Berlin: 1932-1933

Works #12

by Isabel Best

"Then came the crisis of 1933." This is Bonhoeffer's own phrase in a letter that documents a turning point in his own life as well as that of the nation. Of Bonhoeffer's own life at this time, his biographer writes, "The period of learning and roaming" from 1928 until 1931 "had come to an end" as the young lecturer, age 26, began to teach "on a faculty whose theology he did not share" and to preach "in a church whose self-confidence he regarded as unfounded." Bonhoeffer was becoming part of a society "that was moving toward political, social, and economic chaos." Events moved quickly at the onset of 1933 in Berlin. In only one hundred days the path was cleared by the German Parliament and the Nazi Party for the establishment of the fascist dictatorship. These one hundred days, as well as the preceding and succeeding months, are reflected in the materials in this in letters, in sermons, in Bonhoeffer's university teaching, in manifestos and a church confession, and in his proactive engagement in the developing church struggle. The vast majority of these are translated here for the first time.

Genres: Theology

680 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Corey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best one of these volumes yet. The famous Christology lectures were great. You can definitely see things starting to head downhill in the German church and Germany as a whole at this point.

Second time through and the Christology lectures were even better this time.

[Leon O'Flynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

When reading the letters of DB, one is struck by the sheer breath of ideas/people he was engaged with. One new piece of information i found in this volume was the famous radio board-cast in 1933. I had heard that he was cut off on air, by the Nazi authorities. However he specifically wrote a letter to his university stating that this was not the case. He simply went over time, and they had to end it. So a bit of an urban myth put to bed.

[Neil White · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great resource to give additional insight into this critical time in Bonhoeffer's life and Germany as Hitler ascends to power. The casual reader probably isn't going to spend a lot of time in the second half of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's works. This is a collection of his letters, his teaching at Friedrich Wilhelm University (particularly his Christology lectures) and some of his sermons.

[Jon Coutts · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume has value for the letters alone. But then there's also the Christology lecture notes, the sermons and theses on current events, the Bethel Confession, and essays on church, state, kingdom, and social gospel -- making this a priceless insight into the theological and personal considerations of a fateful year.