Searching for Bonhoeffer: The Journey from Myth to Man

Tripp Fuller

Join Dr. Jeffrey Pugh & Dr. Tripp Fuller as they delve into the complex life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The story flashes forward to a powerful juxtaposition: on February 1, 1933, two days after Hitler became Chancellor, both men addressed Germany. Hitler promised to restore national pride, while Bonhoeffer warned against creating an idol out of a leader. How did Bonhoeffer come to see the Nazi threat while so many others didn’t? This episode begins the story by turning to his early life, his burgeoning critiques of National Socialism, and how his family, education, and travels deeply influenced his evolving theology. Discover how Bonhoeffer’s early liberal theological perspectives, grappling with German nationalism, eventually led him to challenge authoritarianism and develop a profound ethical and theological stance against the Nazi regime.

Want to learn more about Bonhoeffer? Join our open online companion class, The Rise of Bonhoeffer, and get access to full interviews from the Bonhoeffer scholars, participate in deep-dive sessions with Tripp and Jeff, unpack curated readings from Bonhoeffer, send in your questions, and join the online community of fellow Bonhoeffer learners. The class is donation-based, including 0. You can get more info here.

Featured Scholars in the Episode include:

Victoria J. Barnett served from 2004-2014 as one of the general editors of the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, the English translation series of Bonhoeffer’s complete works. She has lectured and written extensively about the Holocaust, particularly about the role of the German churches. In 2004 she began directing the Programs on Ethics, Religion, and the Holocaust at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum until her retirement.

Andrew Root is Carrie Olson Baalson Professor of Youth and Family Ministry at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is the author of more than twenty books, including Bonhoeffer as Youth Worker: A Theological Vision for Discipleship and Life Together, Faith Formation in a Secular Age, The Pastor in a Secular Age, The Congregation in a Secular Age, Churches and the Crisis of Decline, The Church after Innovation, and The End of Youth Ministry? He is a frequent speaker and hosts the popular and influential When Church Stops Working podcast.

Robert Vosloo is professor in Systematic theology at the Faculty of Theology, Stellenbosch University, South Africa, and a senior researcher at the Beyers Naudé Center for Public Theology at the same institution. His most recent book is entitled Reforming Memory: Essays on South African Church and Theological History.

Gary Dorrien is Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics at Union Theological Seminary and Professor of Religion at Columbia University. He is also the author of Anglican Identities: Logos Idealism, Imperial Whiteness, Commonweal Ecumenism, Social Ethics in the Making: Interpreting an American Tradition, American Democratic Socialism and In a Post-Hegelian Spirit: Philosophical Theology as Idealistic Discontent.

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