Bonhoeffer the Assassin?: Challenging the Myth, Recovering His Call to Peacemaking

Thanks Lon, I really believe that people want Dietrich Bonhoeffer to be James Bond, and that desire for a hero who takes down the Third Reich has become a tradition. So, Bonhoeffer is trapped in the Bonhoeffer tradition, and thankfully, Mark Nation has begun to try to help lead the escape out. So he is not an insignificant source, but instead a vital one. Yet still, even Bethge on a variety of points, has been proven to have gotten some things wrong.

He was a good and trusted friend, but also human. It is complicated, but I think Nation treats these issues with care and respect. Thanks for commenting, I will have to check out the lecture on the EMU website. He really has been very respectful in all of his dialogue about this book! Thanks for the careful review, hope to read this.

Was Bonhoeffer used of God in that or in prison? Hey Michael, You will definitely like the book. Would never had assumed that about Spurgeon. Reblogged this on Christian Pacifism. Thanks for the comments.

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I will be curious to know what you think after you read the book. Even before I read the book I slowly began to struggle with the inherited narrative because I saw Bonhoeffer continue to talk about the importance of the sermon on the mount even in his prison letters. I began to see more continuity the more I read. When I read this book it strengthen my questioning of the main biographies on Bonhoeffer. Anyway, thanks for sharing your thoughts. Continue reading about Daniel P.

The book carefully and compellingly probes the way in which he had arrived by at the convictions that would remain constant for the rest of his life. I regard this analysis of Bonhoeffer's life and thought as a compelling presentation to which careful attention must be paid.

By arguing as they do, the authors upend commonly held assumptions about the theologian's activities and underlying credo during World War II. This book, with its bold assertions and careful argumentation, is excellent for stimulating new thought. Bonhoeffer scholars and lay readers with an interest in him will find it beneficial. I no longer think Bonhoeffer made a tragic mistake in entering into the conspiracy and so shifted from his pacifism because I'm not convinced he entered into the conspiracy.

Bonhoeffer may well have sustained his pacifism. The authors have read widely and make good use of the fine scholarship of others as well as arguing against positions they see as flawed.

Moreover, and appropriately, their tone remains irenic throughout. This is a book that deserves to be read and considered carefully. Certainly some of the assumptions about Bonhoeffer's life and thought which the authors address are in need of revision, and their work can aid that process.

Nation, Siegrist, and Umbel write as careful demythologists. The real value of this book is in advancing the reconfiguration of Christian peacemaking from a passive purity cautiously protected to a venture that cost Bonhoeffer his life--and perhaps also his moral innocence. Nation, Siegrist, and Umbel go about it thoughtfully, meticulously, and artfully, taking pains to demonstrate how Bonhoeffer was an altogether different kind of martyr than what most people believe.

Nation, Siegrist, and Umbel marshal an impressive case based on Bonhoeffer's life and thought.

The authors will not convince everyone, but they do shift the burden of proof. For anyone who has ever doubted that this apostle of obedient discipleship would really violate a teaching of Jesus that he himself understood to be central, this book explains why such doubts may be justified.

It recovers the Bonhoeffer who radically and consistently gave witness to the cross, a man to whom Jesus was all in all. This book is to be praised for its extensive look into Bonhoeffer as a theologian and a person. The authors provide the reader with an academic, yet conversational, understanding of his writings. This book is a major contribution in rereading Bonhoeffer, successfully challenging the myth of Bonhoeffer as ultimately embracing the necessity of a violent solution and even providing thorough evidence to the contrary.

This book is an excellent resource as an overall summary of continuity between early writings and later decisions and works. It will be a valuable aid in any further study of Bonhoeffer.

Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics

The authors, however, demonstrate that Bonhoeffer did not participate in any of the five assassination attempts. That anachronistic reading alone renders the conclusions of the text suspect. Apart from simple historical questions, the methodology the authors use to construct their hermeneutical lens is also problematic. If you would like to authenticate using a different subscribed institution that supports Shibboleth authentication or have your own login and password to Project MUSE, click 'Authenticate'.

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