Does Bonhoeffer Need Redeemed?

Image via Wikipedia

Being interested in Dietrich Bonhoeffer, this article from Christianity Today stuck out like a sore thumb…at least to me.

Now, I have to admit, I read Eric Metaxas‘s book, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy and liked it. I make no apology of that fact. I also read the book early last year, so I would have to go back and reread it to see for myself.

Jason B. Hood makes the statement that “Metaxas misses that DB is a liberal with some evangelical sympathies or leanings.”

Hood is not the first to make this claim and is not the first to be critical of Eric Metaxas and his book.

In my quick research I stumbled across several other blog posts that were critical of Metaxas’s work.

Have we forgotten who Bonhoeffer really was? Is he being remade in the likeness of his reviewers? Does Bonhoeffer need to be redeemed from this revision?

In all honesty, I have no clue. I do think it is important to keep a critical eye on scholarship and the works that are being published today. From that critical eye, hopefully, we can make an informed decision.

Redeeming Bonhoeffer (The Book) | Christianity Today

Counterfeit Bonhoeffer (challies.com)
Was Bonhoeffer an evangelical? – or, Why you need multiple perspectives when reading history (westernthm.wordpress.com)
Dietrich Bonhoeffer 1906-1945 — Review (pastorbobcornwall.blogspot.com)
Review: Costly Grace (simuleustisetpecator.wordpress.com)

4 comments on “Does Bonhoeffer Need Redeemed?”

I felt the “anti-liberal” polemic in Metaxas’ book as well. I felt like he made Union Seminary out to be some spiritual desert or wilderness, where the Holy Spirit was not present. I agree with the critic that said that both situations were formative for B’s life.

However, the book moved quickly and was an enjoyable read.