Bonhoeffer Biography by Mataxa

Title: Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy

Author: Eric Metaxas
Publisher: Thomas Nelson

It is difficult to gather all the facts and string them together in a readable way. Eric Metaxas’ new biography, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy, kept my attention because he was able to do just that.

I have always been interested in Bonhoeffer and have read his works as well as works about him. Metaxas’ book has a lot more detail and weaves a good story as well. The book is well researched and the writer has compiled the material in a compelling way.

Bonhoeffer’s two most popular works, Life Together and The Cost of Discipleship, have been very important in my life and have strongly influenced my own theology and practice of ministry.

What is communicated most powerfully throughout the book is Bonhoeffer’s courage in the face of an increasingly popular movement, Nazism. As it gained momentum even with the support of the church, Bonhoeffer’s voice was almost singular in its incisive critique of Nazism and the church’s collusion with it.

It serves as a timely caution today. Things haven’t changed. Stories like Bonhoeffer’s, as Mataxas has written it, should give us pause to consider how we may be inadvertently colluding with that which is evil and destructive to ourselves and others.

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