Bonhoeffer-Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy

ISBN: 978-1595551382

Some tomes are heftier than others. Bonhoeffer, by Eric Metaxas, is not anorexic by any means. The hardback version ends on page 542. What makes this book singular, in terms of a reading experience, is that even though the page count is larger than many average volumes on the market, one does not feel that one is reading “filler material”. The entire 592 pages enthralls the reader. Even though the book tells you on the jacket/cover that Bonhoeffer is a martyr, one finds themselves hoping that he wins anyway. One becomes invested in the story because the history animates and contorts itself into life and throttles the reader with urgent spiritual questions to solve. The way in which this is accomplished is related to the issues it advances having not been resolved then. These very same issues remain now.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer is born to an aristocratic lifestyle in Germany as the looming days of World War II hang like threatening mists on the known historical horizon. While Bonhoeffer has aptitude for music, he eventually decides that his life calling is to become a theologian. His father does not initially approve of this occupation. The reader learns that Lutheran German spiritual tradition, by the time Bonhoeffer is in it, is a corpse. This is why Bonhoeffer’s father, Karl, does not give a ready assent to Bonhoeffer’s burgeoning plans. The Church, by this juncture, has become in academic circles and elsewhere a more intellectual exercise. Bonhoeffer’s family, being aristocratic, necessarily leans more academically. Therefore, the value system within the family unit leaned toward an emphasis on the classics with a kind of fond nod toward the scripture. This is the spiritual rot that Hitler was able to use to his advantage. Most Germans did not resist his advance because they had become placid with regard to taking action on what the scripture counselled to do. Bonhoeffer’s story, though, is not that one. His story is the rare tale of a German who saw what was happening to the Jews as being a vile injustice. His path as a theologian would carry him toward encouraging the church to be authentic to the scripture AND to oppose the kinds of “spiritual reform” the Third Reich was instituting. Like Jeremiah, however, who Bonhoeffer did a sermon on according to the book at least once, nobody is keen on listening to him. By the time that the draft is forced on Bonhoeffer, a crisis is reaching a critical moment. On the one hand, to deny the draft risks putting the splintered church that Bonhoeffer advocates as an answer to the Reich “German positive Christianity” in jeopardy. This church was called “The Confessing Church” as its job, as Bonhoeffer envisioned it, was to confess the gospel. On the other hand, if Bonhoeffer fights for his country, he becomes a traitor to his own conscience. His answer to this predicament is at first to run, and so he finds a place in America.

Unfortunately, the America solution does not work for Bonhoeffer as he misses his homeland too much. He returns and is eventually drafted but solves his dilemma by joining the German intelligence unit which is called the Abwehr. He does this partly so he can continue on his church work with less interference, but also because it gets him closer to Hitler where he and a handful of other conspirators decide to blow the evil dictator up with a time bomb. Bonhoeffer’s family connections are well-placed for this work, as his mother’s family had members in it that had achieved a “lady in waiting” status on Queen Victoria. This allowed a back channel to Winston Churchill. A family friend was Goethe.

The German military splits into those who believed in Hitler initially as an answer to the humiliation of World War I to seeing him as a madman who is going to wreck the country. Some of this transformation comes from the brutal kinds of tasks Hitler asks his military to perform on their enemies. These commands offend the sense of honour of many long-term military families. Consequently, many of these military generals are happy to try to remove Hitler in cooperation with Bonhoeffer. There are at least five recorded attempts in the book to blow Hitler into giblets. Only one of them gets close, and history knows that story well.

While Bonhoeffer is a fascinating aspect to the story since he is the main character, what is more eye-opening is how the German regime made it look like they were Christian believers so that the population would accept their reforms. There was a church invasion by Reich forces whose previous tenets seemed to only consider the church to be an intellectual necessity. There was even a plan to replace the Bible in all churches with a copy of Mein Kampf and a sword to the left of the altar so that the state religion would have a firm grip on the spiritual traditions of the German people. Classical Christianity was considered to be weak by Hitler and the SS and it seems as though Hitler would have preferred the extinction of religion so that a focus on strength could be better advanced.

Theologically, Bonhoeffer infuriates the Reich by daring to write and teach about the Old Testament as an authentic, relevant work. Though he cloaks his actual efforts under the guise of it simply being about the Bible, the Reich wishes to prohibt any further material by him and forbids him from writing additional books once he is under the authority of the Abwehr.

Once the bomb plot conspirators are rounded up from several failed attempts, the clock begins to tick on how long Bonhoeffer has before he is arrested. Once he is arrested, he begins the process of “buying time” so the remaining conspirators can hopefully eliminate Hilter. They get close enough to blow his clothes off, but not close enough to end his existence. This, sadly, spells the end for Bonhoeffer and many of his friends. They are executed—in Bonhoeffer’s case—a mere three weeks before the end of World War II and the death of Hitler.

Having told you the basics of the plot of this book, however, has spoiled nothing because the rich details present in this historical work are splattered on every page. Bonhoeffer is transferred many times before his end is reached. He rubs shoulders with various kinds of characters with pieces of the history of that time as only they would know. The picture of the Lutheran Church is an ugly one, and one better understands how the entire culture of Germany was able to be shifted with relative ease with such spiritual deadness prevalent. Germany had a huge chip on its shoulder, and felt like it had an unfair deal after World War I. The path Bonhoeffer was offered was what do you do when nothing is working as it should—including the church. His path was so extreme, he even had the chance to visit with Ghandi—a person who had an answer to spiritual problems that was contrasted against the one Bonhoeffer chose.

This book should be required reading at around a high school level. It squarely answers the question if one could go back in time, would they try to kill Hitler? For Bonhoeffer, he did not need any time travel. He only needed an opportunity. While many were provided, none of them were able to completely achieve the objective. Hitler took it as a sign that he had some kind of divine mandate. He probably felt less sure about that by the time the war concluded.

The book ends, but the question haunts wraith-like: What would you do, when your country, your church, your people, your land, and your family are being overtaken by something you know is evil and wrong? What lengths would you go to? What battle should you, as a believer, fight? These are the questions Bonhoeffer puts forcefully before us all. How we make up our minds says something about our faith and perhaps also something about our salvation. Read this book. It is one of the rare ones that can change your life and how you live it.