Book Reviews

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was one of the very few churchmen in Nazi Germany to refuse to co-operate with the regime.  He was hanged on April 9, 1945 for his part in a failed attempt to assassinate Hitler.  Pastor Bonhoeffer’s martydom took place just two weeks before the Nazis’ unconditional surrender to the Allies thus ending WWII in Europe.  During his imprisonment, Bonhoeffer had begun to develop an idea of religionless Christianity.  He wresteld with questions like “How do we speak of God without religion? What place can a community of Christians have in a religionless world?”

Given the great evils done in the name of religion today, Bonhoeffer’s inquiries are both timely and compelling.  There is no better introduction to his life and work than Renata Wind’s short but intense biography, Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A Spoke in the Wheel Grand Rapids:Eerdmans (1992). Her narration is swift and driving yet firmly based on primary sources, from Dietrich’s own published books and letters (published posthumously) to the eye witnesses who worked with him, were mentored by him and finally, shared his imprisonment.  The first Bonhoeffer biography, written by his life-long friend Eberhard Bethge Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A Biography runs to some eight hundred pages.  Wind’s newer work is a perfect starting place for any reader searching for a Bonhoeffer encounter. —Sr. St. G.