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.

Book Review: "Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy" by Eric Metaxas

I've been on an extraordinary journey over the last few weeks, as I've hinted at in a few other entries. I've been reading the book "Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy" by Eric Metaxas and participating in a class at church based on the book. It's a remarkably well written story about someone who was perhaps one of the most remarkable people of the last century: German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Of course for those of you not familiar with Bonhoeffer, he was much more than a pastor, as the title of the book suggests.  He was an integral part of the German resistance inside the Nazi state itself.  He worked to smuggle Jews out of the country, which led to his arrest in 1943.  He was also a member of the conspiracy that worked to attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler.  The conspiracy culminated in the failed "Valkyrie" operation in July 1944. His connection to this, and other plots against Hitler, was discovered and he was executed in April 1945, just about three weeks before the fall of Germany.

Of course, to really get a feel for the man, one must understand his family and culture.  That's where Metaxas begins with the book.  Bonhoeffer's family was an old, aristocratic one.  His father was considered to be the preeminent psychiatrist in Germany.  One of his brothers became a scientist and studied alongside Albert Einstein himself.  Another brother was killed fighting for Germany in Word War I. He had another brother who was a high ranking lawyer in German society.  His mother was highly intelligent as well, and she was great musician.

This family and culture raised young Dietrich to be a thinker, and to think about all sides of different issues and problems.  He eventually decided to become a student of theology, which was a slight disappointment to his psychiatrist father and physicist older brother, but they supported him.  He would eventually make a name for himself in the Christian world.  He traveled a lot and studied/served a pastor in Spain, the United States, and London.  He also published several books on theology, some of which have become modern classics.

Bonhoeffer was in Berlin was Hitler came to power, and he and his family opposed him and the Nazi party from the start.  It came to a head in the 1930s when the Nazis, through state action and propaganda, succeeded in making the German Lutheran church a organ of the state that disseminated the Nazi viewpoint and sanctioned the discrimination of Jews.  Bonhoeffer and some other pastors set themselves against this and broke away from the main German church.  For a time, Bonhoeffer even ran an illegal seminary to train pastors for this "Confessing Church."  Eventually it all became too bothersome for the Nazis and the Gestapo shut it down.

In 1939, as Hitler had begun attacking and annexing his neighbors to the east, war looked likely. Bonhoeffer's friends throughout Europe and the USA managed to get him a teaching position in New York City.  He once again left Germany to come to the States.  His friends and family were hoping that he would be safe there during the coming war and could return afterward to help Germany rebuild and reform it's church.  However after less than a month, Bonhoeffer decided that it was not God's will that he sit safe and sound in New York while the people of Germany suffered.  He returned to Germany in the summer of 1939.

As World War II broke out the Bonhoeffer family was in a position to know about the various atrocities committed by the Nazis from the onset.  One of Dietrich's brothers in law, Hans von Dohnanyi, worked in the Abwehr, the German military intelligence arm and was keeping a file on all of the things the SS and others were up to.  He passed all of this information on to Dietrich and his family.  Later, Dietrich decided that the only thing to do was to join the Abwehr himself.  However he and many others were not agents of Germany at all, but members of a conspiracy that meant to assassinate Hitler.  Bonhoeffer took many trips to countries in Europe trying to get the British and the Americans to support the Abwehr conspiracy, but he never quite managed it.

The Gestapo soon found out about his involvement in "Operation 7," in which 7 Jews were smuggled out of Germany and into neutral Switzerland.  He was arrested in 1943 and was housed in a military prison called Tegel.  In 18 months there he became what was basically a prison pastor, working with both guards and inmates.  He also wrote many letters to friends and family that were preserved and published after his death and the end of the war.

However his time was up after an outraged Hitler survived the assassination attempt of July 20, 1944. The SS squeezed everyone they could for information on the Abwehr conspiracy and they eventually found the secret file that Bonhoeffer's brother in law was keeping on the subject.  It implicated Bonhoeffer as well as another one of his brothers and two of his brothers in law. In early April, 1945, excerpts from the diary of the head of the Abwehr were found and brought to Hitler.  Bonhoeffer and many others were mentioned by name.  Hitler ordered that all of them be executed.  Bonhoeffer nearly avoided this fate through a weird case of mistaken identity, but he was eventually transported to Flossenburg concentration camp and was executed by hanging at dawn on April 9, 1945.  The Flossenburg camp doctor witnessed the event and marveled at how bravely Pastor Bonhoeffer walked his own way to the gallows.  His bother Klaus and two brothers in law were also executed for their role in the conspiracy.

This marker rests at Flossenburg in the field where Bonhoeffer and other members of the conspiracy were hanged on April 9, 1945.  Bonhoeffer's body was burned and no remains were ever recovered.

Of course there is much more to Bonhoeffer's life than what can be covered in a summary and book review, which is why I highly recommend that you read Eric Metaxas' book for yourself.  It's a big read, clocking in at over 570 pages, but it's really worth it. If you're intimidated by big books, there is an abridged version available. It's not a hard read though.  Metaxas writes in a style that flows well and reads more like a story than a measured out biography.  In fact, even though the reader knows that Bonhoeffer dies in the end, there are some places where Metaxas really makes you feel like he was going to get out of it by the skin of his teeth.

It is possible that some of you out there may take exception to my glowing praise of Metaxas' work. He's come under some heat recently about some of his statements about America possibly going the way of the Nazis.  Look, I don't know all that much about what he believes politically, but he's certainly entitled to his opinion.  I can disagree with him and still respect him as an author and a thinker.  It must also be kept in mind that Bonhoeffer was a fairly conservative thinker himself, though Metaxas doesn't present him as dogmatically so.  All in all it's definitely a 5 star read and a very inspiring book.

Statue of Dietrich Bonhoeffer at Westminster Abby in London, in the gallery of Modern Day Martyrs.  Martin Luther King Jr also has a statue in this gallery.

Church and State: Can the Church Be Too Nationalistic?

What happens when the church and the government, or the church and political parties, become close bed fellows?  This is something that's been on my mind a lot over the last couple of weeks for two reasons.  First, those of us in the United States have elections coming up tomorrow, and second, I've been studying the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor who was executed by the Nazis in 1945 for his role in a plot to kill Hitler as well as being openly against the way the Nazi party had co-opted the Christian Church in Germany.

This is a huge issue in today's United States, whether you like it or not.  You can be the most irreligious person on the planet, but if you live in the USA, the interaction between the Government, particularly political parties, and Christian churches has an effect on you.  You may or may not think it should be that way, but for now anyway, it is.  The question before us now is: can it go too far, or perhaps has it already gone too far?

Let me give you a little background on what I'm talking about with Bonhoeffer, the Nazis, and the German Church of the World War II era.  In March 1933, the German Reichstag passed what was known as the "Enabling Act," granting then Chancellor Adolf Hitler plenary powers over the German state.  With these powers in hand, he and the Nazi party dismantled the machinery of state and all political opposition.  They also went to work on the church in Germany.  In April of that year, various protestants in Germany (likely Nazi stooges) began to advocate for a "German National Church."  This came to pass over the summer as the machinery inside the German church became steadily Nazified.  There was even a broadcast plea from Hitler to German protestants calling on them to join this movement.  Eventually one of Hitler's cronies was installed as the head of this new church as the "Reichsbischof."  In late summer of 1933, the new "Protestant Reich Church" adopted the "Aryan Paragraph" which included tossing out any clergy with a drop of Jewish blood or any clergy who was married to anyone with a drop of Jewish blood. The seminaries in Germany began cranking out pro-Nazi clerics, and with all of this in place Hitler and the Nazis had full control over the German church.  Throughout the Third Reich era it would be used as a propaganda arm for the Nazi government, an indoctrination center, and a tool to further eliminate Jews from German society.

Not all German Christians were thrilled with this.  One of these was a young pastor and theologian named Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  Bonhoeffer and others broke away from the Protestant Reich Church and formed what would be known as the "Confessing Church."  These Christians contended that any government regime, including a dictatorship, had limits when it came to the church.   They renounced the Reich Church and their interpretation of Christianity.  This was of course, illegal. Bonhoeffer and others were persecuted for this, and some were even sent to concentration camps, including Bonhoeffer himself.  Bonhoeffer had also become a courier with the German resistance and was allegedly linked to Operation Valkyrie.  This was discovered and he was eventually executed by hanging at Flossenburg concentration camp in April 1945, just two weeks before the camp was liberated by Allied forces.  His body was never found.

Now I'm not saying that Christianity in the US is becoming Nazified.  The example of the German Church in the Third Reich is obviously an extreme case, but I am concerned that we are seeing elements of the politicizing of churches in our country.  This is problematic on a couple of levels. First off, the United States Constitution specifically set up the government as a separate entity from any religious organization.  Some conservative Christians disagree with this, but it's true.  The word "God" does not exist anywhere in the US Constitution.  However, the use of religious litmus tests for candidates and making laws about the establishment of religion are expressly prohibited.

As a part of this, churches and religious organizations in the USA are allowed to operate as charitable organizations that pay no taxes to federal, state, or local governments.  They are meant to be apolitical entities.  Questions have arisen in recent years as several churches have not only taken high profile positions on specific proposed laws, but they have also given church (tax free) money to interest groups fighting for or against these laws and have also began to advocate for or against these laws from the pulpit.  Now, this might be one thing if churches were out advocating for the poor, the homeless, the sick, and the dying, you know like Jesus did, but instead much of the church in America seems overly preoccupied with LGBTQ people.

This came to a head in Houston, Texas, in recent weeks.  Some churches in Houston had been gathering signatures that would require the city to put a controversial non-discrimination law on the ballot for public referendum.  The mayor of Houston, an openly gay woman, met with clergy members and came to believe that some pastors were advocating against the law from the pulpit. Five pastors, 4 men and 1 woman, had their recent sermons subpoenaed by the city as they sought to determine if this had actually taken place.  There was an immediate outcry against this by religious groups and conservatives, and the mayor decided to recall the subpoenas.  I will admit that even as a very liberal minded Christian, this made me a bit uncomfortable, and perhaps seemed a bit heavy handed.

However, this is an interesting test case for our nation in which churches have became more and more politically orientated, particularly in Conservative political circles.  I'm not trying to pick on conservatives here, but let's face it, you don't really hear people wondering if the American church is going too far in advocating liberal policies, do you?

Should the church have any role in politics?  Should the church somehow function as the "conscience of the state?" If it should, should there be limits?  Where should the line be drawn on these limits? Can our churches become too nationalistic?  These are important questions that we will continue to face in the years ahead, and as I mentioned earlier, the way these questions are answered will affect both religious and nonreligious people alike.

In order to illustrate my opinion here, I turn again to Bonhoeffer.  In 1933, in the midst of everything that was happening in Germany, he wrote an essay entitled "The Church and the Jewish Question." In this essay, he argued that the church should indeed be the conscience of the state, and he described three ways that the church can interact with the state.  I'll list them here as illustrated in Eric Metaxas' book "Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy."

1. The Church can ask the state whether it's actions are legitimate and in accordance with it's character as the state, i.e. it can throw the state back on it's responsibilities.  

2. It can aid the victims of state action.  The church has an unconditional obligation to the victims of any ordering of society, even if they do not belong to the Christian community. "Do good to all people."

3. The third possibility is not just to bandage the victims under the wheel, but to jam a spoke in the wheel itself [to stop the state from perpetuating evil]. Such actions would be direct political actions.

These things are in line with what Bonhoeffer believed about Christianity.  He believed that as Christians, we are required to speak out for those who cannot speak.  He believed that this was the very least that the Bible requires of us.

My opinion is based on these three assertions and the belief that Christ requires me to speak out for those who cannot speak, for those who do not carry the power to influence government, those who cannot escape the crushing wheel that Bonhoeffer speaks of.  Yes, the church has a role in politics. Yes, the church should function as a conscience of the state.  However, yes there should be limits. Churches should not be aiding specific agendas of political parties.  The church should not be pushing the perceived moral absolutes of the ultra right wing on people whether they are Christians or not.  This was not the concern of Christ.  The role of the church is to advocate, and advocate strongly, for the those whom Christ advocated for: the poor, the needy, the sick, and the dying.  These people are becoming more and more ground down under the wheel of the moneyed elite and their powerful political interests in our country, and for the most part, the church is not even asking if that's the right thing to do or aiding those who are damaged by our system.  I would prefer to see Christians drive a spoke into the wheel of the political machine myself, and that's how I vote.  Instead much of the Christian church seems to be caught up in advocating against certain ideals that don't fit their archaic version of morality. much of which Jesus himself had nothing to say about.  In my mind, we've become distracted from the real purpose.  Much of what passes as "Christian advocacy" these days is nothing more than a mouthpiece for the Republican party and their ultra right moral agenda. People are not asking what Jesus might say or think, they're too busy buying up books from the Duck Dynasty guys, who seem to be prophets and spokesmen for a new generation of Christians who care about nothing more than money, fame, and strict adherence to an Old Testament morality.

This is all leading to a national, American brand of Christianity, and that frightens me.  We have begun to cloak the cross of Christ and the Bible in the Stars and Stripes.  Want proof?  Click here.
This process attempts to connect our history specifically to Christianity, which is exactly the opposite of the secular republic set up by the Constitution.  This leads to Americans feeling superior to other Christians and non Christians alike and is resulting in negative and un-Christlike behaviors towards many people including poor people, gay people, and Muslims.  A couple of months back, one of the Duck Dynasty guys was on Fox News saying that ISIS members should be converted to Christianity or killed.  Many Christian circles have become hotbeds for anti-Muslim sentiment, and in this climate, I fear that we are only one terrorist incident away from having that sentiment explode into some very nasty outcomes, outcomes that might be sanctioned and advocated for by many Christians in our country.  In the end, is it all that different from earlier times?  Is wrapping the Bible in the Stars and Stripes really any different that wrapping it in the Swastika?

THE GERMAN PATRIOT'S BIBLE connects the teaching of the Bible, the history of the Reich, and the life of every German. Discover Biblical truths that formed the foundation of the Reich's values and how they apply to today's culture. Experience spiritual milestones in Reich history with beautiful, full-color insert pages. Examine the intersection between Reich history and the Christian faith through unique articles spotlighting the people and events that have made the Reich great.

Does reading that make you even a little bit uncomfortable?  Does that sound like something the Nazi propaganda machine might have put it out?  Does it sound like a Bible for the Protestant Reich Church?  All I did was take the paragraph on the "American Patriot Bible" and switch the word "American" with "Reich" or "German."  It makes me sick to my stomach.

That is what I have to say on all of this.  You may disagree or agree with me.  You may think I'm flat out crazy and reading too much into things, but the reality is that these questions and issues will continue to face our country for awhile to come.  They WILL have an affect on all of us no matter which faith we belong to, and even those of us who don't belong to any faith.  These questions are worth asking and it's a conversation worth having.  I've told you what I think, what do YOU think?