The Revd Dr Keith Clements was formerly Senior Tutor at Bristol Baptist College and Part-Time Lecturer at the University of Bristol. He is the author of Bonhoeffer and Britain and is the editor of Dietrich Bonhoeffer: London, 1933-1935.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer remains one of the twentieth century's most influential theologians and this is a short, accessible and engaging introduction to the man. Written by an internationally acclaimed Bonhoeffer scholar, the book considers the role Bonhoeffer played in resisting the Nazis and his attitude to the Jews and the Holocaust.

Keith Clements

Cover

About the author

The SPCK Introduction to … series

Title page

Imprint

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Abbreviations

Date chart

Introduction: meet the radical

1. Bonhoeffer: a life in outline

2. Persistent themes: Christ, sociality, this-worldliness and ‘one realm’

3. The prison theology: ‘religionless Christianity’

4. Bonhoeffer, the Jews and the Holocaust

5. Pursuing Bonhoeffer

Notes

A guide to further reading and other resources

Search items

Clements, Keith

Keith Clements offers a brief introduction to Bonhoeffer's life and setting in the context of twentieth century theology; highlights the main themes of his theological development; examines what his writings can offer to a post-Holocaust world; and considers why he continues to provoke so much interest and discussion.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer remains one of the twentieth century's most influential theologians and this is a short, accessible and engaging introduction tothe man.Written by an internationally acclaimed Bonhoeffer scholar, the book considers the role Bonhoeffer played in resisting the Nazis and his attitude to the Jews and the Holocaust.

The Good Book Stall

This is a welcome new study after six decades, of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s life and thought, by one of the leading figures in the field who is well qualified to analyse the many ‘twists and turns’ in approaches to this most stimulating twentieth century theologian and to suggest where those ‘twists and turns’ may be heading in the immediate future.   
Biography and theology are skilfully interwoven. Clements resists the temptation of ‘hagiography’ (i.e. “turning Bonhoeffer into an unreal ‘saint’”), encircled as he is by “the aura of heroism and martyrdom” and surrounded by a “reputation for theological radicalism”.   
Dr. Clements examines some of the radical content of the influential Letters and Papers from Prison (among them ‘religionless Christianity’, ‘the Church for others’ and ‘humankind’s coming of age’), and explores how those wartime thoughts relate to his earlier writings and to the incomplete Ethics (which Bonhoeffer always envisaged as his major work). I appreciated the chapter on Bonhoeffer’s attitude to Jews and the Holocaust, marshalling the arguments both pro and anti Bonhoeffer’s stance on the fate of the Jews. Clements finally reserves judgment on that issue, but does emphasise Bonhoeffer’s conviction as to the total evil of the Nazi regime.  
Whether you are familiar with Bonhoeffer or new to him, this book will reward reading.

The SPCK Introduction to Bonhoeffer

The Spck Introduction to Bonhoeffer

Navigation Bar

Header Default

Download the Christian360 App to read eBooks and listen to Audiobooks bought at Christian360

Download the App

The Spck Introduction to Bonhoeffer

Description

Need support?

Customer reviews

Download the App

Download the App