Dietrich Bonhoeffer Books

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was only thirty-nine years old when he was executed in a Nazi concentration camp in 1945, yet his courage, vision, and brilliance have greatly influenced the twentieth-century Church and theology. Particularly through his bestselling classic, The Cost of Discipleship, Bonhoeffer profoundly shaped such minds and movements as Martin Luther King, Jr., and Leonardo Boff, civil rights and leberation theology. A Testament to Freedom, completely revised and expanded for this edition, includes previously untranslated writings, excerpts from major books, sermons, and selected letters spanning the years of Bonhoeffer's pastoral and theological career. This magnificent volume takes readers on a historical and biographical journey that follows Bonhoeffer through the various stages of his life--as teacher, ecumenist, pastor, preacher, seminary director, prophet in the Nazi era and, finally, as martyr in pursuit of peace and justice.

Fifty-two readings to spark weekly group discussion on putting Jesus’ most central teachings into practice. Jesus’ most famous teaching, the Sermon on the Mount, possesses an irresistible quality . Who hasn’t felt stirred and unsettled after reading these words, which get to the root of the human condition?This follow-up to the acclaimed collection Called to The Life Jesus Wants for His People taps an even broader array of sources, bringing together prophetic voices from every era and a range of traditions to consider the repercussions of these essential words.More than a commentary or devotional , this book is designed to be read together with others, to inspire communities of faith to discuss what it might look like to put Jesus’ teachings into practice today.

One of the most important theologians of the twentieth century illuminates the relationship between ourselves and the teachings of Jesus in this classic text on ethics, humanism, and civic duty. What can the call to discipleship, the adherence to the word of Jesus, mean today to the businessman, the soldier, the laborer, or the aristocrat? What did Jesus mean to say to us? What is his will for us today? Drawing on the Sermon on the Mount, Dietrich Bonhoeffer answers these timeless questions by providing a seminal reading of the dichotomy between "cheap grace" and "costly grace." "Cheap grace," Bonhoeffer wrote, "is the grace we bestow on ourselves...grace without discipleship....Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the girl which must be asked for, the door at which a man must know....It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life." The Cost of Discipleship is a compelling statement of the demands of sacrifice and ethical consistency from a man whose life and thought were exemplary articulations of a new type of leadership inspired by the Gospel, and imbued with the spirit of Christian humanism and a creative sense of civic duty.

"Lightning and forest fires could strike terror in primitive humans, yet they also cherished fire as a life-giving gift from the gods"-- Provided by publisher

Translated from the GermanIn this beautiful little book, Bonhoeffer guides the Christian to the Scriptures for lessons in how to pray. He affirms that the Lord's Prayer is the primary prayer of the Christian, which he asserts contains every prayer that a Christian ought to pray. Bonhoeffer also makes a startling but wise claim that jolts us out of the narrowness of our focus in prayer: "The richness of the Word of God ought to determine our prayer, not the poverty of our heart." Thus we find the book of Psalms to be a rich treasury of prayers that are part of God's inspired word, and therefore a true place to learn how God would have us pray.

In 1940, just before the Nazis banned him from publishing, Dietrich Bonhoeffer published this book of reflections on the Psalms. Now with an introduction by Walter Brueggemann and excerpts from the Psalms, this classic reveals the Psalms as essential to the life of the believer and offers wisdom for living today.

s/t: Daily Meditations from His Letters, Writings, and SermonsIn time for the 100th anniversary of his birth come daily inspirations from a beloved pastor, theologian, and martyr.

Well introduced and contextualized by Craig Nessan and Renate Wind, this volume consists of excerpts from Bonhoeffer's 1933 lectures, which are strikingly relevant today, along with other, contemporary writings from and about him.