Spiritual Challenges Bonhoeffer Style

Mornings With Bonhoeffer

100 Reflections on the Christian Life

Author: Donald K. McKim

Publisher: Abingdon Press, Nashville, TN, 2018

Spiritual Challenges Bonhoeffer Style

I agreed to review this book because I am a fan of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and his writing. But it turned out to be much more for me.  Although I read it in just a few sittings, I realized what a wonderful morning devotional it makes – good for 100 days. I also couldn’t believe how much Bonhoeffer had packed in the one or two simple statements he used as the basis for each day’s reading. Not only did each statement or quote have a truth in it, but each came with two challenges: First, an intellectual challenge that required one to stop reading and then to reflect, to think, about what was being said about God, about being a Christian, about living in community, and so much more.  Second, each quote presents its reader with a challenge of obedience as to how then we should think, feel, and most importantly, act based on that truth.

Donald K. McKim, who spent time as executive editor for Westminister John Knox Press, as academic dean and professor of theology at Memphis Theological Seminary, and as professor at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary, brings all the threads together as he unpacks Bonhoeffer’s quote and its practical implications. McKim’s experience as an author or editor of over thirty books serves him excellently in his task.

The book is divided into two major sections.  The first is titled Believing as a Christian. It covers some of Bonhoeffer’s thoughts on our key beliefs, Jesus Christ, the Church, and the Christian Life.

The second part is titled Living as a Christian.  It covers areas like Following Jesus, Living Before God, Our Lives with Others, Love, and Living in the Word.

Each page is filled with ideas you’ll want to underline and memorize. Let me just give you a few to whet your appetite:

·     “The meaning of the Eastermessage is that God is the death of death.” (Do you see what I mean about the challenge that each quote presents?)

·     “The Lord of the ages is God. The turning point of the ages is Christ. The true spirit of the age is the Holy Spirit.”

·     “No priest, no theologian stood at the cradle of Bethlehem. And yet all Christian theology finds its origin in the miracle of miracles, that God became human.”

·     “Not the path to God, but rather God’s path to human beings, that is the sum total of Christianity.”

·     “The church of successis truly far from being the church of faith.”

·     “God loves our enemies – this is what the cross tells us.”

And many, many more.  The book is an excellent source of discussion for life groups or other Bible studies.  I use it for quick devotionals when called upon to give them at meetings and other occasions. 

Each quotation comes with a citation which provides the specific volume of Dietrich Bonhoeffer Worksby Fortress Press from which it came and the page number in that volume for additional research.

McKim gives us some great suggestions as to how to use the book and its contents for maximum benefit. He also adds a “Timeline of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life”.

I highly recommend it for anyone who wants an introduction to this great man of God. But it’s also for those who want to grow much deeper in their spiritual life.

Bonhoeffer was born in 1906 and after spending considerable time in prison and concentration camps, he was executed in 1945 at 39 years of age because he was accused of participating in the plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler.

Bonhoeffer, writing from personal experience, can help each one of us cope with what may well lie ahead for the church of Jesus Christ.   

·     Ken B. Godevenos, President, Accord Resolutions Services Inc., Toronto, Ontario, January 12, 2019, www.accordconsulting.com

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.