50/52 #15 - bonhoeffer speaks today

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Book #15: Bonhoeffer Speaks Today: Following Jesus at All Costs
Author: Mark DeVine
Genre: History/Theology
Rating (1-5): 4.0
Review:

I was first introduced to Dietrich Bonhoeffer while taking a Political Science course in college called "Faith and Freedom" in which we read Bonhoeffer's Letters and Papers. A few years ago I read Life Together with a young man that I was discipling. So, when Dr. Mark DeVine invited me to read an review his book Bonhoeffer Speaks Today: Following Jesus at All Costs, I happily agreed! On to the review...

History Lesson

The first chapter of Bonhoeffer is essentially a brief biography of Bonhoeffer's life, ministry and legacy. I was already familiar with the "high-points" of Bonhoeffer's life--primarily his courageous return to Nazi Germany as a leader within the "Confessing Church," his involvement in an underground seminary, his role in an assassination attempt on Hitler and his subsequent execution in a Nazi concentration camp. This chapter hits these highlights, of course, but also details Bonhoeffer's familial history, his youth, those persons/ideas that influenced him and the general background history of the world at the time. If you have not read anything about Bonhoeffer's history, this chapter alone is sufficient for understanding the man and his legacy.

Theology and Practice

The remaining four chapters focus on four specific areas of theology found within Bonhoeffer's writings. DeVine approaches these four areas--knowing and doing the will of God, believing community, witness and the relevance of the Word of God, and freedom, suffering and hope--asking how Bonhoeffer's teachings are relevant to twenty-first century evangelicals. From DeVine's Introduction:

...I shall attempt to make Bonhoeffer speak to us today. More specifically, I shall endeavor to exploit aspects of Bonhoeffer's life and work that speak to concerns relevant to evangelical Christians. (1)

And as far as this thesis is concerned, DeVine achieves his purpose.

A few themes peppered throughout DeVine's treatment of Bonhoeffer's theology. I will attempt to focus on three of them:

• Context. As someone who has devoted his life to understanding cultural nuances, I resonate with DeVine's constant reminder to his readers to consider Bonhoeffer's context as it shaped his theology. For instance, DeVine discusses Bonhoeffer's concept of knowing and doing the will of God. Several times DeVine states that Bonhoeffer did not have the luxury of sitting around waiting to hear from God. Indeed, his very life was in danger every day. Bonhoeffer's context demanded a theology that was portable and sustainable--a challenge for much of the bulkiness of evangelicism today. This context shaped his understanding of how Christians receive guidance and direction from God day-to-day.
• Obedience. Throughout the book DeVine reminds his readers that Bonhoeffer made not one but multiple decisions of allegiance and obedience. Bonhoeffer rejected the neo-liberalism so prevalent in German theology in the 20s and 30s, he returned to Germany from overseas teaching and pastoral positions (numerous times), he disobeyed Nazi orders to align with the co-opted Nazi state church. According to DeVine, these decisions were made because of Bonhoeffer's radical obedience to what God has already revealed in His Word. The implications for modern evangelicals would be to bring into question actions and behaviors that arise under the guise of a life of luxury and selfish motivations... actions and behaviors so prevalent in a society of relative luxury.
• Relevance. While not an over-arching theme, I was intrigued by DeVine's treatment of relevance according to Bonhoeffer. Early in chapter four DeVine quotes Bonhoeffer: "Where the question of relevance becomes the theme of theology, we can be certain that the cause has already been betrayed and sold out...The intention should not be to justify Christianity in this present age, but to justify the present age before the Christian message." (105) DeVine, like Bonhoeffer, insists on relevance serving the world rather than the church. In other words, God's word is timeless and always relevant. Human cultures and societies are not always in line with the witness of Scripture and become irrelevant to God's Word. It therefore becomes the Church's task not to co-opt theology and witness for the sake of reaching an irrelevant world, but to do the hard work of helping that society or culture to see how irrelevant it is compared to the witness of God in scripture. While this is classic evangelicism--God's Word is immovable and authoritative and relates to all cultures--it is interesting to see that Bonhoeffer shared a similar view.

On a side note, I appreciated DeVine's critique of the American evangelical subculture and isolationism that has resulted from it. This, he argues, is far from the view of Christianity that Bonhoeffer held.

My Response

It has been a while since I read a good theological book. Sure, I read missiology and emerging praxis books which deal with theology all the time. However, there is something to be said about reading a book about theology rooted in actually historical events. This book was a refreshing "breather" from my normal regimen of reading, and I recommend it for anyone desiring to know more about Bonhoeffer or who has already read some of Bonhoeffer's books and wishes to see a modern treatment of them.

Personally I do not consider myself as much of an "evangelical" as I used to be. This has little to do with my theology and more to do with my praxis. While DeVine is clearly writing to an evangelical audience, his treatment of Bonhoeffer's theology (which was German Lutheran and not American "evangelical") is, in my opinion, fair and with little bias. DeVine at one point states that it is not his intention to re-invent Bonhoeffer or force him into a theological/praxis evangelical box that he did not come from. I respect DeVine for doing the hard work of drawing out Bonhoeffer's theological alignment with American evangelicism.

On a personal note, I would like to thank Dr. DeVine and Broadman & Holman Publishers for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

Comments

[Jared]

I pretty sure I know the answer to this question before I ask it but... Did you ever take Dr. Ziglar's Sermon on the Mount class at CN and read Cost of Discipleship????

[adam feldman]

nope. i wasn't a religion major, so i pretty much stayed away from religion courses in general. i haven't read cost of discipleship, yet, but i am interested in reading it at some point...

[Jared]

its quite the Good Read..