Dietrich Bonhoeffer

@Pastors, Birthday and Childhood ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German pastor, theologian, anti-Nazi dissident and founding member of the Confessing Church. Execution German Writers Miscellaneous Pastors Aquarius Celebrities Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German pastor, theologian, anti-Nazi dissident, member of the Abwehr – the German military intelligence organization against Nazis and Hitler, and the founding member of the Confessing Church. From the very beginning, he was interested in Christianity and becoming a pastor even when he belonged to a family that was thoroughly into science and logic as his father was a known neurologist in Berlin. When he communicated his thoughts about taking up theology in college and becoming a pastor, he was ridiculed that he would end up living a very poor and insignificant life. Bonhoeffer decided to change this perception and started studying liberal theology. His need to understand and eventually teach the placement of Christianity in the context of a liberal world took him to America where he experienced more spiritual side of the religion than just ideological. He came back to Germany and was ordained to be a pastor but by this time the Nazi movement was at its peak and Bonhoeffer was strongly against the idea of execution of Jews or oppression of any sort. He joined the secret German military intelligence and helped people to escape from Germany which led to his arrest and ultimate execution. Bonhoeffer has given the world some wonderful theological ideas on neo-orthodox Christianity and contributed to the world of literature with the most sought-after work of his lifetime, 'The Cost of Discipleship’, which is considered as a modern classic and is a spiritual guide to set of disciplines to follow in order to receive the heavenly grace.

Personal Details

Birthday: February 4, 1906 Died on: April 9, 1945 Nationality: German Famous: Writers, Miscellaneous, Pastors Siblings: Christel von Dohnanyi, Karl Friedrich Bonhoeffer, Klaus Bonhoeffer, Sabine, Susanne Dress, Ursula Schleicher, Walter Universities: Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York Humboldt University of Berlin Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen Cause of death: Execution Information Detail Birthday February 4, 1906 Died on April 9, 1945 Nationality German Famous Writers, Miscellaneous, Pastors Siblings Christel von Dohnanyi, Karl Friedrich Bonhoeffer, Klaus Bonhoeffer, Sabine, Susanne Dress, Ursula Schleicher, Walter Universities Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York Humboldt University of Berlin Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen Cause of death Execution Birth Place Breslau, Silesia Province, Prussia Religion Lutheran Gender Male Father Karl Ludwig Bonhoeffer, Mother Paula von Hase Sun Sign Aquarius Born in Breslau, Silesia Province, Prussia Died at Age 39

Breslau, Silesia Province, Prussia

Dietrich Bonhoeffer born at Unsplash Birth Place

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was born in Breslau, Silesia Province, Prussia to Karl Bonhoeffer and Paula von Hase. His father was a neurologist and a psychiatrist who moved the family to Berlin to establish himself as a professor of neurology at University of Berlin. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

He was home-schooled by his mother, until the age of 6 or 7. Young Bonhoeffer was expected to follow his father’s footsteps and become a psychiatrist but he declared as a teenager that he wanted to become a pastor. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

In 1924, Bonhoeffer passed matriculation at the University of Berlin, a centre of liberal theology. It was here that he was introduced to the concept of neo-orthodoxy, which was a reaction against liberal theology. Unsplash Career

Bonhoeffer graduated summa cum laude from the University of Berlin in 1927 and became a theologist at the age of 21. His thesis, ‘Sanctorum Communio (Communion of Saints)’, was very well received in the world of Christian theology. Unsplash Career

In order to become a pastor, Bonhoeffer started to serve as a curate in the German Lutheran parish in Spain and then returned back to the University of Berlin to write ‘Akt und Sein (Act and Being)’. Unsplash Career

As Bonhoeffer was still very young to be ordained, he went to America in 1930 to pursue further studies. He took up a teaching fellowship at Union Theological Seminary where he had life changing experiences after interacting with the African-American spirituals. Unsplash Career

In 1931, he came back to the University of Berlin to lecture in systematic theology, but his travels changed the way he looked at Christianity. More involved with its spiritual side now, Bonhoeffer was ordained at the St. Matthew's Church. Unsplash Career

The most important work of Bonhoeffer’s life is considered to be ‘The Cost of Discipleship’ which was written in 1937. It presented his thoughts on the neo-radical practices of Christianity in the background of the Nazi invasion of Germany. Unsplash Major Work

Information	Detail
Birthday	February 4, 1906
Died on	April 9, 1945
Nationality	German
Famous	Writers, Miscellaneous, Pastors
Siblings	Christel von Dohnanyi, Karl Friedrich Bonhoeffer, Klaus Bonhoeffer, Sabine, Susanne Dress, Ursula Schleicher, Walter
Universities	Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York Humboldt University of Berlin Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen
Cause of death	Execution
Birth Place	Breslau, Silesia Province, Prussia
Religion	Lutheran
Gender	Male
Father	Karl Ludwig Bonhoeffer,
Mother	Paula von Hase
Sun Sign	Aquarius
Born in	Breslau, Silesia Province, Prussia
Died at Age	39

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

German

Feb 4, 1906

Biography

Personal Details

Breslau, Silesia Province, Prussia