Book Review: "God is in the Manger" by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"God is in the Manger" by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, compiled and edited by Jana Riess, published 2010 by Westminster John Knox Press.

Just to be clear right from the get-go, this isn't a book written for this purpose by Dietrich Bonhoeffer during his lifetime.  It's a compilation of various reflections, sermons, and thoughts about Advent and Christmas that have been gathered from his papers and letters.  However, that shouldn't dissuade you from checking this out.  It's a wonderful compilation, and I think the great man himself would be very happy with the way it turned out.  The book lets Bonhoeffer speak for himself on the subject with little, if any, extra interpretation added.  Much of it is from the period when Bonhoeffer was in prison in Berlin, and that context gives many of the letters and reflections quite a powerful setting.

The first part of the book is dedicated to the Advent season.  As are most Advent devotionals, the book is geared around four themes, one for each candle around the Advent wreath.  These four themes are: Waiting, Mystery, Redemption, and Incarnation.  This book actually jived pretty well with the study we were doing for Advent at church, and I thought it was really on point.

The first week's theme, "waiting," centers around the action that is most familiar to us at Advent, which is of course waiting, waiting in expectancy and hope.  Not only do the readings reflect on our waiting, but God's waiting as well, his waiting to send his son, and his waiting to see the fruits of Christ's mission brought forward.  The second week, "mystery" focuses on the great mystery of why all of this was done for us, and what it all means.  Bonhoeffer describes this mystery not as an unknown, but as something we know to a certain extent and strive to learn more and more about. Some of the most powerful reflections were from this second week.

The third week tackles the topic of redemption: just what is it that Christ has done for us?  In this theme, the manger certainly foreshadows the cross as the life of Christ is looked at as a whole.  Some folks who haven't spent any time reading in Bonhoeffer's original writings might get a little bogged down here, as some of it is pretty heavy, theologically speaking, but the overall thrust is that the baby in the manger becomes Christ on the Cross, which is good news for us in the final analysis.

The final week of Advent focuses on the Incarnation itself: what a powerful thing it is for creator of the stars, the sky, the land, the sea, and all within it to become one of his own frail creatures just to save us from ourselves. For me this has always been the most powerful aspect of Christmas, and I was not disappointed in what Bonhoeffer had to say about it.

The last part of the book contains devotions for the 12 days of Christmas and one for Epiphany itself. These devotions focus largely on how we should respond to the gift of Christmas and dealing with what we have in front of us.  Contained in this section are some of Bonhoeffer's final letters, and they really help to put things in perspective.

This book was a top notch Advent study, and as I mentioned earlier, I really like the way they put it together.  The same group has another Bonhoeffer compilation for Lent that is out, and I'm seriously considering it getting it as well.  I wouldn't even say that you have to know a lot about Bonhoeffer to really get something out of this book.  There's something for everyone and it can really help folks to have a meaningful Advent and Christmas season.  I know it certainly helped me.