Friday, April 20, 2007

Curious about Bonhoeffer?

The terms "Christian pastor" and "secret agent" are not often used in the same sentence. Bonhoeffer is best known for his resistance to the Nazis in WWII: he encouraged German Christians to sacrifice themselves for the sake of others. Because of his strong convictions that the Nazis were distorting the truth of the Gospel and taking away the civil liberties of the Jews, Bonhoeffer continued to preach and teach the Truth even after the government banned him from all public speaking, teaching, and preaching. Where Christians often disagree about Bonhoeffer's theology is in the fact that he not only advocated resistance to the unjust government, he also participated in an attempt to overthrow this government: he was directly tied to a failed attempt to assassinate Hitler, and it was a complete stroke of luck that Hitler wasn't killed; the whole incident represents an interesting piece of history that isn't all that well known.

You can likely catch "Bonhoeffer" (the documentary) on PBS or at your local library...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good thoughts. Jabron.

Anonymous said...

Interesting, Hitler was spared. What was God's plan in all of this...in the book of Romans ch.8 verse 28 Paul writes that all things work together for good for those who love God and called according to His purpose. Obviously, if Hitler had been killed history would be different. Apparently, God "allow" evil, but He doesn't endorse it. In fact, He hates it. Free will is an amazing concept and we have an amazing God who allows it, but He promises those who are faithful an ultimate victory...Bonhoffer was an amazing martyer for the cause of Christ. Thanks for your blog!