Book Review: Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, vol 13

BASIC INFO
Title: London, 1933-1935: Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, Volume 13
Editor: Keith W. Clements
Translator: Isabel Best
Publisher: Fortess Press
Year: 2007
Cover: Hardcover
Pages: 550
Binding: Smyth-sewn
Dust jacket: Yes
Reading level: 2.5 (average)
ISBN-10: 9780800683139
Price USD: $50.00 list price.

REVIEW: This work contains the letters, papers, and sermons of Dietrich Bonhoeffer during his stay in London between 1933 to 1935, where he had accepted a pastorate over two small German parishes. It is the ninth installment of a projected 16 volume set which has already proven itself to be the definitive Bonhoeffer corpus. In addition to providing valuable primary sources for those studying Bonhoeffer and the period, this volume includes extensive editorial footnotes to further aid the reader. It is a magnificent historical piece, allowing the reader to 'journey' with Bonhoeffer through a major transition in his fascinating life.

Since a work of this sort in unfamiliar to most readers, it is perhaps best to provide a lengthier review offering several examples of what this books has to offer. The first section of the book contains letters written to and from Bonhoeffer during his stay in London. It includes over 200 letters (298 pages in all), making it the largest section of the work. This corpus includes letters to (and in many cases from) such notables as Karl Barth, Mahatma Gandhi, and Reinhold Niebuhr. As one would expect, the section contains many valuable gems, and allows the reader to gain important insight into the thoughts and feelings of Bonhoeffer during this time period.

For example, soon after his arrival to London Bonhoeffer penned a letter to Karl Barth, attempting to explain his rather hasting departure from Germany. He begins the letter by saying:“I am now writing you the letter that I had meant to write six weeks ago and which would then, perhaps, have had entirely different consequences for the course of my personal life” (p 21). He proceeds to explain his acceptance of the London pastorates, his departure from Germany, and his reasons for not acquiring a German pastorate (which would have forced him to give verbal allegiance to the Aryan ideology). He ends the letter by saying, “Would you be so kind as to write me your very honest opinion of all this? I think I would be open even to sharp words and grateful for them” (p 24).

This is exactly what he received from Barth. He replied, “…you were quite right not to seek any wisdom from me before doing it [going off to London]. I would have advised against it, unconditionally and certainly bringing up the heaviest artillery I could muster. And now that you have come to me with this after the fact, I truly cannot do otherwise that call to you, ‘Get back to your post in Berlin straightaway!’” (p 39). Elsewhere in the letter he says, “you need to be here with all guns blazing” (p 39) and “shouldn't’t you—with your fine theological skills, and then being the very image of a German—be a little embarrassed…”. Perhaps the sharpest retort in Barth letter comes when he states, “Just be glad I don’t have you here in front of me, because then I’d find an entirely different way of putting it to you forcefully” (p 41). In the end he does close his letter with a loving tone, saying “If you did not matter so much to me, I would not have taken you by the collar in this fashion” (p 41). The work abounds with similar rich, expressive, and insightful correspondence.

Part Two includes various Reports and Lectures, and Part Three offers almost two dozen sermons and homilies on various scripture texts. This last sections gives us a rare glimpse of Bonhoeffer the pastor. Bonhoeffer’s sermons reflect the spiritualizing of the text common in his day, but it also confirms his genuine desire to affect his hearers with the life-changing power of the Word of God. For example, in a sermon on Mark 9:23-24 Bonhoeffer comforts his hearers with these words:“We know the victories that can be won by a person who truly believes in himself or herself, or who believes in any power of idea in this world to the point of total self-surrender to it and living it out. Such a person can accomplish superhuman things, impossible things. How much greater will be the victory of the person who faith is not in some subjective illusion but in the living God!” (pg 405-406)

Bonhoeffer never forgot his concern for the larger German Christian body. In a sermon on I Corinthians 13:1-3, Bonhoeffer refers to the Nazi attempt to reconstruct Christian theology around Third Reich ideology when he states: “Whether or not we want to see it, whether or not we think it is right, the churches are caught up in a struggle for their faith such as we have not seen for hundreds of years. This is a struggle—whether or not we agree—over our confession of Jesus Christ alone as Lord and Redeemer of this world” (p 376).

In this work, we see Bonhoeffer at a period in life when he is torn and unsure of how to proceed. His attempts at promoting fidelity to scriptural truth have been thwarted by the Third Reich, and his supporters in Germany were few and powerless when compared to the opposition. Here we see glimpses of a young and brilliant theologian, as well as a caring pastor, who is deeply troubled by the events around him.

Physical Copy: The book features smyth-sewn binding covered by a blue board with an attractive dust jacket. The paper is off-white and is clean and tight. The dimensions are 6x9 inches