you will not be disappointed.
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