Who was Dietrich Bonhoeffer? An AP Explainer about the anti-Nazi pastor

Who was Dietrich Bonhoeffer?

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran pastor and theologian from Germany executed by the Nazis in 1945 at age 39 for his role in a resistance movement that included attempts to assassinate German leader Adolf Hitler.

Bonhoeffer was born in 1906 in Breslau, Germany (present-day Wroclaw, Poland), one of eight children in a prominent, well-educated family.

He early showed a strong piety, studied theology and by age 21 completed a doctoral dissertation.

He did further study at Union Theological Seminary in New York. There, he also worshipped at Harlem’s famed Abyssinian Baptist Church, considered the flagship of the Black church tradition, and was deeply shaped by its emphasis on faith-based social justice.

Back in Germany, Bonhoeffer opposed Nazi efforts to coopt the Protestant church with its racist ideology. In defiance of the compromised church, Bonhoeffer led an unofficial seminary for a while.

Bonhoeffer traveled widely and was involved in efforts to build church unity across denominations and nations – contacts that served him well in his later espionage work.

Bonhoeffer joined other relatives and officers within the German intelligence service who were secretly conspiring to overthrow Hitler and end the war. Bonhoeffer knew of and approved plans to assassinate Hitler, though he wasn’t an active participant. The plot failed. Bonhoeffer was imprisoned in 1943 for resistance work and executed by hanging on April 9, 1945.

What has been Bonhoeffer’s legacy?

His theological and devotional works, as well as his prison letters, have been widely read and published since his death. Biographies and documentaries have further spread his renown, as has a new biopic, “Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin.”

He has been widely honored as a martyr to the cause of anti-Nazi resistance. He’s reverently depicted in stained glass windows in churches the world over. He’s included among statues of 20th century martyrs in Britain’s Westminster Abbey, which also include the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero.

Some have questioned the extent of honors lavished on Bonhoeffer. While recognizing his sacrificial courage, scholars say his role in the resistance has sometimes been exaggerated. Skeptics also note focusing on the heroics of resisters like Bonhoeffer helps deflect attention from larger failures of the German churches to resist the Nazis.

Yad Vashem, the Holocaust remembrance center in Israel, has declined to include Bonhoeffer among its Righteous Among the Nations – non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews, such as Oskar Schindler of “Schindler’s List.” Bonhoeffer did help make arrangements for a group of Jews to escape to neutral Switzerland. But in a 2003 statement, Yad Vashem said that while it didn’t question Bonhoeffer’s character, he didn’t meet its criteria for having directly protected Jews at his own risk. It also noted Bonhoeffer’s longstanding advocacy for Jews to convert to Christianity.

What are some famous Bonhoeffer quotations?

“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” – from the 1937 book, “The Cost of Discipleship.”

“Both too much law and order and too little law and order compel the church to speak … not just to bandage the victims under the wheel, but to put a spoke in the wheel itself.” – from the 1933 essay, “The Church and the Jewish Question.”

“What is bothering me incessantly is the question of what Christianity really is, or indeed who Christ really is, for us today. … We are moving towards a completely religionless time.” – from a prison letter.

What is a famous Bonhoeffer misquotation?

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. … Not to speak is to speak.” According to researcher Warren Throckmorton, this is a popular quote and meme, but there’s no evidence Bonhoeffer ever said it.

___

Sources:

“Bonhoeffer for Armchair Theologians,” by Stephen H. Haynes and Lori Brandt Hale.

“The Battle for Bonhoeffer,” by Stephen R. Haynes.

International Bonhoeffer Society.

Warren Throckmorton blog.

___

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.