Scan barcode
A review by louiza_read2live
Ethics by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
4.0
A great book that will challenge you and a must read for every Christian. This book is a collection of the German philosopher/theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer's letters on Christian ethics, which most of them were written while he was in prison for the attempt to assassinate Hitler. Bonhoeffer was hanged in 1945 at the young age of 39; thus, he never got the chance to complete his work. Under some sections, there is a note bringing to our attention that a particular chapter wasn't finished. Ethics is a thought provoking book that can't be read at one sitting or quickly. I found some sections incomprehensible till the very end of the particular section where Bonhoeffer's thoughts and definitions became more clear or others still remained unclear in hope I'll understand when I'm able to reread it. Therefore, I suggest you continue reading carefully even when a section or a particular term seems to confuse you at the moment. I also suggest that you read his biography concurrently with this book to help you understand the world of Bonhoeffer and the people and events that influenced his thinking.
Inspired by Diedrich Bonhoeffer's biography read long ago:
Do Not Let Your Failures Define You.
Let God’s Grace Define You.
In 1944, not long before he was hanged, theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote a poem of which I have quoted an excerpt below:
“Who am I? This or the other?
Am I one person today and tomorrow another?
Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others,
And before myself a contemptibly woebegone weakling?
Or is something within me still like a beaten army,
Fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved?
Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine.
Whoever I am, Thou knowest, O God, I am Thine!”
This poem is close to my heart because it expresses my own feelings too, and it also represents a struggle that goes inside of many of us — The conflict between what we want to do and what we end up doing; the conflict between who we want to be and who we are based on our actions. It is the conflict between the man of sin and the man of Christ. How do we reconcile all the times that our Christian identity doesn’t match our actions? I have often thought: We love God with all our being, and yet we have failed Him, not once, not twice, but many times. Have we failed as people? Have we failed as Christians? Does our identity in Christ change only when those failures become known to others? And what about when others do not know or see our failures? Are we hypocrites then? Are we really who we want to be? And when we are not, does that mean we are hypocrites? “Who am I this or the other… a hypocrite before others…” That is when the word of God brings peace and strength to go on despite failures. That is when the word of God lifts us up and reminds us that Bonhoeffer’s words are true: “Whoever I am, Thou knowest, O God, I am Thine!” In Luke 18:9-14, Jesus tells the parable of the two men who went into the temple to pray. One of them, a Pharisee, “stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ The other one, a tax collector, “standing some distance away was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God be merciful to me, the sinner.’ Jesus continued by saying to them: “I tell you this man [the tax collector] went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Notice how Jesus says that the Pharisee “was praying this to himself…,” which emphasizes the fact that the Pharisee was talking to himself — God did not pay attention to his prayer, and the Pharisee had no intention of conversing with God.
God already knows our failures. By confessing our sins and failures before God, we are lifted to a place of grace and we get strength and help to stand up for new beginnings. God knows our intentions. People see us fall and can easily judge us as hypocrites or non-genuine, but they don’t see our tears before God, and they are not there to see who lifts us up to try again. The Lord justified the tax collector, not because he was good, but because with a humble and honest heart confessed he was a sinner; the Lord justified him before people because he didn’t try to justify himself before God. I’ve made this mistake many times: I have tried to justify myself to people who wronged me. I am learning to let the Lord justify me at His time because whoever I am, I am only something in Him. And whoever I am, He knows I am His. Our failures do not define us. Our failures do not make us hypocrites. Our failures give us the opportunity to come before God with a broken heart and ask His mercy and help to turn intentions into actions and the wrongs into rights. A broken heart before God shows that whoever we are, He knows we are His — and that is all that matters.
-- Louiza
Inspired by Diedrich Bonhoeffer's biography read long ago:
Do Not Let Your Failures Define You.
Let God’s Grace Define You.
In 1944, not long before he was hanged, theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote a poem of which I have quoted an excerpt below:
“Who am I? This or the other?
Am I one person today and tomorrow another?
Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others,
And before myself a contemptibly woebegone weakling?
Or is something within me still like a beaten army,
Fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved?
Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine.
Whoever I am, Thou knowest, O God, I am Thine!”
This poem is close to my heart because it expresses my own feelings too, and it also represents a struggle that goes inside of many of us — The conflict between what we want to do and what we end up doing; the conflict between who we want to be and who we are based on our actions. It is the conflict between the man of sin and the man of Christ. How do we reconcile all the times that our Christian identity doesn’t match our actions? I have often thought: We love God with all our being, and yet we have failed Him, not once, not twice, but many times. Have we failed as people? Have we failed as Christians? Does our identity in Christ change only when those failures become known to others? And what about when others do not know or see our failures? Are we hypocrites then? Are we really who we want to be? And when we are not, does that mean we are hypocrites? “Who am I this or the other… a hypocrite before others…” That is when the word of God brings peace and strength to go on despite failures. That is when the word of God lifts us up and reminds us that Bonhoeffer’s words are true: “Whoever I am, Thou knowest, O God, I am Thine!” In Luke 18:9-14, Jesus tells the parable of the two men who went into the temple to pray. One of them, a Pharisee, “stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ The other one, a tax collector, “standing some distance away was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God be merciful to me, the sinner.’ Jesus continued by saying to them: “I tell you this man [the tax collector] went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Notice how Jesus says that the Pharisee “was praying this to himself…,” which emphasizes the fact that the Pharisee was talking to himself — God did not pay attention to his prayer, and the Pharisee had no intention of conversing with God.
God already knows our failures. By confessing our sins and failures before God, we are lifted to a place of grace and we get strength and help to stand up for new beginnings. God knows our intentions. People see us fall and can easily judge us as hypocrites or non-genuine, but they don’t see our tears before God, and they are not there to see who lifts us up to try again. The Lord justified the tax collector, not because he was good, but because with a humble and honest heart confessed he was a sinner; the Lord justified him before people because he didn’t try to justify himself before God. I’ve made this mistake many times: I have tried to justify myself to people who wronged me. I am learning to let the Lord justify me at His time because whoever I am, I am only something in Him. And whoever I am, He knows I am His. Our failures do not define us. Our failures do not make us hypocrites. Our failures give us the opportunity to come before God with a broken heart and ask His mercy and help to turn intentions into actions and the wrongs into rights. A broken heart before God shows that whoever we are, He knows we are His — and that is all that matters.
-- Louiza