Cross and Cutlass

Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book changed my life. It's a huge book that wasn't always easy to read, but whenever I picked it up, I had a hard time breaking away from it. I've never really had a human hero before. Now, I do. Bonhoeffer was a man who stood up to a regime he saw as pure evil earlier than most. He was a man who stood up to the traditional conventional "Christian" church of the time. Often he was hated, ostracized, misunderstood, shunned, laughed at and scoffed. But he wouldn't relent on his positions. Well educated, cultured, kind-hearted and very intelligent, he used his God-given gifts to benefit those around him while he fought hypocrisy in the church and evil in the government of Germany. He was a man of principle. A man of vision and purpose. A man who said that man's ultimate responsibility is to do the will of God. Even after he was arrested by the Gestapo, he spent his time ministering to others in prison. I learned a lot about Hitler's rise in Germany and how the people could have allowed it. Unfortunately, it mimics some of what I see in my own country today. When faced with his own death, Bonhoeffer said that to him it was the beginning of life. The doctor at the concentration camp where Bonhoeffer was executed said this: I have hardly ever seen a man die so entirely submissive to the will of God. Do you want to be challenged to live a life of meaning? Read this book.



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