Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a name foreign to many of us. I recently watched his autobiography DVD, and I am deeply impacted by how he lived his life.
From the PBS website:
He was born into a comfortable, upper middle class family and he risked it all to join the German Resistance. He had deep respect for human life, but he committed himself to joining plots to assassinate Hitler. Facing the death sentence in prison, he wrote some of the most compelling theology of the 20th century.
Some of the tough life questions from his life are:
- Why go back to Germany to go against Hitler instead of enjoying the peaceful life in New York?
- Going against Hitler implies assassination. Is killing justified in this situation?
- What is ethics at a time of the outbreak of WWII? What’s considered men’s duty?
- Ultimately, what is God’s will? (Notice that the Nazi also justified their acts in the name of God)
Bonhoeffer went back to Germany, joined the German Resistance, and participated in many of the underground operations. However the assassination attempt failed and he was executed along with some of his brothers. He was not well known because he didn’t succeed. However his life became a great source of inspiration to people like Martin Luther King.
I recommend you to check out his autobiography DVD.
“The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves to its children.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer
BrianChan.us 