The Church and the Nazis: A Historical Complicity

A new movie has been released this week about Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor who was killed by the Nazis for his involvement in a plot to kill Hitler. 

Bonhoeffer's fame has ballooned into a kind of mythology that has seen people of all stripes "claim" him as their own. But our guest for this episode says that if we only think of him as a “hero” for our cause, we may miss important pieces of Bonhoeffer’s complex life and thinking. 

So, who was Dietrich Bonhoeffer and why does he still matter?

• (04:47) - - Bonhoeffer's Germany
• (13:13) - - The Nazi Church
• (22:59) - - Bonhoeffer's career begins
• (32:22) - - Bonhoeffer begins to speak out
• (42:06) - - Bonhoeffer joins a resistence
• (48:41) - - The plot to kill Hitler
• (53:53) - - Bonhoeffer's ethical theory: how he might have justified killing Hitler
• (01:01:11) - - Imprisoned by the Nazis
• (01:03:23) - - Bonhoeffer is executed
• (01:08:01) - - What we get wrong about Bonhoeffer
• (01:11:13) - - Jesus: the man for others