Leeds: Bonhoeffer's heroic life recalled at anniversary event

'When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die' (The Cost of Discipleship 1937)

It's hard to imagine that when Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote these words he could have foreseen that his Christian calling would lead him, some eight years later, to a similar fate as his master or, indeed, that because of his martyrdom in 1945 (just three weeks before the end of the war) at the hands of the Nazi regime that eighty years later his life and legacy would still be commemorated by so many who are inspired by his witness.

On 9th April 2025, the anniversary of Bonhoeffer's execution at Flossenburg Concentration Camp, Germany, an audience of 50 people (more than 50 also participated online) were present at one such commemoration event, hosted by Project Bonhoeffer in partnership with St Luke's and St Matthew's Lutheran Church and Universities Chaplaincy, Leeds which was held at The Emmanuel Centre in the city.

Two key speakers were invited to give presentations on the theme of 'Discernment and Courage.'

Martin Lind, bishop emeritus of the Diocese of Linköping in the Church of Sweden and former bishop of the Lutheran Church in Great Britain, spoke first, reminding those present that in times of uncertainty and anxiety when anti-democratic forces appear to be on the rise and military build-up threatens world peace we do well to remember Bonhoeffer as one who offered Christian resistance to similar powers in his own day but we should remember that he was principally a theologian rather than a dissident (indeed, he had attained a doctorate in theology by the age of twenty-one!) Bishop Martin noted that resistance amidst the horrors of places like Auschwitz took the form of small acts of solidarity and care between fellow prisoners.

We heard how it was his elder brother Walter's death in WW1 that had an enormous impact on the Bonhoeffer family and probably explains why all Dietrich's writing is related to death and suffering, even if these two words aren't found in the titles of any of his books.

One of those books, 'Life Together', speaks about what it means to be an apostle of Christ in a segregationist age. Contempt for humanity lay at the heart of the National Socialism that emerged in Germany in the early 1930s. The febrile atmosphere that accompanied its emergence led Bonhoeffer to flee to London in 1933 where he ministered until 1935 when he returned to his homeland to help set up 'The Confessing Church' - a movement for revival among the German Protestant churches (Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran minister) that resisted Hitler's efforts to make the churches an instrument of Nazi propaganda and politics.

Mention was made of Bonhoeffer's ecumenical commitment. As a young man on a visit to Rome he was impressed by the international character of the Catholic Church, and this seemed to initiate an openness and desire within him to learn from those of a different Christian 'persuasion'. Later, while sojourning in New York, he became involved with the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Haarlem, taking the congregation and its way of worshipping to his heart.

Bonhoeffer warned his fellow Christians about what he referred to as 'cheap grace' which he saw as a deadly enemy of the Church because it was understood as easily available and free of challenge or consequences. He witnessed the antisemitism which was spreading like a disease in his homeland and he was disturbed that mainline churches were silent about it. Instead, he encouraged Christians to embrace a 'costly, authentic, grace' - a faith that prioritises Christ over comfort, courage over conformity and community over conflict. His life matters today because it reminds us that, even in the darkest moments of history, light can shine through those who dare to speak up for love, truth and justice. His witness is a call to every Christian to be bold, faithful and unshakeable in their commitment to Christ whatever the call. It is a difficult call and one which Bonhoeffer himself struggled with, particularly as he sat in his cell in Flossenburg.

Central to Bonhoeffer's message is an encouragement to throw ourselves completely and trustingly into the arms of God and to immerse ourselves in the suffering of the world or, as he put it, 'to watch with Christ in Gethsemane' and, in this way, we partake fully in the life that Christ promises to all.

Dr Keith Clements, Baptist minister and the former general secretary of the Conference of European Churches, shared his thoughts on the theme of the conference, beginning by describing Bonhoeffer as principally a theologian who discerned. He observed how 1932 was a year of great activity for Bonhoeffer, the backdrop to which was a mounting anxiety as the National Socialists became the largest political party in the Reichstag, attempts made at disarmament since the end of WW1 were faltering, Stalin was gaining prominence in Russia where there was also a terrible famine and Japan was attacking China. Later, from his cell in Tegel prison, Bonhoeffer would write 'Voices in the Night', a collection of poems, in which we find the line, 'We saw the lie rise its head and did not honour the truth'. Hitler was busy promoting Germany's right to self-assertion, a sort of 'Make Germany Great Again' campaign, while Bonhoeffer was using his lectures to show how God's purpose in the Book of Genesis is all about life in relationship with others to whom we are bound in Christ. Today, Bonhoeffer's legacy tells us that isolation and prioritising difference does not make us safe.

Dr Clements mentioned that a key word in Bonhoeffer's 'lectionary' was 'stellvertretung' - which refers to a vicarious 'standing in for the other' or empathetically taking upon oneself what is happening in the other. I could not help but think how such empathy is seen as a great weakness by some leading figures in Western Civilisation today.

Bonhoeffer called upon the Church to proclaim a message that was far from disincarnate. That message must not be based upon timeless principles but should address the situation in which people find themselves. He attempted to take the view from below by being present to suffering and by seeing life from the point of view of the hopeless and helpless.

In the execution yard at Flossenburg Prison is a memorial stone with the words, 'For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline' (2 Timothy 1:7). Bonhoeffer loved his country with the spirit of Christ when it was at its most unlovable. Like Moses, he was to 'see' the promised land but not to enter it.

Some months before he was killed, Bonhoeffer wrote to his trusted friend (and later biographer) Eberhard Bethge:

How should one become arrogant over successes or shaken by one's failures when one shares in God's suffering in the life of this world? You understand what I mean even when I put it so briefly. I am grateful that I have been allowed this insight, and I know that it is only on the path that I have finally taken that I was able to learn this. So, I am thinking gratefully and with peace of mind about past as well as present things. …

May God lead us kindly through these times, but above all, may God lead us to himself.

His His final recorded words before his hanging are especially appropriate in these days that lead up to Easter...

'This is the end-for me the beginning of life.'