Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Bonhoeffer Dietrich)

(1906-1945)
Born Feb. 4, 1906 in Breslau (now Wroclaw, Poland), in the Prussian province of Silesia, grew up in Berlin. He studied theology in Tц?bingen, then at the University of Berlin (under the leadership of Adolf von Harnack), where he defended his doctoral dissertation (1927). Although Bonhoeffer always admired Harnack, the last coryphaeus liberal theology of the 19., A greater influence on his thinking had Karl Barth, the leader of a so-called. dialectical theology (or 'neoortodoksii'). In 1928-1929 Bonhoeffer worked as an assistant pastor in the German Evangelical community in Barcelona (Spain) in 1930-1931 trained at the United Theological Seminary (New York). In 1931 he began teaching theology at the University of Berlin and in the same year he became a Lutheran pastor.
Bonhoeffer abhorred Hitler, but felt bound by the Lutheran doctrine of two kingdoms, dividing the sphere of church and state. In April 1933 the Nazi government forbade persons of Jewish origin from holding official positions not only in public service, but also in the church. Bonhoeffer made a strong protest. In late 1933 he went to England, but before that took part in the organization of a so-called. Confessing Church (Bekennende Kirche), which has resisted the influence of the Nazis in the Evangelical Church. In 1935 Bonhoeffer returned to Germany, where he organized and led one of the Confessing Church seminaries. In 1936, the Nazis stripped him of his right to a teacher, for this was followed by bans on speech and publication. After a second brief visit to New York (1939) he became an active member of the underground anti-Nazi group. In April 1943, was arrested and April 9, 1945 executed by hanging in a concentration camp Flosenbyurg (Bavaria).

From letters and notes written by Bonhoeffer in prison, was compiled book Resistance and obedience (Widerstand und Ergebung, 1951). The ideas contained therein (in particular, . his views on the role of Christianity in the world, . which became an adult, non-religious view of Christianity, the idea of non-religious, . 'secular' interpretation of biblical concepts), . albeit not fully developed, . had a strong influence on Protestant theology 20 in,
.

Bonhoeffer confirmed the view of the Evangelical Church and the dialectic theology of Karl Barth, according to which the essence of Christianity lies not in what people can do for God and that God has done for the people. He strongly opposed any attempt to reconcile Christianity with other ideologies, be it Nazism or religious and ethical theories of the liberal theologians of the 19.

Major works Bonhoeffer: Sanctorum communio (1927), Act and Being (Akt und Sein, 1930); Living together (Gemeinsames Leben, 1938), Ethics (Ethik, 1949).