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A Time for Confessing
Foreword by Edward H. Schroeder
This book is about faithful witnesses -- from the Reformation to South African apartheid to Bonhoeffer -- to the promise of Jesus Christ. Even in the midst of trials, these faithful followers have testified that the gospel is authority enough for the church's life and unity. Significantly, this is the first book in print by the late Robert Bertram, described by Edward Schroeder as “perhaps the most unpublished major Lutheran theologian of the twentieth century.”
This book is about faithful witnesses -- from the Reformation to South African apartheid to Bonhoeffer -- to the promise of Jesus Christ. Even in the midst of trials, these faithful followers have testified that the gospel is authority enough for the church's life and unity. Significantly, this is the first book in print by the late Robert Bertram, described by Edward Schroeder as “perhaps the most unpublished major Lutheran theologian of the twentieth century.”
240 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 7, 2017
Whilst I hadn't heard of Bertram prior to reading this book, as a Lutheran Pastor (in Australia) the contents sounded fascinating - so it wasn't a difficult choice to add this to my reading list. I was taken by surprise upon reading the Foreword that Bertram had never published a book - since I thought I was reading his book :) However this is well explained and I encourage other readers to ensure that you do read the foreword to put things well in context.
I struggled with the first chapter (and still a bit with the second), thinking that perhaps I had chosen poorly. The Author was appearing to have arguments and descriptions that were above my abilities. That I wanted to read the chapters on Bonhoeffer and the American Civil Rights Movement, encouraged my persistence and I praise the Lord for that. Chapters 3 onwards were (for me) far easier to follow and digest, and I was rewarded by some good coverage of the German Church during the Nazi years, and of Martin Luther King / Civil Rights of the 60s. The chapter on the Philippines was quite surprising - and still need to give that more thought...
The real gem, I found, though was the Appendix: "Postmodernity’s CRUX: A Theology of the Cross for the Postmodern World". This is laid out as simple Theses (think Luther and the 95 Theses though many more here) and covers about 60 pages. This has given me much to think about and I will be re-reading the Appendix in the future.
A nice addition is the comprehensive Bibliography on Bertram that is included.
The book is quite scholarly in parts, and is well referenced.
I struggled with the first chapter (and still a bit with the second), thinking that perhaps I had chosen poorly. The Author was appearing to have arguments and descriptions that were above my abilities. That I wanted to read the chapters on Bonhoeffer and the American Civil Rights Movement, encouraged my persistence and I praise the Lord for that. Chapters 3 onwards were (for me) far easier to follow and digest, and I was rewarded by some good coverage of the German Church during the Nazi years, and of Martin Luther King / Civil Rights of the 60s. The chapter on the Philippines was quite surprising - and still need to give that more thought...
The real gem, I found, though was the Appendix: "Postmodernity’s CRUX: A Theology of the Cross for the Postmodern World". This is laid out as simple Theses (think Luther and the 95 Theses though many more here) and covers about 60 pages. This has given me much to think about and I will be re-reading the Appendix in the future.
A nice addition is the comprehensive Bibliography on Bertram that is included.
The book is quite scholarly in parts, and is well referenced.
October 29, 2012
This looks like a future set-book reader for my advanced students, because Bertram addresses various situations of confessing in a thoughtful if somewhat provocative way: Augsburg Confession, Martin Luther King II's letter from Birmingham Prison, Apartheid in SA, Bonhoeffer's battle for Christendom at Barmen/Dahlem, the Philippine Revolution and finally: "When is the Church a confessional movement?"
His ideas of vicarious suffering, characteristic ambiguities in confessors, the risk of apostasy, temptation of silence and of heresy - all these are worthwhile topics for discussion and further thought.
His ideas of vicarious suffering, characteristic ambiguities in confessors, the risk of apostasy, temptation of silence and of heresy - all these are worthwhile topics for discussion and further thought.
March 4, 2014
I did not like how bertram made the act of confessing bigger than what is confessed.
July 18, 2014
I confess I skimmed the first parts of the book. The closing section, Postmodernity's CRUX, is both faith-provoking and thought-provoking.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews