“It is very easy to overestimate the importance of our own achievements in comparison with what we owe others.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer
© 2013 Son of a Parson Ministries
Between computer problems and writing the new novel, the past week has been extremely hectic for me. A hearty thank you to Ed Temple for his invaluable tech savvy which helped us get back up and running. I would also like to say a special thank you to my helpmate extraordinaire, Rebecca, for picking up the slack for me. As you can see, her amiable, no-nonsense style is a perfect counterbalance to my droll, instructional, and oftentimes unconventional approach. That is part of what makes us such an unbeatable team.
As a side note, Rebecca and I have decided to leave the world of Windows and venture into the land of Apple. We have had it with PCs and their delicate psyches. We need something dependable, and time and experience have proven that we won’t find that kind of reliability in a PC. So long, PCs. It’s been fun real.
Last week I said on Twitter that I would write a mini-review of Eric Metaxas’ biography, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy, for the blog. I had intended to post that on Monday, but as I said, that simply wasn’t possible. So I’m afraid this will be a mini-mini-review, due to the fact that I’d like to have this live ASAP.
Anyone who has been a Christian for any period of time has heard of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Many have seen him cited in contemporary Christian literature, or spoken of by fellow believers. But I think that many stop there, sadly, and never learn why he is so heavily quoted, and why his legacy endures to this day. But even if you have never heard of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, I believe this is one book that every Christian would benefit from reading.
Combining history, insightful letters, and his own perceptions and panache, I believe Metaxas has written the definitive biography of one of the most influential and important theologians and difference-makers of the 20th Century. Few works of our time stick out to me as labors of love, but this is certainly one of them. Engrossing, honest, and poignant, I found it extremely difficult to put down, and difficult not to think about when I wasn’t reading… which is a good thing.
As an aside, I find it apropos that we don’t have much information about the last days of Bonhoeffer’s life–and the information we do have is from sources other than the great man himself. This is something that anyone who studies Biblical history will discover about the latter part of the Apostles’ lives. To learn what became of Jesus’ disciples, we must rely on Christian tradition and verbal accounts that were passed down and recorded much later.
If you only read one biography this year, I highly recommend that you choose Metaxas’ masterful Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy. This great man of God’s story is sure to inspire and motivate us to walk closer with Christ, to suffer persecution with joy, and to truly live an uncompromising Christian life.
“To endure the cross is not tragedy; it is the suffering which is the fruit of an exclusive allegiance to Jesus Christ.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer
In His Perfect Love,
Dwight
The Parson
