Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy - Eric Metaxas Audiobook

Written by Eric Metaxas
Read by Malcolm Hillgartner
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Awards: Christian Book Award
Release date: July 29, 2010
Duration: 22:34:19

Timothy Keller - Author of introduction

This is a groundbreaking biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, one of the greatest heroes of the twentieth century, the man who stood up to Hitler. A definitive, deeply moving narrative, Bonhoeffer is a story of moral courage in the face of the monstrous evil that was Nazism.

After discovering the fire of true faith in a Harlem church, Bonhoeffer returned to Germany and became one of the first to speak out against Hitler. As a double agent, he joined the plot to assassinate the Fuhrer and was hanged in Flossenburg concentration camp at age thirty-nine. Since his death, Bonhoeffer has grown to be one of the most fascinating, complex figures of the twentieth century.

Bonhoeffer presents a profoundly orthodox Christian theologian whose faith led him to boldly confront the greatest evil of the twentieth century and uncovers never-before-revealed facts, including the story of his passionate romance.

Reviews—Abundant source documentation (sermons, letters, journal entries, lectures, the Barman Declaration) brings to life the personalities and experiences that shaped Bonhoeffer: his highly intellectual, musical family; theologically liberal professors, pastoral colleagues and students; his extensive study, work, and travel abroad. Tracing Bonhoeffer’s developing call to be a Jeremiah-like prophet in his own time and a growing understanding that the church was called “to speak for those who could not speak,” Metaxas details Bonhoeffer’s role in religious resistance to Nazism, and provides a compelling account of the faith journey that eventually involved the Lutheran pastor in unsuccessful attempts to assassinate Hitler. Insightful and illuminating, this tome makes a powerful contribution to biography, history and theology.

Raised in a strict German family, Dietrich Bonhoeffer studied at prestigious schools and later became a Lutheran pastor, theologian, and, finally, a martyr. The National Socialist policy of hatred against Jews led him to join the Nazi resistance and then to a plot to murder the FŸrher. The biography contains large doses of religious doctrine and history necessary to understand how Bonhoeffer came to the beliefs that put his life in peril. In English, narrator Malcolm Hillgartner speaks forcefully and slowly. He avoids any characterizations in the quotations, instead reading them straight from the page. While neither perfectly pronounced nor perfectly consistent, weaknesses in his delivery of German should not distract most listeners from this important life story. J.A.H. (c) AudioFile 2011,