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Vividly and concisely written, critical as well as appreciative,
and containing material never before published in English, this new
biography paints a memorable portrait of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the
great German theologian hanged by the Nazis in 1945. Portraying the
complexity of Bonhoeffer's personality and the difficult, lonely
course his life took, Wind especially brings out Bonhoeffer's early
realization of the horror of Nazi treatment of the Jews, and
despite misunderstanding by fellow church members, his brave
involvement in the resistance against Hitler, his resolve to become
"a spoke in the wheel."
Renate Wind has composed a well-researched and searching biography
of Dorothee Soelle (19292003), who became a true religious
provocateur and one of the most prolific and widely read
theologians of the postwar period. Born in Germany and educated at
the University of Cologne, Soelle turned from literary studies to
theology, concentrating on rethinking Christian convictions in
light of World War II and the Holocaust. A poet and activist as
well as theologian, after her arrival at Union Theological Seminary
in 1974, where she assumed the post previously held by Paul
Tillich, Soelle became a leading voice for the liberation of women
and against militarism, especially the Vietnam War. Her person,
work, travels, and the times themselves combined to make her a
pioneer and leader in the most exciting developments of the period:
political theology, feminist theology, and liberation theology.
Among her influential works were Christ the Representative (1967),
Suffering (1975), To Work and to Love (1984), Theology for Skeptics
(1994), and The Silent Cry (2001). Winds short and insightful
biography is informed by extensive interviews with Soelles friends
and family, especially her husband, Fulbert Steffensky, by use of
the familys archives, and by Winds extensive knowledge of
contemporary theology, political history, and the contemporary
church.
A Spoke in the Wheel is an ideal book to introduce Dietrich
Bonhoeffer to new generation of readers. Vividly and concisely
written, critical as well as appreciative, and containing material
which has not been published in English before, it paints an
unforgettable portrait of the great German theologian hanged by the
Nazis in 1945. What emerges most clearly is the complexity of
Bonhoeffer's personality and the lonely course he pursued:
sensitive, but taught always to repress his feelings; moving away
from his family to read theology, but not feeling at home in his
church; ready to sacrifice everything but dogged by a tendency
towards narcissism; finding the woman he loved and at that very
moment put in a prison from which he would never emerge. Above all,
Renate Wind brings out Bonhoeffer's early realization of the horror
of Nazi treatment of the Jews and the bravery of his involvement in
the resistance against Hitler, his resolve to become a 'spoke in
the wheel'. To their shame, many in the churches never forgave
Dietrich Bonhoeffer this involvement, and in also calling attention
to their failing, this book helps to explain why.
In the summer of 1933, Dietrich Bonhoeffer delivered powerful
lectures that insisted Christians encounter Jesus Christ as a
living person today, as well as in history and church life.
Formulated in the face of the new Nazi regime, a decisive moment in
Bonhoeffer's own commitment to the Confessing Church, his words
drew attention to the living Christ as always the humiliated "man
for others," the lodestar of Christian commitment and service. This
volume, well introduced and contextualized by Nessan and Wind,
consists in excerpts from the 1933 lecturesstrikingly relevant
todayalong with other, contemporary writings from him and about
him.
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Paperback
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R398
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Discovery Miles 3 300
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