Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Letters and Papers from Prison

Martin E. Marty is professor emeritus of religious history at the University of Chicago. He is the winner of the National Book Award and the author of more than fifty books. His recent books include "Martin Luther: A Life" (Viking) and "The Christian World: A Global History" (Modern Library).

"Religious scholars as well as general readers interested in theology or the history of Christianity will find this a great choice."--John Jaeger, Library Journal "Martin E. Marty has written a simple account of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's hugely influential Letters and Papers from Prison. He explains how the work came to be collated and Bonhoeffer's moral opposition to Hitler and how he wrote until his execution days before World War II ended. There is a thorough analysis of Bonhoeffer's theology followed by a description of how those beliefs--and his influence--spread."--Bruce Elder, Sydney Morning Herald "In my library, there is a whole shelf devoted to Bonhoeffer, whom I began reading decades ago. What has always attracted me to his writings is not only the heroic witness of his life and death, but also his instinct in a time of crisis to 'do' theology according to the quasi-monastic model he constructed at Finkenwalde. In a course on modern spiritual writers, I usually assign not the letters but The Cost of Discipleship. Having read Marty's brilliant study, I may now go back to the letters in order to--as one of Marty's subtitles puts it--'send the book further along the way.'"--Lawrence S Cunningham, Commonweal "Biography can be a powerful genre for theology, as Bethge's classic biography of Bonhoeffer demonstrates. Both the casual fan and the serious scholar should commend Marty for his fine account of Bonhoeffer's most famous and most enigmatic book."--Barry Harvey, Christian Century "Essentially Marty gives us a well-informed survey of Letters and Papers from Prison's reception over the past sixty-five years."--John S. Conway, Association of Contemporary Church Historians Quarterly "Marty's perspective spans the entire spectrum of global influence and controversy of LPP over the six decades of the book's life from its inception forward... Of particular value for readers less familiar with the 20th century reception of LPP will be his sketches of its life in East and West, Protestant and Roman Catholic worlds, in Latin America, South Africa and Asia, in Black Theology, and in Evangelicalism. While the biographer's task is not to present or interpret the contents of LPP, he describes the encounters of its most challenging and controversial concepts."--Nancy Lukens, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Society Newsletter "The biography is a must for all who have their own history with Letters and Papers from Prison and who wish to revisit that story in the light of the wide range of new insights into a correspondence between two friends that wrote Church history."--Ralf K. Wustenberg, Theology "Marty tells an engaging story of how Letters and Papers from Prison gradually came to be and how in the process it has been interpreted and misinterpreted and creatively used or misused by diverse audiences around the world."--Mark S. Brocker, Lutheran Quarterly "This book was a job worth doing and Marty has done it sensitively and well."--Andrew Chandler, Journal of Ecclesiastical History "This work is a singular contribution to our study of the history of ideas through one author's, Bonhoeffer's, book and how his insights inform western culture in its encounters with other systems of thought."--Donald J. Dietrich, European Legacy "A theologically sophisticated but gripping narrative in a rare genre: the biography of a book... This is a demanding but engaging read for faculty, students, pastors, and laity."--John C. Shelley, Religious Studies Review

• List of Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xi Chapter 1: The Birth of a Book 1 Chapter 2: The "Gradual" Editor 31 Chapter 3: The Decisive Turns 51 Chapter 4: Travels East 74 Chapter 5: Travels West 103 Chapter 6: The Worlds of Two Strangers 133 Chapter 7: Travels around the World 178 Chapter 8: Continuity and Change 211 Notes 247 Index 261