DIETRICH BONHOEFFER AND THREE VISIONS OF THE CHURCH

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) is one of the extraordinary witnesses to Jesus Christ in the 20th century. His struggle as a Christian against German totalitarianism was ruthless. And because his thinking about the Church was not just theoretical, but practical, he co-created a kind of three different forms of Church as a result of his pacifist, political and social commitment.First, Bonhoeffer lives and works in the official Lutheran Church in Germany, where, as pastor, he creates its hierarchical structure. However, when this Church takes up with A. Hitler, Bonhoeffer leaves it. He establishes the so-called “Confessing Church” (Bekennende Kirche). This form of new ecclesiality grew out of opposition to Hitler's totalitarianism and any cooperation with it. It organizes teaching and formation for young theological students who, in the future, as pastors, will lead the community of believers, being first and foremost faithful to the Word of God and not to political alignments.However, when this form of Church also fails, as collaboration with Nazism emerges, a third vision is born in Bonhoeffer's thought and heart. This third form of the Church matures while he is already in a German prison awaiting his death. It is a Christianity without religion. Read more