In His Name Devotionals
BIOGRAPHERS NEEDED
In His Name Devotionals
BIOGRAPHERS NEEDED
Perhaps you have heard of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He was a theologian whose writings became influential in the mid- twentieth century.
It was Bonhoeffer’s fate to be in Germany when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party rose to power. The ethical principles he embraced and taught led him to be an outspoken critic of both. He affirmed that obedience to Christ’s command to love one’s neighbors made it impossible for the same person to be anti-Semitic and a propagator of hatred.
Bonhoeffer went so far in his opposition to Nazism that he was involved in the unsuccessful plot to assassinate Hitler in 1944. Imprisoned shortly before the end of World War II, he was hanged by the Nazis.
We know Dietrich Bonhoeffer principally through a man named Eberhard Bethge. One theologian wrote, “Bethge was to become the editor of all Bonhoeffer’s works, his biographer and his interpreter. Without Bethge, Bonhoeffer, whose name was to become a household word far beyond the religious scene, would hardly be known outside the circle of his family, his students and his friends.”
Eberhard Bethge died on March 18, 2000, in a suburb of Bonn. Even his obituary in the New York Times featured more data about Bonhoeffer than him. Though a theologian himself who taught with his more famous friend at an underground anti-Nazi seminary and suffered imprisonment at the hands of the Nazis, his most significant work was to be a biographer. His great achievement was not to become widely known himself but to make someone else famous. His quiet-by-comparison achievements have been very significant.
Reading his obituary brought forth the thought that Jesus needs biographers, too. Jesus Christ needs people who are willing to tell His story without calling undue attention to themselves. Evangelism is telling the story of Jesus so compellingly that it draws others to Him and attracts them to follow Him.
Without Plato, we would know little about Socrates. Apart from Bethge, the life of Bonhoeffer would not be so well- known. Without you, someone may never know about Jesus.
