Where God tears great gaps we should not try to fill them with human words.
DIETRICH BONHOEFFERWhere God tears great gaps we should not try to fill them with human words.
DIETRICH BONHOEFFERMy past life is abundantly full of God’s mercy, and, above all sin, stands the forgiving love of the Crucified.
DIETRICH BONHOEFFERThere is a wrong way of staying in the world and a wrong way of fleeing from it. In both cases we are fashioning ourselves according to the world.
DIETRICH BONHOEFFERThings do exist that are worth standing up for without compromise. To me it seems that peace and social justice are such things, as is Christ himself.
DIETRICH BONHOEFFERStrict exercise of self-control is an essential feature of the Christian’s life.
DIETRICH BONHOEFFERThe test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children.
DIETRICH BONHOEFFERPolitical action means taking on responsibility. This cannot happen without power. Power is to serve responsibility.
DIETRICH BONHOEFFERBy judging others we blind ourselves to our own evil and to the grace which others are just as entitled to as we are.
DIETRICH BONHOEFFERNothing can be more cruel than the leniency which abandons others to their sin. Nothing can be more compassionate than the severe reprimand which calls another Christian in one’s community back from the path of sin.
DIETRICH BONHOEFFEROne act of obedience is worth a hundred sermons.
DIETRICH BONHOEFFERDiscipleship is not an offer that man makes to Christ.
DIETRICH BONHOEFFERLove, in the sense of spontaneous, unreflective action, spells the death of the old man.
DIETRICH BONHOEFFERBeing free means being free for the other, because the other has bound me to him. Only in relationship with the other am I free.
DIETRICH BONHOEFFERA God who let us prove his existence would be an idol.
DIETRICH BONHOEFFERIf my sinfulness appears to me to be in any way smaller or less detestable in comparison with the sins of others, I am still not recognizing my sinfulness at all. How can I possibly serve another person in unfeigned humility if I seriously regard his sinfulness as worse than my own?
DIETRICH BONHOEFFERThe person who loves their dream of community will destroy community, but the person who loves those around them will create community.
DIETRICH BONHOEFFER