Letters and Papers from Prison

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a young German pastor who was executed by the Nazis in 1945 for his part in the “officers’ plot” to assassinate Adolf Hitler. 

This expanded version of Letters and Papers from Prison shifts the emphasis of earlier editions of Bonhoeffer’s theological eflections to the private sphere of his life. His letters appear in greater detail and show his daily concerns. Letters from Bonhoeffer’s parents, siblings, and other relatives have also been added, in addition to previously inaccessible letters and legal papers referring to his trial.

During the last century the Christian faith has made massive inroads into areas dominated by traditional and fold religions. In many cases, however, varieties of syncretism have developed, both in the countries of origin and in the West.

"What nonbelievers reject is often not God, but the caricature of God that theologians have synthesized over the centuries. A faith based on that caricature is poorly suited to the hard facts of the real world. These authors masterfully retrace how that caricature was drawn, show where its distortions lie and offer a sound alternative to it."

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, one of the most influential Christian martyrs in history, bequeathed to humanity a legacy of theological creativity and spirituality that continues to intrigue people from a variety of backgrounds. Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, a sixteen volume series, offers a fresh, critical translation of Bonhoeffer's writings, with introductions, annotations, and interpretations.

The stimulus for the writing of Life Together was the closing of the preacher's seminary at Finkenwalde. The treatise contains Bonhoeffer's thoughts about the nature of Christian community based on the common life that he and his seminarians experienced at the seminary and in the "Brother's House" there. Bonhoeffer completed the writing of Life Together in 1938.