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Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Bonhoeffer's ideas about Christian ethics, the role of the Church in a secular world, and his attempts to overthrow Hitler.

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas and life of the German theologian, born in Breslau/Wroclaw in 1906 and killed in the Flossenbürg concentration camp on 9th April 1945. Bonhoeffer developed ideas about the role of the Church in the secular world, in particular Germany after the Nazis took power in 1933 and demanded the Churches' support. He strongly opposed anti-Semitism and, with a role in the Military Intelligence Department, took part in the resistance, plotting to kill Hitler and meeting with contacts in the Allies. Bonhoeffer's ideas on Christian ethics and the relationship between Christianity and humanism spread more widely from the 1960s with the discovery of unpublished works, including those written in prison as he awaited execution.

With

Stephen Plant
Dean and Runcie Fellow at Trinity Hall at the University of Cambridge

Eleanor McLaughlin
Lecturer in Theology and Ethics at the University of Winchester and Lecturer in Ethics at Regent’s Park College at the University of Oxford

And

Tom Greggs
Marischal Chair of Divinity at the University of Aberdeen

Producer: Simon Tillotson

Available now

50 minutes

Last on

Thu 27 Sep 2018 21:30
Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 4

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LINKS AND FURTHER READING

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READING LIST:

Eberhard Bethge (ed. Edwin Robertson), Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Theologian, Christian, contemporary (Collins, 1970)

Eberhard Bethge, Renate Bethge and Christian Gremmels (eds.), Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A Life in pictures (SCM Press, 1986)

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, A Testament to Freedom: The Essential Writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (HarperCollins, 2007)

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (ed. John W. de Gruchy), Creation and Fall: A Theological Exposition of Genesis 1-3: Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works vol. 3 (Augsburg Fortress, 2004)

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (eds. Geffrey B. Kelly and John D. Godsey) , Discipleship: Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works vol. 4 (Fortress Press, 2003)

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (ed. Geffrey B. Kelly), Life Together and Prayerbook of the Bible: Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works vol. 5 (Augsburg Fortress, 2005)

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (ed. Clifford J. Green), Ethics: Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works vol. 6 (Fortress Press, 2005)

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (ed. Clifford J. Green), Fiction from Tegel Prison: Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works vol. 7 (Fortress Press, 2010)

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (ed. John W. de Gruchy), Letters and Papers from Prison: Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works vol. 8 (Fortress Press, 2010)

Keith Clements, The SPCK Introduction to Bonhoeffer (SPCK, 2010)

Keith Clements, What Freedom? The Persistent Challenge of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Bristol Baptist College, 1990)

John W. de Gruchy (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Cambridge University Press, 1999)

Ernst Feil (trans. Martin Rumsheidt), The Theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Fortress Press, 2007)

Clifford J. Green and Michael P. DeJonge (eds.), The Bonhoeffer Reader (Fortress Press, 2013)

Clifford J. Green, Bonhoeffer: A Theology of Sociality (W. B. Eerdmans, 1999)

Ronald Gregor Smith (ed.), World Come of Age: A Symposium on Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Collins, 1967)

Christopher Hartney and Andrew McGarrity (eds.), The Dark Side: Proceedings of the Seventh Australian and International Religion, Literature and the Arts Conference (RLA Press, 2004), especially ‘Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Fiction from Tegel Prison 1943-45: His Reflections on the Dark Side of Cultural Protestantism in Nazi Germany.’ by John A. Moses

Joel Lawrence, Bonhoeffer: A Guide for the Perplexed (T& T Clark, 2010)

Sabine Leibholz-Bonhoeffer, The Bonhoeffers: Portrait of a Family (Covenant Publications, 1994)

Charles Marsh, Strange Glory: A Life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (SPCK Publishing, 2013)

Heinrich Ott, Reality and Faith: The Theological Legacy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Lutterworth Press, 1971)

Stephen Plant, Bonhoeffer (Continuum, 2004)

Ferdinand Schlingensiepen, Dietrich Bonhoeffer 1906-1945: Martyr, Thinker, Man of Resistance (T&T Clark, 2009)

Ralf K. Wustenberg (trans. Doug Stott), A Theology of Life: Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Religionless Christianity (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998)

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Credits

Presenter Melvyn Bragg
Producer Simon Tillotson

Broadcasts

  • Thu 27 Sep 2018 09:00
    Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 4 FM
  • Thu 27 Sep 2018 09:44
    Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 4 LW
  • Thu 27 Sep 2018 21:30
    Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 4

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