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Bonhoeffer's Black Jesus: Harlem Renaissance Theology and an Ethic of Resistance
Dietrich Bonhoeffer publicly confronted Nazism and anti-Semitic racism in Hitler's Germany. The Reich's political ideology, when mixed with theology of the German Christian movement, turned Jesus into a divine representation of the ideal, racially pure Aryan and allowed race-hate to become part of Germany's religious life. Bonhoeffer provided a Christian response to Nazi atrocities.
In this book author Reggie L. Williams follows Bonhoeffer as he defies Germany with Harlem's black Jesus. The Christology Bonhoeffer learned in Harlem's churches featured a black Christ who suffered with African Americans in their struggle against systemic injustice and racial violence--and then resisted. In the pews of the Abyssinian Baptist Church, under the leadership of Adam Clayton Powell, Sr., Bonhoeffer absorbed the Christianity of the Harlem Renaissance. This Christianity included a Jesus who stands with the oppressed rather than joins the oppressors and a theology that challenges the way God can be used to underwrite a union of race and religion.
Bonhoeffer's Black Jesus argues that the black American narrative led Dietrich Bonhoeffer to the truth that obedience to Jesus requires concrete historical action. This ethic of resistance not only indicted the church of the German Volk, but also continues to shape the nature of Christian discipleship today.
In this book author Reggie L. Williams follows Bonhoeffer as he defies Germany with Harlem's black Jesus. The Christology Bonhoeffer learned in Harlem's churches featured a black Christ who suffered with African Americans in their struggle against systemic injustice and racial violence--and then resisted. In the pews of the Abyssinian Baptist Church, under the leadership of Adam Clayton Powell, Sr., Bonhoeffer absorbed the Christianity of the Harlem Renaissance. This Christianity included a Jesus who stands with the oppressed rather than joins the oppressors and a theology that challenges the way God can be used to underwrite a union of race and religion.
Bonhoeffer's Black Jesus argues that the black American narrative led Dietrich Bonhoeffer to the truth that obedience to Jesus requires concrete historical action. This ethic of resistance not only indicted the church of the German Volk, but also continues to shape the nature of Christian discipleship today.
196 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2014
75 people are currently reading
1238 people want to read
About the author
Reggie L. Williams
3 books19 followersDr. Reggie Williams (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary) is Associate Professor of Christian Ethics at McCormick Theological Seminary.
Dr. Williams’ research interests include Christological ethics, theological anthropology, Christian social ethics, the Harlem Renaissance, race, politics and black church life. His current book project includes a religious critique of whiteness in the Harlem Renaissance. In addition, he is working on a book analyzing the reception of Bonhoeffer by liberation activists in apartheid South Africa.
Dr. Williams received his Ph.D. in Christian ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary in 2011. He earned a Master’s degree in Theology from Fuller in 2006 and a Bachelor’s degree in Religious Studies from Westmont College in 1995. He is a member of the board of directors for the Society for Christian Ethics, as well as the International Dietrich Bonhoeffer Society. He is also a member of the American Academy of Religion and Society for the Study of Black Religion.
Dr. Williams’ research interests include Christological ethics, theological anthropology, Christian social ethics, the Harlem Renaissance, race, politics and black church life. His current book project includes a religious critique of whiteness in the Harlem Renaissance. In addition, he is working on a book analyzing the reception of Bonhoeffer by liberation activists in apartheid South Africa.
Dr. Williams received his Ph.D. in Christian ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary in 2011. He earned a Master’s degree in Theology from Fuller in 2006 and a Bachelor’s degree in Religious Studies from Westmont College in 1995. He is a member of the board of directors for the Society for Christian Ethics, as well as the International Dietrich Bonhoeffer Society. He is also a member of the American Academy of Religion and Society for the Study of Black Religion.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 76 reviews
October 23, 2016
The majority of this book presents the African American theology that Dietrich Bonhoeffer experienced during his time in Harlem (and at Abyssinian Baptist Church) in 1930-31. If you are unfamiliar with this Harlem Renaissance theology, this book is worth the read for that alone.
The remainder of this book explains how the Harlem Renaissance theology impacted Bonhoeffer's understanding of Christ and what it meant to be a Christian in a world impacted by racism and oppression. In showing how Bonhoeffer's Harlem experiences led to his leadership in the anti-Nazi Confessing Church in Germany (and subsequent martyrdom), this book becomes a fantastic read.
The remainder of this book explains how the Harlem Renaissance theology impacted Bonhoeffer's understanding of Christ and what it meant to be a Christian in a world impacted by racism and oppression. In showing how Bonhoeffer's Harlem experiences led to his leadership in the anti-Nazi Confessing Church in Germany (and subsequent martyrdom), this book becomes a fantastic read.
September 15, 2018
A great example of how exposure to and identification with the margins of society allows one to see injustices that one would otherwise be blind to. In this case, how Bonhoeffer's time spent with the African-American church in Harlem allowed him to see the injustices of the Nazi regime clearly, while his contemporaries missed it entirely (or at the very least missed the magnitude of it). Bonhoeffer writes:
"It remains an experience of incomparable value that we have for once learned to see the great events of world history from below, from the perspective of the outcasts, the suspects, the maltreated, the powerless, the oppressed, and the reviled, in short from the perspective of the suffering . . . that we come to see matters great and small, happiness and misfortune, strength and weakness with new eyes; that our sense for greatness, humanness, justice, and mercy has grown clearer, freer, more incorruptible; that we learn, indeed, that personal suffering is a more useful key, a more fruitful principle than personal happiness for exploring the meaning of the world in contemplation and action."
"It remains an experience of incomparable value that we have for once learned to see the great events of world history from below, from the perspective of the outcasts, the suspects, the maltreated, the powerless, the oppressed, and the reviled, in short from the perspective of the suffering . . . that we come to see matters great and small, happiness and misfortune, strength and weakness with new eyes; that our sense for greatness, humanness, justice, and mercy has grown clearer, freer, more incorruptible; that we learn, indeed, that personal suffering is a more useful key, a more fruitful principle than personal happiness for exploring the meaning of the world in contemplation and action."
March 28, 2025
A very important book that describes how Bonhoeffer went from being a German nationalist Protestant who, by his own assessment later, was not even Christian, to a Christian and theologian who understood that the Christian gospel is about standing with the poor, the oppressed, the dispossessed. The transformation happened due to Bonhoeffer's encounter with the Harlem Renaissance, and his immersion in the ministry of the Abyssinian Baptist Church and his exposure to the during his year as a Sloane scholar at Union Theological Seminary.
Williams also provides a deeper look into the origins, significance, and impact of Harlem Renaissance than I have encountered elsewhere. This was very helpful to a reader like me who has only read a handful of the more well-known literary works that emerged from the movement. He also gives a précis of Adam Clayton Powell's theology. I knew the name, and that he had pastored that church, but nothing beyond that. These chapters would probably not contribute much for a reader who already has a deep knowledge of the two intertwined topics.
There is a second edition of which I was unaware when I requested this through ILL at my library. I don't know whether that edition has substantive changes. It's a book I definitely want to re-read, and next time I'll look for the later edition.
I'll note that while this is published by an academic press, and seems to be written for an academic audience, Williams' style is very readable. Much of the book is narrative. Where he delves into abstract matters like theology he writes clearly, so that those sections are accessible to an interested lay reader.
Williams also provides a deeper look into the origins, significance, and impact of Harlem Renaissance than I have encountered elsewhere. This was very helpful to a reader like me who has only read a handful of the more well-known literary works that emerged from the movement. He also gives a précis of Adam Clayton Powell's theology. I knew the name, and that he had pastored that church, but nothing beyond that. These chapters would probably not contribute much for a reader who already has a deep knowledge of the two intertwined topics.
There is a second edition of which I was unaware when I requested this through ILL at my library. I don't know whether that edition has substantive changes. It's a book I definitely want to re-read, and next time I'll look for the later edition.
I'll note that while this is published by an academic press, and seems to be written for an academic audience, Williams' style is very readable. Much of the book is narrative. Where he delves into abstract matters like theology he writes clearly, so that those sections are accessible to an interested lay reader.
June 20, 2021
'Abstract moral reasoning is especially pernicious toward historically marginalized people, who are typically rendered invisible in the process. Universal reasoning boasts of a one-size-fits-all morality that is at best undetected egoism and at worst intentional domination that pushes the minority to the margins and disregards their experience of domination by the community in its dreaming of an ideal community. It is an ethical failure in disguise'
Dr. Williams shows the transformation of Bonhoeffer's world view and his theology from an unethical marriage of nationalism, privilege and church to one that exists among the marginalized and powerlessness. Williams' study gives not only a lesson in theology but in history detailing how closely linked the structure of white supremacy in the States and German nationalism were, and the role churches played on both sides of the divide, a reality often found more in the poetry of the Harlem Renaissance than inside the majority of American churches.
This book should (aside from providing insight into a great minister's growth), with its parallels to the rise of Christian nationalism today, be a warning to those too comfortable in thinking faith only deals with the next kingdom, or in conveniently overlooking injustice.
Dr. Williams shows the transformation of Bonhoeffer's world view and his theology from an unethical marriage of nationalism, privilege and church to one that exists among the marginalized and powerlessness. Williams' study gives not only a lesson in theology but in history detailing how closely linked the structure of white supremacy in the States and German nationalism were, and the role churches played on both sides of the divide, a reality often found more in the poetry of the Harlem Renaissance than inside the majority of American churches.
This book should (aside from providing insight into a great minister's growth), with its parallels to the rise of Christian nationalism today, be a warning to those too comfortable in thinking faith only deals with the next kingdom, or in conveniently overlooking injustice.
May 9, 2018
Just a fantastic book. Williams homes in on the years just before, during, and after Bonhoeffer’s stint in NYC in 1931. He convincingly demonstrates Bonhoeffer’s time at Abyssinian Baptist Church was incredibly formative in his theological development. Chapter four, on the dynamics and tensions that animate African American churches in America, is worth the price of the book alone. Williams shows how and why theology and social life cooperate, and generally don’t get distinguished in AA churches. It was incredibly illuminating.
March 5, 2022
I am slowly plodding through the Bethge biography of Bonhoeffer and this book has paired so well with that reading and framed Bonhoeffer's transformation after his time in America in a new light for me. Perhaps what I enjoyed the most was how Williams has filled in my heretofore pathetic understanding of the Harlem Renaissance and how African-Americans were wrestling with who Jesus really is. I really enjoyed this and learned a ton.
September 21, 2025
This is easily the best book I've read in a long time. Admittedly, it combines two of my theological passions; Bonhoeffer and Black Theology. Thus, it would be difficult for me not to enjoy the book. However, Williams work was even better than I imagined. Recent scholarship has definetly suggested Bonhoeffer was deeply influenced by his time in Harlem at Abyssian Baptist Church while he was a student at Union, however, Williams dives deeper. He pulls out themes of the Harlem Renaissance and what it means for Jesus to be seen not in the image of White European, but in the image of Black American. Bonhoeffer sees a Jesus who is willing to suffer and die with the people, and he sees up close how horribly Blacks are treated in America. When he returns to Europe, he is immediately on the correct side of the Jewish question. He sees the Nazis for who they are, aryan supremetists who believe they are the only ones who matter. Bonhoeffer denies this teaching, even though he is an educated upper middle class Aryan. Instead, he throws his lot in with the Jews, which ultimately leads to his death at the hands of the powers. Suffering like Jesus on the Cross, or as he learned in Harlem, suffering like Jesus on the Lynching Tree.
Williams challenges all of us, especially those of us who are living in a time of Christian Nationalism, to remember that Jesus is most often found not on the side of power and control, but on the side of the abused and disregarded. Jesus will be found with the immigrant and the minority in America today, not in the power of white Christian nationalism.
We, the Church, need this book today. The reminder of Bonhoeffer, and also the Reminder of Black Theology, to help us plot a healthy way forward in the world.
Williams challenges all of us, especially those of us who are living in a time of Christian Nationalism, to remember that Jesus is most often found not on the side of power and control, but on the side of the abused and disregarded. Jesus will be found with the immigrant and the minority in America today, not in the power of white Christian nationalism.
We, the Church, need this book today. The reminder of Bonhoeffer, and also the Reminder of Black Theology, to help us plot a healthy way forward in the world.
August 3, 2021
A really interesting read focussing in on the time Bonhoeffer spent in New York and particularly his exposure to African American theology at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem. This deep dive into this formative time offers some interesting continuity with the ongoing development of Bonhoeffer’s theology, especially his ethics and ecclesiology.
August 18, 2020
A little repetitive at points but my my my, what a wonderful read. This book stoked the same fire as Preachers and Preaching for living out the gospel. 10/10 would read again.
June 5, 2025
This is a good work of history, and overall I think William's thesis is more right than it is wrong.
I remember in seminary we had a professor who was a Bonhoeffer scholar and she did not like the press that Eric Metaxas' book on Bonhoeffer was getting. Particularly because Metaxas really harped on how Bonhoeffer reacted against the theology present at Union Seminary and the liberal congregations. In doing so, Metaxas presents Bonhoeffer as a champion of the conservative cause, or at least this was her impression, I haven't read his book.
If that is indeed how it was presented Williams' book serves as a retort, because while Bonhoeffer did not appreciate liberal theology he certainly appreciated political struggle as he as influenced by the Black church and culture in Harlem. Williams does a very a good job proving that.
My critique largely lies in overstatement. Williams wants to insist that Bonhoeffer got all of his ideas from Harlem, and while he uses many good references of Bonhoeffer there aren't a ton of them. He relies a lot on conjecture. Like saying the teachings about eschatology to Bonhoeffer's German youth group was inspired by the sermons he heard at the church. Maybe? But we don't have prove. To his credit Williams' throws a lot "may have"s in there.
In any case, besides that this is good history. While it felt somewhat out of place, the chapter on how writers in the Harlem Renaissance thought about Jesus and Christianity was really interesting and I'll definitely be using those poems for a future Sunday school class that I'm going to teach. If the entire book was that chapter I'd probably have given this book a higher rating.
In any case, good book. Much needed story about Bonhoeffer's life and the life of the church in Harlem.
I remember in seminary we had a professor who was a Bonhoeffer scholar and she did not like the press that Eric Metaxas' book on Bonhoeffer was getting. Particularly because Metaxas really harped on how Bonhoeffer reacted against the theology present at Union Seminary and the liberal congregations. In doing so, Metaxas presents Bonhoeffer as a champion of the conservative cause, or at least this was her impression, I haven't read his book.
If that is indeed how it was presented Williams' book serves as a retort, because while Bonhoeffer did not appreciate liberal theology he certainly appreciated political struggle as he as influenced by the Black church and culture in Harlem. Williams does a very a good job proving that.
My critique largely lies in overstatement. Williams wants to insist that Bonhoeffer got all of his ideas from Harlem, and while he uses many good references of Bonhoeffer there aren't a ton of them. He relies a lot on conjecture. Like saying the teachings about eschatology to Bonhoeffer's German youth group was inspired by the sermons he heard at the church. Maybe? But we don't have prove. To his credit Williams' throws a lot "may have"s in there.
In any case, besides that this is good history. While it felt somewhat out of place, the chapter on how writers in the Harlem Renaissance thought about Jesus and Christianity was really interesting and I'll definitely be using those poems for a future Sunday school class that I'm going to teach. If the entire book was that chapter I'd probably have given this book a higher rating.
In any case, good book. Much needed story about Bonhoeffer's life and the life of the church in Harlem.
June 24, 2025
A fascinating look at the year Bonhoeffer spent in New York City (1930-1931) and specifically his transformative experiences at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem. This time seems to have had a massive impact on his thought-development, giving him some powerful insight into what was happening back at home.
Williams does a great job showing the effect the Harlem Renaissance had on Bonhoeffer, pointing out that Bonhoeffer becomes "the only prominent white theologian of the twentieth century to speak about racism as a Christian problem."
Williams does a great job showing the effect the Harlem Renaissance had on Bonhoeffer, pointing out that Bonhoeffer becomes "the only prominent white theologian of the twentieth century to speak about racism as a Christian problem."
January 27, 2022
A solid thesis with clear evidence. This is a great addition to my reading/thinking about Bonhoeffer, his life, and his theology. I do think this either needed to be shorter or much longer. Williams does repeat himself a bit and while he necessarily has to set up some background information on the Harlem Renaissance, he also glosses over some bits that would have been worth exploring further. Either, this could have been condensed into a longish-essay, or else expanded into a more detailed, holistic, work that traces the evidence through more of Bonhoeffer's post-NY life.
November 19, 2025
While many know of Bonhoeffer's time in Harlem, many do no know how impactful the experience was in Bonhoeffer continuing his theological formation. Williams does a great job at showing how the Harlem experience does not create "new theology" for Bonhoeffer but rather advances and pushes him to grow into a greater understanding, especially with his Ethics and understanding of theology outside of the Volk.
May 25, 2025
This is one of the best books I’ve read in the past 5 years at least. The ways that its subject matter is relevant today nearly leap off the page. There are many more subtle parallels too. Highly recommended.
March 7, 2018
Insightful, interesting and an inspiring look at Bonhoeffer's time in Harlem's churches.
September 29, 2022
Anyone who is interested in Dietrich Bonhoeffer must read this book about his formative time in Harlem with Abyssinian Baptist Church. Bonhoeffer’s theology and personal faith was fundamentally shaped by his year in the Black Church, and it deserves greater attention!
January 6, 2025
Powerful read outlining went from a German Christian nationalist to the martyr of the faith by being exposed to the black Jesus. Amazing chapter on how the white Jesus instills white supremacy into the faith.
December 30, 2020
If you didn't know, Bonhoeffer was in NYC as a Sloan Fellow at Union Theological. He was 24, post doctoral. It was 1930-31. He actually got involved at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem and taught Sunday School there. "On Jan 12, 1931 ... an African American man was accused of rape in Maryville, Missouri, chained to a schoolhouse roof, and burned to death by a white mob. Bonhoeffer read the story of that lynching and viewed the graphic photographs." (22)
I knew some of this from other biographies, but what Williams does is dive deeper into what Bonhoeffer was reading and where he traveled, as well as what was going on in Harlem -- Alan Locke's New Negro and what James Weldon Johnson called the Harlem Renaissance. Williams even sought and spoke with Albert Fisher's family for more insight. (Fisher was an black theology student who introduced Bonhoeffer to Harlem).
Williams also introduces us to Harlem and the movements taking place there (I am so excited that is the next project Williams is working on). This book introduced me to Willie Jennings who writes about colonialism and the West's "diseased social imagination." With it they "discovered" new lands. Really they remade the world with Europe-as-center and so in their imagination they were brining "geography and populations into existence by writing them into history as they corresponded with Europe." (45)
"Christian redemption became synonymous with assimilation into the community of God's chosen people--the European body of Christ ... As a result of this distortion, God's gift of salvation was now commingled with a social principle and a racial optic; social value and moral proximity to God were radicalized and measured by the likeness to an idealized humanity, the white European male body. Israel was replaced by Europe as the community of God's chosen people, and Christ became a European white man." (47)
Williams further comments: "This was not only theology tailored for colonial domination; it was also theology constructed for an identity that resisted the practice of incarnation, empathy, and transformation." (47)
Williams also introduced me to Darkwater by WEB Dubois, the sequel to Souls of Black Folks. Similar to Souls it is a mix of essays, fiction and poetry. Williams tells at some length the short story of Jesus in Waco, Texas. In it DuBois imagines Jesus coming to visit Waco Texas, first a prison, then a dinner party as one of the guests and finally witnessing a lynching.
Williams shares the poem by Langston Hughes called Christ in Alabama which begins "Christ is a N*****/Beaten and black ..." Williams walks us through Countee Cullen's The Black Christ, Claude McKay's poem The Lynching. He also introduced me to Eric Lincoln who writes about the Black Church. Lincoln puts it as various dialectics/tensions ... dialectic between priestly and prophetic roles; otherworldly and this-worldly; universalism and particularism (universality of the Christian message AND the particularity of black history); dialectic between resistance and accommodation.
Ultimately what Williams shows us about Dietrich Bonhoeffer is that he came from wealth and elite German university and this was setting him down a path of Euro-centric vision. But "the hermeneutical process that was set in motion by [his] formative German nationalist environment had been disrupted by his immersion in a different community ..." (105)
In conclusion, Williams writes: "Bonhoeffer remains the only prominent white theologian of the twentieth century to speak about racism as a Christian problem." (139)
I knew some of this from other biographies, but what Williams does is dive deeper into what Bonhoeffer was reading and where he traveled, as well as what was going on in Harlem -- Alan Locke's New Negro and what James Weldon Johnson called the Harlem Renaissance. Williams even sought and spoke with Albert Fisher's family for more insight. (Fisher was an black theology student who introduced Bonhoeffer to Harlem).
Williams also introduces us to Harlem and the movements taking place there (I am so excited that is the next project Williams is working on). This book introduced me to Willie Jennings who writes about colonialism and the West's "diseased social imagination." With it they "discovered" new lands. Really they remade the world with Europe-as-center and so in their imagination they were brining "geography and populations into existence by writing them into history as they corresponded with Europe." (45)
"Christian redemption became synonymous with assimilation into the community of God's chosen people--the European body of Christ ... As a result of this distortion, God's gift of salvation was now commingled with a social principle and a racial optic; social value and moral proximity to God were radicalized and measured by the likeness to an idealized humanity, the white European male body. Israel was replaced by Europe as the community of God's chosen people, and Christ became a European white man." (47)
Williams further comments: "This was not only theology tailored for colonial domination; it was also theology constructed for an identity that resisted the practice of incarnation, empathy, and transformation." (47)
Williams also introduced me to Darkwater by WEB Dubois, the sequel to Souls of Black Folks. Similar to Souls it is a mix of essays, fiction and poetry. Williams tells at some length the short story of Jesus in Waco, Texas. In it DuBois imagines Jesus coming to visit Waco Texas, first a prison, then a dinner party as one of the guests and finally witnessing a lynching.
Williams shares the poem by Langston Hughes called Christ in Alabama which begins "Christ is a N*****/Beaten and black ..." Williams walks us through Countee Cullen's The Black Christ, Claude McKay's poem The Lynching. He also introduced me to Eric Lincoln who writes about the Black Church. Lincoln puts it as various dialectics/tensions ... dialectic between priestly and prophetic roles; otherworldly and this-worldly; universalism and particularism (universality of the Christian message AND the particularity of black history); dialectic between resistance and accommodation.
Ultimately what Williams shows us about Dietrich Bonhoeffer is that he came from wealth and elite German university and this was setting him down a path of Euro-centric vision. But "the hermeneutical process that was set in motion by [his] formative German nationalist environment had been disrupted by his immersion in a different community ..." (105)
In conclusion, Williams writes: "Bonhoeffer remains the only prominent white theologian of the twentieth century to speak about racism as a Christian problem." (139)
May 30, 2018
I've never identified with a book more strongly than this one.
As a white man whom God has prompted to learn about Black American culture in order to (I hope) be part of cultural reconciliation within the Body of Christ, this was powerfully inspiring.
Then to also learn a bit more about Bonhoeffer's transition from academic Christian to transformed disciple of Christ...well, it resonated deeply with me.
I'm glad I read Metaxas' biography of Bonhoeffer first, so that I could better understand and appreciate this deep dive on a particularly important component of Bonhoeffer's spiritual/theological development from his time in Harlem.
As a white man whom God has prompted to learn about Black American culture in order to (I hope) be part of cultural reconciliation within the Body of Christ, this was powerfully inspiring.
Then to also learn a bit more about Bonhoeffer's transition from academic Christian to transformed disciple of Christ...well, it resonated deeply with me.
I'm glad I read Metaxas' biography of Bonhoeffer first, so that I could better understand and appreciate this deep dive on a particularly important component of Bonhoeffer's spiritual/theological development from his time in Harlem.
August 25, 2022
Illuminating analysis of how Dietrich Bonhoeffer's two experiences in Harlem moved him from a German racist-nationalist theologian to one who saw Jesus as identifying with the oppressed, God as personal, white supremacy as pervasive, and the view that the church--the representation of Jesus on earth--only exists when suffering with outcasts.
Bonhoeffer is still relevant today, since the European elitist ideologies of his time still persist today. In contrast to abstract moral reasoning, which is "an ethical failure in disguise," he urges us to embody love with the last, the lost, and the least.
Bonhoeffer is still relevant today, since the European elitist ideologies of his time still persist today. In contrast to abstract moral reasoning, which is "an ethical failure in disguise," he urges us to embody love with the last, the lost, and the least.
December 28, 2018
A slim but important book connecting what Bonhoeffer learned from the Black community during his time in Harlem (particularly at Abyssinian Baptist Church) with his prophetic resistance to the Nazification of German Christianity in the 1930s and 40s. Recommended! Note: I came to this book having already read some of Bonhoeffer's work as well as a few general Bonhoeffer biographies. Not sure how this read would go for someone lacking a working knowledge of the people, the history, and the theology of the time.
April 10, 2019
A must read for these troubling times. As many in the church have sought to align themselves with those in power to push their agenda Bonhoeffer reminds us that God sides with and is found among the oppressed. This is an important book.
June 10, 2020
A necessary book. You may think you know Bonhoeffer, but you don't really know him if you don't know the Black Theology angle. You haven't met Bonhoeffer until you meet him in the 1930s Harlem.
June 16, 2023
Reggie L. Williams' "Bonhoeffer's Black Jesus: Harlem Renaissance Theology and an Ethic of Resistance" is an insightful and well-researched examination of German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer's time in New York and his experiences in Harlem, which significantly transformed his understanding of God and Christianity.
One of the strengths of this book lies in its successful attempt to retrace Bonhoeffer's spiritual journey, explaining how the radicalized context of Harlem, and his exposure to Black churches and the vibrant cultural movement of the Harlem Renaissance, expanded his theological perspectives. Williams deftly analyzes how this encounter with the African American experience, laden with systemic injustice, yet ripe with faith and resilience, caused a seismic shift in Bonhoeffer's theological understanding, fueling his opposition to Nazi regime upon his return to Germany.
Throughout the text, Williams, an accomplished scholar, demonstrates a deep understanding of Bonhoeffer's theology and life, using it as a lens to explore the broader historical context and societal structures that were in place during the Harlem Renaissance. He interweaves the stories of Bonhoeffer's theological evolution with an examination of the role of Black theology and resistance during that era, thus giving readers a holistic understanding of the cultural, historical, and spiritual significance of that time.
The depth of theological and philosophical discussions requires a keen interest in the subject matter, potentially limiting its accessibility. However, for readers engaged in theology, social justice, history, or African American studies, the dense academic exploration pays off with its rich insights and revelations.
Williams' interpretation of Bonhoeffer's theology in light of his time in Harlem is indeed insightful, but it could be argued that the author, at times, relies too heavily on inference rather than direct evidence. While Bonhoeffer’s immersion in the Harlem environment was transformative, the exact extent to which this influenced his later theology and resistance against Nazism can be open to debate.
"Bonhoeffer's Black Jesus: Harlem Renaissance Theology and an Ethic of Resistance" is an enlightening and thought-provoking exploration of a lesser-known period in Dietrich Bonhoeffer's life. The text offers readers a unique perspective on the impact of the Harlem Renaissance on an individual’s theological transformation, and provides a broader understanding of the intersection of race, religion, and resistance. This book is a valuable addition to the libraries of readers interested in these topics and is a worthy contribution to the ongoing dialogue surrounding them.
One of the strengths of this book lies in its successful attempt to retrace Bonhoeffer's spiritual journey, explaining how the radicalized context of Harlem, and his exposure to Black churches and the vibrant cultural movement of the Harlem Renaissance, expanded his theological perspectives. Williams deftly analyzes how this encounter with the African American experience, laden with systemic injustice, yet ripe with faith and resilience, caused a seismic shift in Bonhoeffer's theological understanding, fueling his opposition to Nazi regime upon his return to Germany.
Throughout the text, Williams, an accomplished scholar, demonstrates a deep understanding of Bonhoeffer's theology and life, using it as a lens to explore the broader historical context and societal structures that were in place during the Harlem Renaissance. He interweaves the stories of Bonhoeffer's theological evolution with an examination of the role of Black theology and resistance during that era, thus giving readers a holistic understanding of the cultural, historical, and spiritual significance of that time.
The depth of theological and philosophical discussions requires a keen interest in the subject matter, potentially limiting its accessibility. However, for readers engaged in theology, social justice, history, or African American studies, the dense academic exploration pays off with its rich insights and revelations.
Williams' interpretation of Bonhoeffer's theology in light of his time in Harlem is indeed insightful, but it could be argued that the author, at times, relies too heavily on inference rather than direct evidence. While Bonhoeffer’s immersion in the Harlem environment was transformative, the exact extent to which this influenced his later theology and resistance against Nazism can be open to debate.
"Bonhoeffer's Black Jesus: Harlem Renaissance Theology and an Ethic of Resistance" is an enlightening and thought-provoking exploration of a lesser-known period in Dietrich Bonhoeffer's life. The text offers readers a unique perspective on the impact of the Harlem Renaissance on an individual’s theological transformation, and provides a broader understanding of the intersection of race, religion, and resistance. This book is a valuable addition to the libraries of readers interested in these topics and is a worthy contribution to the ongoing dialogue surrounding them.
May 6, 2024
Dietrich Bonhoeffer is widely celebrated by mainline Protestant (mostly white) Christians because he’s one of the rare public instances in which a white Christian has been on the right side of history. In standing up to the Nazis, Bonhoeffer is considered a modern day martyr.
But what’s not as publicly known is that Bonhoeffer found the strength to resist the Nazis during his time in Harlem. Studying at General Theological Seminary, located in nearby Morningside Heights, Bonhoeffer worked in the famous Abyssinian Baptist Church. It was at these places that Bonhoeffer first encountered the power of Black theology, the need of Black churches to liberate the image of Jesus Christ from their racist oppressors and to rebuild the institution into a haven for the marginalized.
Less a history text and more a theological one, Dr. Reggie L. Williams does an excellent job breaking down not just the transformation of Bonhoeffer’s theology (and personhood) but the theological witnessing of the Harlem Renaissance from such luminaries as Adam Clayton Powell, Sr., Langston Hughes, and W.E.B. Du Bois. In fact, I didn’t even know the title of the book came from Du Bois’ personal theology.
And while Williams doesn’t make Bonhoeffer to be the hero of the story, he shows how the man’s theology was gradually transformed from the wounded volkisch Christian nationalism of post-WWI Germany to the defiant resister of a man who came to find that Christ’s presence was with the least of these, especially but not limited to his Jewish siblings.
Yet just as Williams does not venerate Bonhoeffer, he also does not dismiss him. His emphasis on the man’s theological evolution is that Bonhoeffer was open to growth, to empathy, to change, to (as he was a Lutheran) reform. And this is a lesson in the book for white Christians like myself: our theology can always evolve, can adapt, can grow beyond just the nationalist underpinnings and tranquilizing drug of gradualism on which it has historically been fed.
This is a scholarly text but it is also a divine one. Williams’ words meet the feel of the urgent moment both Bonhoeffer and the Black residents of Harlem found themselves in, though their experiences are much different. It’s an urgency that can be felt today.
But what’s not as publicly known is that Bonhoeffer found the strength to resist the Nazis during his time in Harlem. Studying at General Theological Seminary, located in nearby Morningside Heights, Bonhoeffer worked in the famous Abyssinian Baptist Church. It was at these places that Bonhoeffer first encountered the power of Black theology, the need of Black churches to liberate the image of Jesus Christ from their racist oppressors and to rebuild the institution into a haven for the marginalized.
Less a history text and more a theological one, Dr. Reggie L. Williams does an excellent job breaking down not just the transformation of Bonhoeffer’s theology (and personhood) but the theological witnessing of the Harlem Renaissance from such luminaries as Adam Clayton Powell, Sr., Langston Hughes, and W.E.B. Du Bois. In fact, I didn’t even know the title of the book came from Du Bois’ personal theology.
And while Williams doesn’t make Bonhoeffer to be the hero of the story, he shows how the man’s theology was gradually transformed from the wounded volkisch Christian nationalism of post-WWI Germany to the defiant resister of a man who came to find that Christ’s presence was with the least of these, especially but not limited to his Jewish siblings.
Yet just as Williams does not venerate Bonhoeffer, he also does not dismiss him. His emphasis on the man’s theological evolution is that Bonhoeffer was open to growth, to empathy, to change, to (as he was a Lutheran) reform. And this is a lesson in the book for white Christians like myself: our theology can always evolve, can adapt, can grow beyond just the nationalist underpinnings and tranquilizing drug of gradualism on which it has historically been fed.
This is a scholarly text but it is also a divine one. Williams’ words meet the feel of the urgent moment both Bonhoeffer and the Black residents of Harlem found themselves in, though their experiences are much different. It’s an urgency that can be felt today.
May 22, 2024
I checked this book out from my local library.
I chose to read this book because of Bonhoeffer's experience learning from African-American theologians. He was the only major white theologian of the 2oth century western church to dive into the explosive theological growth that was happening in the US among the Black Church, and to take what he learned into their own ministry and theology. I hold him up as an example for myself as a white-settler descended person who has been granted space to learn from some of the most exciting indigenous theologians of the current period.
This is the first time I have seen Bonhoeffer's earlier complacency with nationalism and volkish theology addressed in a real critical way. Often I see him presented as a wholly righteous and perfect example of faithful Christianity, particularly Lutheran Christianity. Implying that his theology and ministry would have inevitably confronted the threats to the world and the Church posed by National Socialism and antisemitism. Williams instead presents an image of Bonhoeffer struggling with dissatisfaction in his own theology and ministry but unable to find a way to express it prior to encountering the theologians of the Harlem Renaissance. Williams does not say it outright, but the story of a pastor and theologian teetering on the brink of a major faith crisis that could end in dead-souled complacency and uninspired acceptance of the whims of the larger Church is there for anyone who has experienced the test of theological education. The implication of course then, is that Bonhoeffer was saved and renewed in faith by the encounter with Abyssinian Baptist Church. Without the experience of Christ encountered in suffering he may have never been a powerful theologian and leader.
Williams lays out the influences that likely shaped Bonhoeffer's later theology in The Cost of Discipleship and Life Together and demonstrates how these influences are apparent in Bonhoeffer's resistance to the German Christian Movement. This is not a narrative or biography, but instead an analysis of Bonhoeffer's theology and an argument that it was shaped and formed in the Black Church of Harlem.
A truly wonderful read.
I chose to read this book because of Bonhoeffer's experience learning from African-American theologians. He was the only major white theologian of the 2oth century western church to dive into the explosive theological growth that was happening in the US among the Black Church, and to take what he learned into their own ministry and theology. I hold him up as an example for myself as a white-settler descended person who has been granted space to learn from some of the most exciting indigenous theologians of the current period.
This is the first time I have seen Bonhoeffer's earlier complacency with nationalism and volkish theology addressed in a real critical way. Often I see him presented as a wholly righteous and perfect example of faithful Christianity, particularly Lutheran Christianity. Implying that his theology and ministry would have inevitably confronted the threats to the world and the Church posed by National Socialism and antisemitism. Williams instead presents an image of Bonhoeffer struggling with dissatisfaction in his own theology and ministry but unable to find a way to express it prior to encountering the theologians of the Harlem Renaissance. Williams does not say it outright, but the story of a pastor and theologian teetering on the brink of a major faith crisis that could end in dead-souled complacency and uninspired acceptance of the whims of the larger Church is there for anyone who has experienced the test of theological education. The implication of course then, is that Bonhoeffer was saved and renewed in faith by the encounter with Abyssinian Baptist Church. Without the experience of Christ encountered in suffering he may have never been a powerful theologian and leader.
Williams lays out the influences that likely shaped Bonhoeffer's later theology in The Cost of Discipleship and Life Together and demonstrates how these influences are apparent in Bonhoeffer's resistance to the German Christian Movement. This is not a narrative or biography, but instead an analysis of Bonhoeffer's theology and an argument that it was shaped and formed in the Black Church of Harlem.
A truly wonderful read.
August 14, 2020
I was a fan of Eric Metaxas's Bonhoeffer book when I read it years ago. I would need to go back and read it more carefully, but I'm inclined to believe either the book is garbage or the author missed the moral center of his own work. If Metaxas can seriously claim that Bonhoeffer would have voted for Trump (as he has) or tweet (as he did recently) that "Jesus was white" followed by a denial of the existence of white privilege, then it is impossible he could have grasped the fundamentals of Bonhoeffer's life and theology - a life that culminated in martyrdom while opposing white supremacy, specifically the Aryan Clause, and the synchronization of church and state against the oppressed. I remember Metaxas mentions Bonhoeffer's time in Harlem and the Abyssinian Baptist Church, but one has to wonder how he could so severely misunderstand the crucial turning point in Bonhoeffer's theology.
American white Christians pretend as if Bonhoeffer obtained some sort of superhuman moral conviction to stand up to Nazism, but Williams demonstrates how those convictions came from the black church in America during the Harlem Renaissance. It came from observing, empathizing, and engaging with the black community, seeing the oppression and injustice, and aligning his theology with movement's ministers, theologians, and writers that understood Christ as the one that suffers along with the sufferers. The black experience in America and the black church's response to that oppression is what gave Bonhoeffer clarity about the Jewish experience in Germany. Think about that for a moment. Christians especially, think about that before ignoring or discrediting BLM, or downplaying white supremacy.
Reggie Williams's book was a transformational corrective for me, not only in my understanding of Bonhoeffer, but in seeing the limitations of my own narrow theological lens.
"If Bonhoeffer's Christianity was to be more than what his theological environment had to offer him, it was imperative that he see the world from a different center."
American white Christians pretend as if Bonhoeffer obtained some sort of superhuman moral conviction to stand up to Nazism, but Williams demonstrates how those convictions came from the black church in America during the Harlem Renaissance. It came from observing, empathizing, and engaging with the black community, seeing the oppression and injustice, and aligning his theology with movement's ministers, theologians, and writers that understood Christ as the one that suffers along with the sufferers. The black experience in America and the black church's response to that oppression is what gave Bonhoeffer clarity about the Jewish experience in Germany. Think about that for a moment. Christians especially, think about that before ignoring or discrediting BLM, or downplaying white supremacy.
Reggie Williams's book was a transformational corrective for me, not only in my understanding of Bonhoeffer, but in seeing the limitations of my own narrow theological lens.
"If Bonhoeffer's Christianity was to be more than what his theological environment had to offer him, it was imperative that he see the world from a different center."
August 30, 2024
I finished this book on Phillip’s Island in southern Australia while waiting for the sun to set (along with about 500 other tourists) and for the famous Penguin Parade. These tiny penguins, who are adorable, waddle together in little groups heading back to their nests for the evening. This has nothing to do with my review of this book, but I found that setting and finishing this book to be so delightfully incongruous, that I had to mention it.
Books on Bonhoeffer are legion, so it is rare to find a work which breaks new ground. This book does, and in incredibly significant ways. Williams argues, with incisive scholarship abetted by passionate prose, that Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s singular and heroic stance against the Nazis, the German Christians, and Hitler was deeply influenced by his year spent in New York, particularly in Harlem at the Abyssinian Baptist Church. Although some of Williams’ argument is necessarily conjectural, his case is compelling. Different readers will find various elements of Williams’ treatment to be noteworthy; for me the most significant through line in this book is the connection between Bonhoeffer’s concept of Stellvertretung (Vicarious Representative Action) and the prominent idea from the Harlem Renaissance of the convergence of Jesus’ death with the African American experience of lynching. Although this idea has been extant since James Cones’ The Cross and the Lynching Tree, Williams pairing of it with Bonhoeffer’s thought and action is groundbreaking and, theologically, ground shaking. I will be wrestling with the ideas from this profound work for quite some time.
Books on Bonhoeffer are legion, so it is rare to find a work which breaks new ground. This book does, and in incredibly significant ways. Williams argues, with incisive scholarship abetted by passionate prose, that Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s singular and heroic stance against the Nazis, the German Christians, and Hitler was deeply influenced by his year spent in New York, particularly in Harlem at the Abyssinian Baptist Church. Although some of Williams’ argument is necessarily conjectural, his case is compelling. Different readers will find various elements of Williams’ treatment to be noteworthy; for me the most significant through line in this book is the connection between Bonhoeffer’s concept of Stellvertretung (Vicarious Representative Action) and the prominent idea from the Harlem Renaissance of the convergence of Jesus’ death with the African American experience of lynching. Although this idea has been extant since James Cones’ The Cross and the Lynching Tree, Williams pairing of it with Bonhoeffer’s thought and action is groundbreaking and, theologically, ground shaking. I will be wrestling with the ideas from this profound work for quite some time.
May 16, 2022
I read this book for a theology course. I think I'd like to give this a 3.5/5 stars. It was both interesting & confusing. The author seemed to drift between describing Bonhoeffer's theology or a point in time, to defining other things or just talking about theology in general on the topic at hand. It could be confusing at times to know "who" was speaking. Additionally, there were a number or repeated phrases, sentences - as though it was written at one point in the manuscript, then decided later to move to another chapter, but didn't delete from the original location. The repetition became disorienting, as I thought, "Wait, I think I read this before... did I read this before?"
Confusion aside, it was really interesting to get an overall picture of Bonhoeffer's theological growth/change, and hear how it practically impacted his life and work from that time. Many of the quotes were powerful, and I agree as the author says at the end, "Bonhoeffer remains relevant today [...] as a prophetic voice passionately calling Christians to live faithful lives in obedience to Christ." (pg. 140)
Confusion aside, it was really interesting to get an overall picture of Bonhoeffer's theological growth/change, and hear how it practically impacted his life and work from that time. Many of the quotes were powerful, and I agree as the author says at the end, "Bonhoeffer remains relevant today [...] as a prophetic voice passionately calling Christians to live faithful lives in obedience to Christ." (pg. 140)
January 8, 2024
Powerful read. I've read Bonhoeffer biographies, but this was unique, and thought-provoking. Bonhoeffer, before his year at Union Seminary and his immersion in Harlem during the Harlem Renaissance, was an intellectual German theologian who believed, among other things, that commitment to the Volk (the people of German) superceded scripture. You love your enemy unless your enemy is an enemy of the Volk. The African-American community of Harlem, particularly Abyssian Baptist Church, introduced him to the Jesus of the marginalized, the Jesus of the Sermon on the Mount (which, of course, became the basis for his greatest theological work, "The Cost of Discipleship"), and what the author calls his "Black Jesus." Bonhoeffer returned to Germany committed to resisting the literal Nazi takeover of the German Church, and committed to those on the margins, which meant the poor and the Jewish community. It cost him his life. We are grateful for his witness to a costly grace and grateful for those in Harlem who opened his eyes.
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