Audrey Cooper

March 26, 2015

It was 1938 in Nazi Germany. Hitler had been in power for 5 years. The unspeakable

evils occurring in concentration camps were beginning to become well-known. Dietrich

Bonhoeffer, a young German theologian, had just been banned from Berlin by the Gestapo for

insisting that Christ, not the Fuhrer, was the infallible head of the Christian church. The previous

year, the Nazi government shut down the seminary which he had been directing. No matter

where Bonhoeffer went, he was confronted by the evil of the Nazis and he could not remain

silent. As he considered his future, on the eve of World War II, one verse from the Bible

continued to occupy his thoughts: “Neither know we what to do, but our eyes are upon Thee” (2

Chronicles 20:12 KJV). The times required great wisdom and unshakeable faith. Bonhoeffer was

unsure what his future would hold, but he knew that regardless of the situation, he would

continue to set his eyes upon God.

From a young age, Bonhoeffer demonstrated a commitment to whole-hearted truth-

seeking. The entire family valued intellectual honesty, often discussing controversial topics, even

those political and religious ideas which they passionately disagreed with. At age 14, fascinated

by thinking and philosophy, Bonhoeffer declared his intention to become a theologian. His

family did not agree with his choice, believing that he would waste his intellect on an impractical

field of study. However, they could not have anticipated the transformative impact his

theological and political work would have on German society.

Bonhoeffer enrolled at the University of Tubingen shortly after his 17th birthday. He

loved learning and thrived in his new intellectual community. He studied under the best

theologians of all denominations and sought to learn everything possible from their tutelage.

Bonhoeffer loved rigorous academic work because it reflected his value of truth-seeking. He
 Audrey Cooper
March 26, 2015
earned the respect of the academic community by graduating with his first doctorate from the

University of Berlin at age 21. Berlin, where Bonhoeffer studied, was like the New York City of

Germany, and he rubbed shoulders with the greatest minds in the nation. Later in his life,

Bonhoeffer would leverage the relationships he formed at university in his work against Hitler’s

Third Reich.

At age 24, after completing his second doctorate, Bonhoeffer spent a year as a visiting

scholar at Union Theological Seminary in New York. His experience in New York shaped some

of his most foundational beliefs about Christian living. After arriving at Union, he struggled to

find a gospel-centered church which fueled his spiritual growth. In one letter, Bonhoeffer wrote,

“In New York they preach about virtually everything; only one thing is not addressed, or is

addressed so rarely that I have as yet been unable to hear it, namely, the gospel of Jesus Christ,

the cross, sin and forgiveness, death and life.” (Metaxes 99). However, one Sunday, a friend

from Union invited Bonhoeffer to join him for an African-American service in Harlem, at

Abyssinian Baptist Church. This church was the spiritual highlight of Bonhoeffer’s time in

America. Bonhoeffer immediately became a regular attendee at Abyssinian, even teaching

weekly Sunday School for a class of young African-American boys. This was unconventional

work for a German student with two doctorates, but Bonhoeffer did not even consider abstaining.

He took advantage of every opportunity to serve his community and support the work of the

gospel during his time in New York.

Additionally, as Bonhoeffer observed how the African-American church responded to

systemic racism, he developed his beliefs around political and social activism. American

Christians were actively involved in lobbying and awareness efforts, passionately working to

bring justice to society. Bonhoeffer came to believe that in situations of cultural evil, Christians
 Audrey Cooper
March 26, 2015
must take action. “God wants to see human beings, not ghosts who shun the world,” he argued,

and Christians should “serve the times” by speaking out against injustice and using their skills

and connections to advocate for change (Metaxes 80).

In 1933, Hitler rose to power and swept through the government, eliminating dissenters at

every turn. Within the year, Hitler had claimed unilateral governing authority, established the

first concentration camp, and condemned Jews as an infection in German society. The Nazis

soon escalated to direct confrontation with the church, requiring that German Christians

recognize the Fuhrer’s supreme authority on religious matters. Unfortunately, many German

Christians were complacent, choosing safety over truth. They allowed Hitler to dictate what

could be preached in sermons and who could attend services, and in so doing, they compromised

the truth of God’s word.

As the Nazis grew in power, Bonhoeffer believed that the church could not remain silent

if the tide of evil was to be stemmed. If Christianity is God’s redemptive truth for the whole

world, he reasoned, it cannot be hidden under a bushel, especially in a time of great turmoil and

injustice. In his work titled “Ethics,” Bonhoeffer wrote, “The love of God does not withdraw

from reality into noble souls secluded from the world. It experiences and suffers the reality of the

world in all its hardness.” (72). As his friends and family were imprisoned, and the situation in

Germany became more dire, Bonhoeffer declared the truth of God, without fear for his own

safety. He tirelessly wrote anti-Nazi declarations for the Confessing Church and spoke at

international conferences, condemning the Nazi’s co-option of German Christianity. Bonhoeffer

also leveraged his academic connections to find refuge for those persecuted by the Nazis. He

spent a year in London doing ecumenical work, using his international church contacts to help

Jews relocate and to raise awareness about the oppression occurring in Germany.
 Audrey Cooper
March 26, 2015
Bonhoeffer soon realized that the evil of the Nazi’s was so great, the only way to stop the

impending genocide of the Jews and the theological perversion in the church was to remove

Hitler from power by any means necessary. Beginning in 1939, he served as a courier for the

resistance movement, negotiated possible peace terms with the allies, and supported the

assassination planning. Imagine this young pastor, just a few years removed from university,

working as a spy for the German resistance! Until now, Bonhoeffer’s path, though difficult, had

been relatively clear. He had preached the gospel, advocated for the Confessing Church, and

condemned the Nazis when they targeted God’s people. But when Bonhoeffer began working as

a spy, he was entering unprecedented territory. His best friend and biographer Eberhard Bethge

wrote, “[Bonhoeffer] entered the difficult world of assessing what was expedient - of success and

failure, tactics and camouflage. The certainty of his calling in 1932 now became an acceptance

of the uncertain, the incomplete, and the provisional.… To be engaged for his times, where he

stood, was…open to misinterpretation, less glorious, more confined. Yet this alone was what it

now meant to be a Christian.” (678).

As a result of his resistance activities, he was prohibited from speaking in public,

publishing any writing, or appearing in Berlin. In 1943, he was arrested and sent to a

concentration camp. Bonhoeffer did not withdraw from reality as a noble soul secluded from the

world, rather, he followed God in experiencing and suffering “the reality of the world in all its

hardness” (Ethics 72). He would be patient and faithful in prison, continuing his ministry of

encouragement wherever he could, until he was murdered by the Nazis in 1945.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer shines as an example of a Christian who lived fully in the world, but

who was not of the world. Even though he was an academic, Bonhoeffer’s faith was not abstract:

he was fully surrendered to God, living out his Christian values in day-to-day life. In the same
 Audrey Cooper
March 26, 2015
way, The King’s College exists to train students who will transform society, not just theorize

about it. Our world needs more principled leaders who, like Bonhoeffer, will set their eyes on

God and courageously defend the truth with both thought and action in times of turmoil,

confusion, and rampant evil.

During the last few months of his life, while in prison, Bonhoeffer wrote poetry exhorting
himself to continue in love and faithfulness. His words capture the heart of what it meant for him
to live surrendered to God, in both thought and action: “Do and dare what is right, not swayed by
the whim of the moment. Bravely take hold of the real, not dallying now with what might be.
Not in the flight of ideas but only in action is freedom. Make up your mind and come out into the
tempest of living. God’s command is enough and your faith in him to sustain you. Then at last
freedom will welcome your spirit amid great rejoicing.”
 Audrey Cooper
March 26, 2015
Bibliography

“About King’s.” The King’s College, n.d. Web. 26 Mar 2015.

Bethge, Eberhard. Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A Biography. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, Rev. 2000.

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Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Life Together. Translated by John W. Doberstein. New York:

HarperOne: 1954. Print.

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. The Cost of Discipleship. Translated by R.H. Fuller, 1937.

New York: Macmillian, 1963. Print.

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Ethics. Translated by Neville Horton Smith, 1949. New York:

Touchstone, 1995. Print.

“Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Memories and Perspectives.” Dir. Martin Doblmeier.

Create Space, 2009. Film.

Marsh, Charles. Strange Glory: A Life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. New York: Knopft, 2014.

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Metaxes, Eric. Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2010.

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The Bible. King James Version. Web. 26 Mar 2015.