Ever year when I attend New Wilmington Mission Conference, I purchase several books at the book store....and I rarely read them before I go back the next year. Until this year. This year I purchased a few books, and I've already finished one of them....today's post. As I have said before, I'm fascinated by the time period of World War II, and events leading up to it. I've had a vague inkling of who Dietrich Bonhoeffer was for years, but never really gave him much thought until I picked up Radical Integrity. I knew he was a German theologian who was killed by the Nazis and is widely quoted and studied at seminaries. Beyond that, I didn't know much about him.
Radical Integrity begins with Dietrich's arrest by the Gestapo for his part in the plots to assassinate Adolf Hitler. But then we learn about his early years and his family. The book follows Dietrich through university, pastoring a German church in Spain, and through the rest of his life, including his struggle with joining the resistance against Hitler and the Nazis. Bonhoeffer was just 39 when the Nazis hanged him for his part in the resistance. Yet, his legacy lives on in his writings.
I found myself going back and re-reading passages, sometimes for better comprehension and other times because what was said was so compelling. I even found myself making slight marks with a pencil in my copy of the book--something I rarely do.
Van Dyke does an excellent job of intertwining passages from Bonhoeffer's own writings with the narrative. I will definitely be keeping this on my shelf, and will hopefully refer back to it when I have struggles of faith of my own to deal with.
Happy Reading!
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