On this day in 1945, the great Lutheran Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “This is the end—for me, the beginning of life” ~ he was 39 years old at the time of his death.

A theologian who understood the meaning of the ‘greater good.’

Bonhoeffer was a small ‘c’ catholic, and if you read his works, you see he offers a model for understanding the Documents of Vatican II. (On a side note, my Lutheran and Anglican friends seem to understand the Documents of Vatican II better than most big ‘C’ catholics.) We see Bonhoeffer as a model of how to stand against evil in tortuous times, and we understand that Bonhoeffer was giving us a model for how to learn from and engage with a faith tradition different from our own. The universe is not the host to some dualistic struggle: it has perfect unity at its origin, Jesus Christ. Bonhoeffer’s Christology does away with a dichotomy in favor of dynamism between present conditions and what is to come. Integration in Christ is a traditional doctrine, and one Bonhoeffer creatively articulates.

In this interview/article, Rayson explains Bonhoeffer’s thinking as an eco-theologian.

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/in-depth/what-would-bonhoeffer-do-is-the-wrong-question/r

‘What would Bonhoeffer do?’ is the wrong question