My dad (who is not Dietrich, but Don) was recovering from his 2nd hip replacement a few weeks ago . . . in fact, he is still recovering, but not laid up at home anymore - thank You Jesus! All has gone extremely well. Anyway, while he was at home he spent some of his time reading "Radical Integrity" the story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I am so much like my dad (probably much to my mother's dismay) in the fact that I am type A, I believe cars should be in garages (it keeps them nicer), I turn lights off when I leave the room, I like to argue a point and have a good discussion, I love history, and we are both equally fascinated and appalled by World War II and the atrocities of the Holocaust. My dad majored in History and has shared this interest with me for which I am very grateful. In fact, a dream of mine (God.willing and God.abling) would be to travel with my dad to Europe and visit Auschwitz, Buchenhauffer (?) and some of the other notable places involved in WWII.
Okay - so, after my dad read this book, he passed it on to me and before I forget what I want to remember (ha!) I thought I'd best write it down! Here goes . . .
"Being religious did not make someone a Christian, although a religious person was likely to believe he was a Christian . . ." hmmm.
On being a pacifist in a time of complete & utter intolerance for human life, he writes about his decision to become involved in WWII (as part of the Abwehr, a group who tried to assassinate Adolf Hitler) it states:
"For Dietrich, the other options carried an even greater weight of guilt. For him, failure to act was simply irresponsible He who refused to get involved place his "innocence" above the needs of the people. Dietrich declared that the Church had too long been only interested in maintaining a righteousness like that of the Pharisees. For too long it had been concerned only with keeping its hands clean, even to the point of failing to face facts. Dietrich thought that such an "otherworldly" Christianity was a denial of the Incarnation, and that God Himself had entered the world in order to save it."
I am not sure I understand completely what I am going to quote, but I love the last sentence . . . it reads,
"The message of the gospel, when taken in conjunction with the Old Testament, was that Christ had come in flesh to reveal the life of God in all its aspects. The Incarnation showed God's respect for human life and His own physical creation It was not merely a redemption myth; it was a vision of reality. Christ was the man who had not only died for others, but who LIVED for them as well."
Ahhh, good food for thought! What an amazing man and an amazing life he lived. After he was declared "guilty" of treason, he was sentenced to be executed as soon as possible. Here is how he died:
"At dawn the next morning, Dietrich was taken from his cell and ordered to strip. Before he was taken to the gallows, he was allowed to kneel and pray on the cold concrete floor Then he was taken outside. A camp doctor (Flossenburg camp) was standing by to confirm Dietrich's death. Later he reported, 'In the almost fifty years that I worked as a doctor, I have hardly ever seen a man die so entirely submissive to the will of God.' A few weeks later, World War II ended in Europe."
Amazing . . . thank you Herr Bonhoeffer for your testimony and your faithfulness and for your courage. Many crowns you must have received.
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