Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Theology of a Preaching Life
By Michael Pasquarello III
Baylor, 296 pages, $39.95
One of the great challenges of writing about Dietrich Bonhoeffer is that one is forced to include everything (see Charles Marsh’s masterful biography Strange Glory), or narrow one’s parameters into a “Bonhoeffer and” book, which runs the risk of compartmentalizing the fully integrated life of an extraordinary Christian pastor, theologian, writer, and teacher.
Thankfully, Michael Pasquarello III has taken up the challenge in Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Theology of a Preaching Life in a way that is approachable without veering into oversimplification. Pasquarello’s greatest strength is a steadfast commitment to nuance.
Pasquarello wisely follows the life events of Bonhoeffer’s pastoral ministry in conjunction with the ways in which his theology of preaching evolved over time. Pasquarello thankfully gives attention to the early years of Bonhoeffer’s ministry, eschewing what has long been an overreliance on The Cost of Discipleship and select prison letters, seeking to portray a development of a theology of preaching over time. Pasquarello is concerned that, with the overwhelming number of Bonhoeffer works now available in English translation, we not forget that Bonhoeffer was a pastor with a firmly Lutheran understanding of the importance of the Word preached to God’s people.
An honest assessment of Bonhoeffer’s life and works requires us to acknowledge the influence of liberal Protestant Berliners like Adolf Harnack, as well as Karl Barth’s supremely effective challenge to the established German theology of the time. These early experiences would have discernible effects, from Bonhoeffer’s early call to a German-speaking congregation in Barcelona through his prison writing before his execution by the Nazi state for treason.
Pasquarello makes excellent use of homiletical analysis to explore the differences between the nationalist German Christians, who tended toward topical and “relevant” sermons with Scripture used as prooftexts, and Bonhoeffer, who believed firmly in the Lutheran understanding of Scripture’s ability to work on the hearer. In Bonhoeffer’s view, God is fully capable of speaking to modern parishioners through Scripture without pastors explicitly making the government’s case—an abuse of the Lutheran two kingdoms political theology.
Of particular interest to fellow preachers, Pasquarello spends time reflecting on what set Bonhoeffer apart from the other Christian ministers who either acquiesced to the Nazi regime or faded back into passive disagreement. Bonhoeffer’s full-throated resistance to the Nazism in his preaching did not stem from a desire to preach to the news, but rather an acknowledgment that Scripture is inherently relevant to the Christian life. It was a strong sense of his faithfulness to the Word—ultimately in the person of Christ—that allowed Bonhoeffer to see the creeping idolatry that overwhelmed the German Christians.
When reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Theology of a Preaching Life, be sure to bring two bookmarks, because you will want to spend time with Pasquarello’s 65 pages of endnotes. There is real gold to be found in the endnotes, including additional commentary that I am glad found its way in somehow, as it gives insight into the detailed work that went into this impressive piece of Bonhoeffer scholarship.
Michael Sturdy is a Guest Writer. He won first prize in the 2024 TLC Student Essay contest for this essay. He is a senior in the School of Theology at Sewanee and a candidate for holy orders in the Diocese of Texas.
