Today, German Lutheran pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer is often celebrated as a heroic modern Christian martyr. Ironically, however, Bonhoeffer himself while in prison resisted any temptation to think of himself as a martyr. We marvel at his courage in participating in a conspiracy to assassinate Adolf Hitler. But what does Bonhoeffer's ethical approach teach us about both courage and humility that might provide needed wisdom in our context?While the content of Bonhoeffer...

As a young Norwegian Lutheran teenager in rural Wisconsin, Brocker lay awake one night worrying whether he believed in Jesus enough to get to heaven. This getting-to-heaven anxiety reflected an excessive focus on individual salvation and a loss of concern for the well-being of the Earth community. A faith journey that leaves Earth behind is misguided. Ever since those early teen years Brocker has been on a journey to come home to Earth. Coming Home to Earth makes the case that there is no ...

In the spring of 1935 Dietrich Bonhoeffer returned from England to direct a small illegal seminary for the Confessing Church. The seminary existed for two years before the Gestapo ordered it closed in August 1937. The two years of Finkenwalde's existence produced some of Bonhoeffer's most significant theological work as he prepared these young seminarians for the turbulence and risk of parish ministry in the Confessing Church. Bonhoeffer and his seminarians were under Gestapo surveillance;...