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Summary: He lives to make intercession for us. Hebrews 7:25
Review: Satan is the accuser, the Bible says. But Christ, with the Spirit, intercedes for us, as the Apostle Paul says in Romans 8:26 "with sighs too deep for words".A beautiful book, my copy freely given me by a Lutheran pastor who shared my love for Bonhoeffer. I wanted to lead a Bible study, he said if he ever led one he would use this book! I first heard of Bonhoeffer from someone at my church. I discovered Bonhoeffer for myself when I watched the documentary Hanged on a Twisted Cross, the life and times of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, which I highly, highly recommend. The parts of the book which spoke to me most were the sections in chapter 1 entitled through and in Jesus Christ and in chapter 3, the section on intercession. Here are some excerpts I love: "A Christian fellowship lives and exists by the intercession of its members for one another, or it collapses. I can no longer condemn or hate a brother for whom I pray, no matter how much trouble he causes me. His face, that hitherto may have been strange and intolerable to me, is transformed in intercession into the countenance of a brother for whom Christ died, the face of a forgiven sinner......Intercession means no more than to bring our brother into the presence of God, to see him under the cross of Jesus as a poor human being and sinner in need of grace....His need and his sin become so heavy and oppressive that we feel them as our own, and we can do nothing else but pray: Lord, do Thou, Thou alone, deal with him according to Thy severity and Thy goodness." I do believe Bonhoeffer has " the mind of Christ" on that one. Beautiful, beautiful book. P.S. I challenge you to examine and compare the lives of Noah, Daniel, and Job
to find out what was so pleasing to God about them. How do their lives reflect Christ's and what about everyone else's?!!! Please see Ezekiel 14:14-23. So I leave you with some homework, I just couldn't resist!
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Summary: Some of our deepest soul searching came from WWII
Review: The entire world was embroiled in a battle for the existance of the human race. Where was God? Several sharp minds wrestled with that most difficult part of faith where the rubber meets the road. One of those was Dietrich Bonhoeffer. In this short, but extremely profound, work, he wrestles with the Christian's relationship to the Christian community. I'll throw out a couple of my favorite quotes from this book. If you find them challenging, buy the entire book and get a lot more like them: "LET HIM WHO CANNOT BE ALONE BEWARE OF COMMUNITY. He will only do harm to himself and to the community. Alone you stood before God when he called you; alone you had to answer that call; alone you had to struggle and pray; and alone you will die and give an account to God." "LET HIM WHO IS NOT IN COMMUNITY BEWARE OF BEING ALONE. Into the community you were called, the call was not meant for you alone; in the community of the called you bear your cross, you struggle, you pray. You are not alone, even in death, and on the Last Day you will be only one member of the great congregation of Jesus Christ."
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Summary: A Little Gem
Review: This book is a classic little gem about Christian community. His look at community while under persecution shows its simpliticy and strength in the life of a Christian. Not a how to book, but rather a how should book, this books looks at what makes up a healthy church.
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Summary: A Little Gem
Review: This book is a classic little gem about Christian community. His look at community while under persecution shows its simpliticy and strength in the life of a Christian. Not a how to book, but rather a how should book, this books looks at what makes up a healthy church.
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Summary: A discussion of Christian fellowship
Review: This book was first published in 1939. Within a year it had been reprinted four times! I'm not surprised. There is so much in this book to think about. The focus is on the community of believers in Jesus Christ. The joy of being and praying for each other as also confessing sins, that is important for any christian community. Read about the importance of early morning prayer and how you can use the Psalms to pray, as also the meaning of reading the Scriptures. And there is a lot more in a book of not more than 122 pages.
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Summary: The Reality of Chrisitan Community
Review: This brief book contains one of the most passionate calls to Christian community of any book I have read. Bonhoeffer does not mince words; he boldly and succinctly tells us that whether we feel it or not, we are bound in community with other Christians. And, like a good Lutheran, Bonhoeffer makes it clear that this community finds its origin and existence only in Christ and in what *Christ* has done to each believer. He emphasizes that Christian community is not an ideal to be worked towards, but rather a divine reality; which differentiates this work from most other works on community which focus on how to "make community happen."
On that same token, the reason I give this book 4 stars instead of 5 is that the second chapter called "The Day with Others" is much weaker than the other four chapters. In this chapter Bonhoeffer strays from laying theological foundations and giving general exhortations, to giving very specific instructions for how the community's daily life should look. He communicates these instructions with the same "this is the only truth" tone that runs through the rest of the book--but in this chapter it seems annoying and pretentious, rather than deeply challenging.
All in all, he does much better when laying out general theological principles and describing the foundations of Christian community; which is thankfully what 4/5 of the chapters consist of. This book is obviously written from a deeply convicted place in Bonhoeffer's own heart, and for that reason it has tremendous power to convict and move the hearts and minds of the readers. I recommend it highly.
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Summary: A Roman Catholic Appraisal
Review: This is a magesterial work--it is of special importance to those of us in the Roman Confession who tend toward Ecclesial idolatry. Bonhoeffer applies the insights of early works such as "Christ the Center" to the business of ordinary living. What Bonhoeffer achieves here is a proclamation of Christ's absolute lordship -not as some of us Catholics would have it- Jesus Christ is Lord but... I have said this in reviews of other works by Bonhoeffer and proclaim it constantly to my fellow parishoners: We ignore Bonhoeffer's (and by extension Luther's) anthropology and theology at our peril. RC ELCA Documents on "Justification" are cheap grace. If we do not incorporate Bonhoeffer's anthrpological insights into our piety and worship than we may as well give the Church over to women priests, banjos and same sex marriage. If we do not come to understand and learn from Bonhoeffer we will no longer be a church worth defending.
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