Reflections on the Bible: Human Word and Word of God

What caused Dietrich Bonhoeffer―a well-educated and philosophical pastor from Berlin―to risk his reputation, his freedom, and finally his life to stand with others against the brutality of the Nazis? In Reflections on the Bible, a special collection of writings, Bonhoeffer reveals his thoughts and struggles as he reflects on the Bible.

Containing excerpts from Bonhoeffer's letters, meditations, expositions, sermons, lectures, and seminar papers (translated into English by New Testament scholar M. Eugene Boring), this unique collection provides a spectrum of approaches to Bonhoeffer's thoughts on Scripture and its central role in academic study, sermons, teaching, pastoral care, and the conduct of one's personal life. The topics addressed in Reflections on the Bible stretch from Bonhoeffer's thematic study of the historical-critical method to his study of selected portions of Psalm 119, which Bonhoeffer regarded "as the crown of a theological life." In selecting texts for this book, editor Manfred Weber focused on Bonhoeffer's statements about the Bible and his struggle with those statements―which remain remarkably relevant today for individuals and churches, for Christians and non-Christians.

Arranged generally according to the flow of Bonhoeffer's life of faith, this collection is framed by selections from letters he wrote in 1936―nine years before his execution by the Nazis―beginning with "A Grand Liberation" and ending with "The Answer." In "The Answer," Bonhoeffer explains "what it actually means to confess faith in the Bible, the strange place where the strange word of God is heard. Engagement with the Bible involves an intensive seeking and questioning. Without this, the Bible will offer no answer."

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) grew up in an academic German family. His father was a professor of psychiatry in Berlin, and Bonhoeffer was trained in the best theological universities in Germany. As a recent graduate, he served as a pastor to ex-patriot congregations in Barcelona and later in London. He was offered respite from the Nazi regime by friends in the United States, but felt he would not be able to minister in Germany if he were not suffering with his fellow citizens under the Nazi rule.