Advent from a Prison Cell

The recent (and sadly flawed) movie Bonhoeffer reminds us that Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor and Lutheran theologian, is rightly revered for his courage in resisting Nazism—a path that eventually cost him his life. But his “politics” derived from, and was secondary to, a much deeper Christian faith. In a November 1943 letter from Berlin’s Tegel Prison, he wrote that “life in a prison cell may well be compared to Advent; one waits, hopes, and does this, that, or the other . . . [but] the door is shut, and can be opened only from the outside.” That image of Advent burns in the memory. Bonhoeffer makes fruitful reading in any season. His Advent sermons are especially valuable this time of year.   Read Full Article »