Bauckhof biography

by Robert Saler

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from Spring 2018

When I teach Bonhoeffer seminars at my seminary, I enjoy shocking the students early on by expressing what can only come across as a contrarian’s opinion: “You know, Bonhoeffer’s participation in the plot to kill Hitler was probably the least interesting thing about his life.”

The students are generally aghast at this.

Bauckhof biography

Surely the romantic image of Bonhoeffer as the courageous Christian resister and martyr is too precious a treasure to diminish in this way? Well, I go on to explain, I say this because, as deeply inspiring as his courage and resistance are, for the contemporary church his theology is an even more exciting contribution.

Or, more accurately, the two are so intertwined that to lose sight of the theologian in favor of some romanticized freedom fighter is to misunderstand both facets of Bonhoeffer’s life and the unstable yet unwavering integrity by which he fought to hold them together.

Bonhoeffer died on the cusp of what h