Prisoner for God: letters and papers from prison

202 Pages·1959·9.16 MB·English

by  Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Letters and papers from prison
On April 5, 1943, Dietrich Bon-
hoeffer, a German pastor and
teacher,wasarrestedbytheGestapo
and thrown intoprison; on April 9,
1945, hewasexecuted. Thisbook is
acollectionoftheletters,essaysand
poems he wrote while in confine-
ment. Addressed to his parents and
to a friend, they form an extraor-
dinary picture of a sensitive man
whose faith and dedication to serv-
ice never wavered, whose spiritual
depthenabled him toovercome the
most trying of circumstances.
Hewasamanofgreatfaith, intel-
ligenceandcompassion,whounder-
stood so well the problems of the
modern world. Resisting ease and
compromise,hecontinuedhisminis-
teringtotheotherprisoners,hisfirm
resistance to what he knew was
wrong, and his brilliant study in
theology and ethics until his death.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer nevergave up.
Hiswritingswillcontinuetopro-
vide inspiration to everyone. His
theological discussions will open
fresh worlds of thought for the
scholar. Hislifewasindeedamodel
from which all can benefit.
A brief biographical account of
his life before imprisonment ap-
pearsonthebackflapofthisjacket.
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Bonhoeffer
Prisoner for God
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Bonhoeffer
Prisoner for God
God
Prisoner for
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BY DIETRICH BONHOEFFER
TheCostofDiscipleship
PrisonerforGod:LettersandPapersfromPrison
God
Prisoner for
LETTERS AND PAPERS FROM PRISON
by
DIETRICH BONHOEFFER
EDITED BY EBERHARD BETHGE
TRANSLATED BY REGINALD H. FULLER
New York The Macmillan Company 1959
COPYRIGHT, 1953, BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
All rights reserved nopart of this book may
be reproduced in any form without permis-
sion in writing from the publisher, except
by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief pas-
sages in connection with a review written
for inclusion in magazine or newspaper.
Fourth Printing 7959
The originaledition of this book was published in Ger-
many under the title Widerstand und Ergebung Briefe
und Aufzeicbnungen aus der Haft, by Chr. Kaiser
Verlag, Miinchen, Germany.
Published in England under the title Letters and
Papers from Prison.
Contents
Editor's Foreword 7
AFTER TEN YEARS
I. 13
Noground beneath ourfeet Who stands hisground?
Civil Courage? Ofsuccess OffollyA Contempt
forhumanity Immanentrighteousness feu;articles
offaith on the sovereignty ofGod in history Confi-
dence Thesenseofquality Sympathy Ofsuffering
Present and future Optimism Insecurity and
death Are we still serviceable?
II. LETTERS TO His PARENTS 2,8
From Tegel: April 14th, ip4j-May 15th,
III. A WEDDING SERMON FROM A PRISON CELL 34
May, 1943
IV. LETTERS TO His PARENTS 40
From Tegel:June 4th, i$43-April 26th, 1944
V. LETTERS TO A FRIEND, POEMS AND MISCEL-
LANEOUS PAPERS 64
Letters from Tegel, November i8th, i$43-August
23rd, 1944 PrayersforFellow Prisoners, Christmas,
1943 Thoughts on the Baptism of D.W.K.
Sorrow andJoy (A Poem) Who am I? (A Poem)
Christians and Unbelievers (APoem] Stations on
the roadtofreedom Miscellaneous thoughts Outline
for a booh
VI. SIGNS OF LIFE FROM THE PRINZ ALBERT
STRASSE 186
Letter to his mother, December 28th, 1944 New
Year, 1945 (A Poem) Letter to hisparents,January
17th, 1945
Index ofBiblical References 189
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