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Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (February 4, 1906 – April 9, 1945) was a German preacher, Lutheran pastor, and theologian whose ministry centered on resisting Nazi ideology and proclaiming costly discipleship within the Confessing Church. Born in Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland), to Karl Bonhoeffer, a prominent psychiatrist, and Paula von Hase, a teacher, he was the sixth of eight children in a cultured, nominally religious family. He pursued theological education at the University of Tübingen and earned a doctorate from the University of Berlin in 1927, ordained shortly after. Converted in his youth, he began preaching in German-speaking congregations, including a year in Barcelona (1928–1929) and London (1933–1935). Bonhoeffer’s preaching career gained prominence as he opposed the Nazi regime’s influence on the German church, co-founding the Confessing Church in 1934 to uphold biblical fidelity against the pro-Nazi German Christians. He led an underground seminary at Finkenwalde (1935–1937), training pastors in resistance and community life, experiences that fueled his books The Cost of Discipleship (1937) and Life Together (1939). His sermons urged radical obedience to Christ amidst persecution, culminating in his involvement in the Abwehr-led plot to assassinate Hitler. Arrested in 1943, he preached to fellow prisoners until his execution by hanging at Flossenbürg concentration camp at age 39, weeks before World War II’s end. Engaged to Maria von Wedemeyer in 1943 but never married, he left a legacy of courage and theological depth through works like Letters and Papers from Prison (1951).
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Dietrich Bonhoeffer preaches about the concept of costly grace, emphasizing that it is the treasure worth sacrificing everything for, like selling all possessions or giving up sinful habits to follow Christ. He explains that costly grace is the gospel that needs to be continually sought, a gift that must be requested, and a door that requires persistent knocking. Bonhoeffer highlights that this grace is both demanding and liberating, as it calls believers to follow Jesus at all costs, even if it means giving up their lives, yet ultimately offering the truest life and justification for sinners through God's sacrifice of His Son.
(True) Costly Grace
"Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will gladly go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake of one will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him. Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: "ye were bought at a price," and and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. . . . . . Grace is costly because it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him; it is grace because Jesus says: "my yoke is easy and my burden light." { p. 45}
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Dietrich Bonhoeffer (February 4, 1906 – April 9, 1945) was a German preacher, Lutheran pastor, and theologian whose ministry centered on resisting Nazi ideology and proclaiming costly discipleship within the Confessing Church. Born in Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland), to Karl Bonhoeffer, a prominent psychiatrist, and Paula von Hase, a teacher, he was the sixth of eight children in a cultured, nominally religious family. He pursued theological education at the University of Tübingen and earned a doctorate from the University of Berlin in 1927, ordained shortly after. Converted in his youth, he began preaching in German-speaking congregations, including a year in Barcelona (1928–1929) and London (1933–1935). Bonhoeffer’s preaching career gained prominence as he opposed the Nazi regime’s influence on the German church, co-founding the Confessing Church in 1934 to uphold biblical fidelity against the pro-Nazi German Christians. He led an underground seminary at Finkenwalde (1935–1937), training pastors in resistance and community life, experiences that fueled his books The Cost of Discipleship (1937) and Life Together (1939). His sermons urged radical obedience to Christ amidst persecution, culminating in his involvement in the Abwehr-led plot to assassinate Hitler. Arrested in 1943, he preached to fellow prisoners until his execution by hanging at Flossenbürg concentration camp at age 39, weeks before World War II’s end. Engaged to Maria von Wedemeyer in 1943 but never married, he left a legacy of courage and theological depth through works like Letters and Papers from Prison (1951).