Dietrich Bonhoeffer
- Born:
- February 4, 1906, Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland)
- Died:
- April 9, 1945, Flossenbürg concentration camp, Germany
- Nationality:
- German
- Profession(s):
- Lutheran Pastor, Theologian, Anti-Nazi Dissident
Early Life and Education
- Born into a large, intellectually distinguished family.
- Early academic interests leaned towards law and diplomacy, before turning to theology.
- Studied theology at the University of Tübingen and the University of Berlin.
- Received a doctorate in theology from the University of Berlin in 1927 with a dissertation on the concept of the church in the sociology of religion.
- Ordained as a Lutheran pastor in 1931.
Career and Major Achievements
- Lectured in systematic theology at the University of Berlin.
- Spent a year as a pastor to a German-speaking congregation in Barcelona, Spain (1928-1929).
- Early and vocal opponent of the Nazi regime.
- Played a key role in the Confessing Church movement, which resisted Nazi control over the Protestant Church.
- Founded and led the illegal seminary of the Confessing Church at Finkenwalde (1935-1937).
- Briefly served as a pastor in London (1933-1935).
- Involved in the German Resistance movement.
- Arrested by the Gestapo in April 1943.
- Imprisoned for two years and executed in Flossenbürg concentration camp shortly before the end of World War II.
Notable Works
- Sanctorum Communio: A Dogmatic Inquiry into the Sociology of the Church (1927)
- The Cost of Discipleship (1937)
- Life Together (1938)
- Ethics (written in prison, published posthumously)
- Letters and Papers from Prison (published posthumously)
Legacy and Impact
Dietrich Bonhoeffer's theological writings and active resistance to the Nazi regime have had a profound and lasting impact on Christian theology, ethics, and social thought. His concept of "cheap grace" versus "costly grace" remains highly influential. Studies such as the one that explores the dietrich bonhoeffer karl ludwig bonhoeffer biography provide a deep and comprehensive understanding of his life's work.