Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Theologian, Conspirator, Martyr

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) exploded on to the English-speaking world with the publication of John Robinson’s book Honest to God in 1963. There it was the exploratory thoughts from his Letters and Papers from Prison that held centre stage. Religionless Christianity, man come of age, and the god of the gaps were key concepts. But this perspective gives a rather one-dimensional impression of the man. A better account includes the various books he published and the poems he penned while in prison.

The Cost of Discipleship. In this exposition of the gospel message, Bonhoeffer focusses on discipleship, on the matter of following Jesus. Just as the first disciples followed Jesus, so we today are called to follow him. Lutherans traditionally believed in “grace alone,” in God’s gracious forgiveness when we take a false step, but the Lutheran Bonhoeffer engaged in a polemic against “cheap grace,” grace that is sold at a cut price, unconditional grace that requires no discipline of following Jesus. Undoubtedly this perspective (which some denounced as a new legalism) prepared Bonhoeffer for his uncompromising opposition to the Nazi regime.

Life Together. In Germany, the study of theology was typically a solitary, individualistic pursuit. Bonhoeffer pioneered a quite different way, one that involved a community and even hearing one another’s confession. It’s hard for us to realise that this was also revolutionary in another way. Germans were accustomed to a state church, so donations played almost no role in its support, but when Hitler took over some provincial churches, the Confessing Church was formed, which was quite outside this structure. Bonhoeffer was responsible for training new pastors for that church in an environment that saw the Nazis restrict and eventually close it down. Eberhard Bethge (Bonhoeffer’s friend and biographer) was shocked when the announcement came over a loudspeaker that France had fallen and Bonhoeffer, along with others in the restaurant, gave the Hitler salute, but he did this because it had become futile to express public resistance to the Nazi regime. Any future actions would have to be carried out secretly.

It is well known that Bonhoeffer was part of the resistance against Hitler, but few appreciate what that really meant. He was a pacifist and his initial worry was whether he had the strength to become a conscientious objector with all the hatred and possible execution that would attract. To become a conspirator against Hitler was to revise that pacifism and become willing to commit murder. Bonhoeffer was employed by the German Abwehr (military intelligence) to report on Allied troop movements. That meant he attended ecumenical conferences and at the same time was gathering intelligence that would help Germany in its fight against Europe. French or English delegates would no doubt regard that as a betrayal and a lack of any solidarity with them. But Bonhoeffer was also a double agent. Spying for the German Abwehr was merely a front for his real activity which was conspiring to depose Hitler. In that role he met with the English Bishop Bell with a message from the conspirators for the English parliament. Would they accept a negotiated surrender if Hitler was toppled? The response was “No.” The British authorities had ruled that surrender had to be unconditional. Imagine what that meant for the conspirators! They are on their own. In contrast, for example to the French resistance, they cannot rely on any support from the allies. They are vulnerable to the criticism that they are completely unpatriotic, betraying Germany with no benefit in sight. Bonhoeffer understood the ethical dilemma he was in and declared that he would resign from the church if it should fall to him to kill Hitler, so that he didn’t darken the church’s image.

Bonhoeffer was arrested and interrogated (torture was a real possibility). When the diary of Admiral Canaris, the head of the Abwehr, was found, the game was up. Bonhoeffer’s real role was exposed and he was executed by hanging in the last days of the war.

In prison, Bonhoeffer penned several poems, astonishing given that he had absolutely no previous involvement in poetry. A new year’s poem which is now an extremely popular hymn in Germany, a poem on death as a festival of freedom, and a long meditation on the experience of prison. Hearing that last item set to music and performed by Siegfried Fietz at a concert in my little village church in Germany was a highlight of my time there.