Somehow, Facebook decided that Frank Schaeffer and I should be friends, because posts from him keep showing up on my news feed. This is either a triumph of data mining or a happy coincidence. I’m hearing more from Frank lately, mostly because he’s promoting a new book: Why I Am an Atheist Who Believes in God. But the post that got my attention linked to this article: “Dietrich Bonhoeffer Was Flamingly Gay—Deal With It.”
Schaeffer bases his argument—such as it is—on a new biography by Charles Marsh: Strange Glory, which “unequivocally confirms” the great 20th-century martyr’s sexual orientation. “Unequivocally confirms” is only one of Schaeffer’s misleading statements. Though I haven’t read the book, reviews indicate that the author “confirms” nothing, but rather strongly hints, drawing mostly from Bonhoeffer’s intense friendship with Eberhard Bethge, his one-time student and eventual biographer. In a review for Christianity Today, Timothy Larsen admits the book’s author makes a “convincing case that Bonhoeffer harbored feelings for Bethge that extended beyond friendship,” but concludes that Marsh tries too hard to slant the evidence. To Schaeffer, this only shows that the evangelical community has its head in the sand regarding homosexuality. (Want more confirmation about him being “flamingly gay”? Bonhoeffer was a fastidious dresser and appreciated art. So there.)
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