Prompted by the 2017 commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, this book examines the legacy of Martin Luther in the life, work, and reception of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the most widely read modern Lutheran theologian. Framing the commemoration of the Reformation in conversation with Bonhoeffer's legacy places much more than Bonhoeffer's connection to Luther at stake. Given the fraught relationship of the Lutheran Bonhoeffer with the German Protestant Church under National Socialism, the question inevitably arises: "What happened to Luther's church in Germany?" This in turn prompts the question: "How did the Protestant tradition play out in public life in other nations?" And these historical issues in turn encourage reflection on a question that exercised both Luther and Bonhoeffer: "What will be the shape of the church in the future?" In these pages, an international group of scholars and practitioners from both church and state pursues these questions.

In the early twenty-first century, interest in the life and work of Dietrich Bonhoeffer is increasing significantly. In this environment, how should we understand and interpret Bonhoeffer? Interpreting Bonhoeffer explores the many questions surrounding the complexities of Bonhoeffer's life, work, and historical context and what they might mean for how we understand and interpret Bonhoeffer now and in the future.

Recent scholarship in a number of disciplines has explored the relationship between ontology and ethics. The essays in this collection indicate what the German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) has to contribute to this discussion. By engaging the breadth of his academic and pastoral writings, these essays retrieve Bonhoeffer's theology for a contemporary audience. They do so by critically clarifying and extending key concepts developed by Bonhoeffer across his corpus and in dialogue with Hegel, Heidegger, Dilthey, Barth, and others. They also create dialogues between Bonhoeffer and more recent figures like Levinas, Agamben, Foucault, and Lacoste. Finally, they take up pressing, contemporary ethical issues such as globalization, managerialism, and racism. "This essay collection is a great addition to Bonhoeffer scholarship that shows the ongoing relevance of this important theologian, not merely for postmodern academic concerns but for wider issues of global significance." --Jens Zimmermann, Trinity Western University "There is no mystery in the fact that interest in Dietrich Bonhoeffer has remained consistently high since the publication of his prison correspondence. In this volume we hear from yet another generation of young scholars who find him to be an important interlocutor for contemporary theology. These essays bring valuable new insights and perspectives to bear on Bonhoeffer's life and thought, particularly with regard to the connection between ontology and ethical reflection in his theology." --Barry Harvey, Baylor University Adam C. Clark is a doctoral candidate in Christian Ethics at the University of Notre Dame. His dissertation compares Bonhoeffer to other recent figures on the contribution of the grammars of creation and salvation history to social justice. Michael Mawson is Lecturer in Theological Ethics at the University of Aberdeen. His doctoral dissertation focused on Bonhoeffer's ecclesiology and social ethics.

Writing fiction, letters to his family, fiancee, and friends and contending with his interrogator occupied Bonhoeffer during his first year in Tegel Prison. Of the incomplete drama, the novel fragment, and the short story, Bonhoeffer admitted to his friend and later biographer, Eberhard Bethge, There is a good deal of autobiography mixed with it. This book discloses a great deal of Bonhoeffer's family context, social world, and cultural milieu. Events from his life are recounted in a way that embodies and illuminates his theology. Characters and situations that represent Nazi types and attitudes are a form of social criticism and help to explain Bonhoeffer's participation in the resistance movement and the plot to kill Adolf Hitler, for which he was hanged. This important volume, now in paperback, is complete and authoritative and contains much material not found in the previous edition. The German edition of this volume was edited by Bonhoeffer's niece, Renate Bethge--who brings personal knowledge of the Bonhoeffer family to her observations?and Ilse Todt, who contributed much of the commentary. The English edition is edited by Clifford Green, who also edited the earlier version of the book, titled Fiction from Prison.