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A prison cell, in which one waits, hopes – and is completely dependent on the fact that the door of freedom has to be opened from the outside, is not a bad picture of Advent.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

We are torn out of our own existence and set down in the midst of the holy history of God on earth. There God dealt with us, and there he still deals with us, our needs and our sins, in judgment and grace.
DIETRICH BONHOEFFER

Existence God History Judgement Need Sin
There can be no real attachment to the given creation, no genuine responsibility in the world, unless we recognize the breach which already separates us from it.
DIETRICH BONHOEFFER

Attachment Creation Reality Responsibility World
The limitation of the ethical phenomenon to its place and time does not imply its rejection but, on the contrary, its validation. One does not use canons to shoot sparrows.
DIETRICH BONHOEFFER

Limitation Place Rejection Time
How would you expect to find community while you intentionally withdraw from it at some point? The disobedient cannot believe; only the obedient believe.
DIETRICH BONHOEFFER

Believe Community Expectation
It is not your love that sustains the marriage, but from now on, the marriage that sustains your love.
DIETRICH BONHOEFFER

Love Marriage Yourself
Fruit is always the miraculous, the created; it is never the result of willing, but always a growth. The fruit of the Spirit is a gift of God, and only He can produce it. They who bear it know as little about it as the tree knows of its fruit. They know only the power of Him on whom their life depends.
DIETRICH BONHOEFFER

Creation Gift God Growth Himself Miracle Power Result Tree Willing
Political action means taking on responsibility. This cannot happen without power. Power is to serve responsibility.
DIETRICH BONHOEFFER

Politics Power Responsibility
Jesus himself did not try to convert the two thieves on the cross; he waited until one of them turned to him.
DIETRICH BONHOEFFER

Himself Oneself Patience Religious Wait
Time is the most valuable thing that we have, because it is the most irrevocable.
DIETRICH BONHOEFFER

Important Philosophy Time Value Worth
Only he who believes is obedient, and only he who is obedient believes.
DIETRICH BONHOEFFER

Believe Character Himself
[Christ] is the Mediator, not only between God and man, but between man and man, between man and reality.
DIETRICH BONHOEFFER

God Man Philosophy Reality Religious
Neighbourliness is not a quality in other people, it is simply their claim on ourselves.
DIETRICH BONHOEFFER

Ourselves People Quality Simplicity
Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock.
DIETRICH BONHOEFFER

Gift Grace Man
The cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise godfearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ.
DIETRICH BONHOEFFER

Beginning End Happiness Life Ourselves Religious Unity
If my sinfulness appears to me in any way smaller or less detestable in comparison with the sins of others, I am still not recognizing my sinfulness at all.
DIETRICH BONHOEFFER

Appearance Myself Recognition Sin
A love that left people alone in their guilt would not have real people as its object. So, in vicarious responsibility for people, and in His love for real human beings, Jesus becomes the one burdened by guilt.
DIETRICH BONHOEFFER

Alone Guilty Love People Reality Religious Responsibility

A prison cell, in which one waits, hopes – and is completely dependent on the fact that the door of freedom has to be opened from the outside, is not a bad picture of Advent.

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A prison cell, in which one waits, hopes – and is completely dependent on the fact that the door of freedom has to be opened from the outside, is not a bad picture of Advent.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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