502 - A Testament to Freedom: The Essential Writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer

A Testament to Freedom: The Essential Writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Edited by Geffrey B. Kelly and F. Burton Nelson

San Francisco, Harper, 1990.579 Pp. $29.95.

This superb volume, compiled by two long-time members of the International Bonhoeffer Society, brings together Bonhoeffer's books, sermons, lectures, and correspondence to demonstrate his unbending opposition to Nazism and the capitulation of the churches. The selection of materials is excellent. Editorial comments place them in theological and historical context to cover the major events of his life as theologian, revolutionary, ecumenist, and pastor.

Bonhoeffer's Christ-centered solidarity with the oppressed is emphasized, including his early opposition to anti-Semitism in church and state and his anger at the failure of the churches to resist nazism on this matter.

Kelly and Nelson accurately describe the underlying unity of Bonhoeffer's life and thought and, thus, correct one-sided interpretations that stem from earlier translations of snippets of his work. This volume is an excellent introduction to Bonhoeffer. It contains material previously not translated into English and whets the appetite for the new editions of his collected writings in German and English now being prepared.

Max Champion, Uniting Church, Wodonga, Australia.