Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor and theologian who opposed Nazism, joined resistance efforts against Hitler, and was executed at Flossenbürg concentration camp in 1945.

Martin Niemöller: Martin Niemöller was a German Lutheran pastor who opposed Nazi interference in the Protestant churches and helped found the Confessing Church. He co-founded the Confessing Church with Bonhoeffer and became another prominent voice against Nazi church control.
Confessing Church: The Confessing Church was a Protestant movement in Nazi Germany that rejected state control over Christian doctrine and church leadership. Bonhoeffer helped organize this opposition to the Nazi-aligned German Christians.
Discipleship: Discipleship is the practice of following a religious teacher through belief, conduct, and communal life. Bonhoeffer’s book of this title argues that following Jesus demands concrete obedience rather than cheap grace.
July 20 plot: The July 20 plot was a failed 1944 attempt by German military officers and civilian allies to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Bonhoeffer supported the resistance network associated with the plot, although evidence does not establish his direct role in its assassination attempt.
Karl Barth: Karl Barth was a Swiss Reformed theologian whose work challenged liberal Protestant theology and opposed the Nazi-aligned German Christians. Barth’s theology and the Barmen Declaration shaped the church resistance in which Bonhoeffer worked.
German Christians: The German Christians were a Protestant movement that sought to align German churches with Nazi ideology and racial nationalism. Their accommodation of Nazism opposed the Confessing Church’s stance, though resistance within the church varied.
Life Together: Life Together is Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s 1939 book about Christian community, written from his experience directing an underground seminary. It records the communal disciplines Bonhoeffer practiced with students at the Confessing Church’s Finkenwalde seminary.
Abwehr: The Abwehr was Nazi Germany’s military intelligence service, whose offices became a center for anti-Hitler resistance. Bonhoeffer’s contacts with the Abwehr helped him participate in resistance activity under cover of church work.
Hans von Dohnanyi: Hans von Dohnanyi was a German jurist and resistance member who gathered evidence of Nazi crimes and worked within military intelligence. Bonhoeffer’s brother-in-law connected him to the Abwehr resistance network and its plans against Hitler.
Barmen Declaration: The Barmen Declaration was a 1934 statement rejecting claims that the German state or Nazi ideology could govern the church. Bonhoeffer’s church resistance shared its refusal to let political power dictate Christian faith.

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