Therese, though she was French, is popular with the Germans, and worldwide. She is famous for the “Little Way” of serving God by scattering little flowers, i.e. doing small acts of goodness and kindness rather than great and heroic deeds.
You may learn more about her here. There is a film about her, and her autobiography [...]
Archive for November, 2008
St. Therese of Lisieux on Prayer
Posted in Uncategorized on November 27, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Theology for Little Dietrich (2)
Posted in Bonhoeffer, Lesestücke (Readings), tagged baptismal letter, justice, reason, world war on November 20, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
May, 1944 to Eberhard Bethge on the baptism of Dietrich W.R. Bethge
Wir glaubten, daß wir uns durch Vernunft und Recht im Leben durchsetzen, und wo beides versagte, sahen wir uns am Ende unserer Möglichkeiten. Wir haben die Bedeutung des Vernünftigen und Gerechten auch im Geschichtsablauf immer wieder überschätzt.
Ihr, die Ihr in einem Weltkrieg aufwachst, [...]
Theology for Little Dietrich (1)
Posted in Bonhoeffer, Lesestücke (Readings), tagged baptismal letter, responsibility, thoughts and actions, Verantwortung on November 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
A few months ago I posted a few selections from the baptismal letter Bonhoeffer wrote to his great-nephew. Those selections dealt mainly with reflections on how life in the country would change in the future. The letter also included some significant theological thoughts, a few selections of which will be posted now. The prior posts [...]
A Dream Translated
Posted in Lesestücke (Readings), tagged Evangelical Songbook, I have a dream, Jr., Martin Luther King, translated into German on November 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Wir halten es für eine selbstverständliche Wahrheit, daß alle Menschen gleich geschaffen sind.
Ich habe den Traum, daß eines Tages die Söhne ehemaliger Sklaven und die Söhne ehemaliger Sklavenhalter am Tisch der Brüderlichkeit sitzen werden.
Ich habe den Traum, daß meine vier Kinder eines Tages in einer Nation leben werden, wo man sie nicht nach [...]
Translation Attempt
Posted in Bonhoeffer, tagged translations of Bonhoeffer on November 14, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I tried my attempt at a translation of the two selections below over at Wellspring, if you want to compare your efforts with mine. I admit I found this selection difficult in places, and I resorted here and there to a pretty free rendering of what it seemed like to me he was trying to [...]
God of the Gaps? (Worldview of Physics 2 of 2)
Posted in Bonhoeffer, Lesestücke (Readings), tagged boundaries, God in the center, God of the gaps, human answers, possibility, stopgap on November 13, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Bonhoeffer to Bethge 29 May 1944
Es ist heute so, daß es auch für diese Fragen menschliche Antworten gibt, die von Gott ganz absehen können.
Menschen werden faktisch-und so war es zu allen Zeiten-auch ohne Gott mit diesen Fragen fertig, und es ist einfach nicht wahr, daß nur das Christentum eine Lösung für sie hätte. [...]
Worldview of Physics (1 of 2)
Posted in Bonhoeffer, Lesestücke (Readings), tagged border, boundaries, death, God of the gaps, guilt, knowledge, science, strength, suffering, weakness, Weizsäcker, World View of Physics on November 11, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Bonhoeffer had been preoccupied with the study of Weizsäcker’s The World View of Physics (ET 1952).
Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker’s was born in 1912 and lived until April 28, 2007.
He studied physics at Leipzig and in 1938 he proposed the theory for stellar evolution that explained the production of ironizing and particulate radiation by stars. He [...]
Greek in German
Posted in Uncategorized on November 6, 2008 | 1 Comment »
It’s been a while since I have recommended Wieland Willker’s magnificent site for the study of the NT and Greek. His main page includes many links. Two of my favorites are a massive textual commentary (In English) on the Gospels and his Greek-German vocabulary lists.
Here is his favorite selection from his bibliography of German works [...]
Individual Salvation? (Bonhoeffer on Bultmann 2)
Posted in Bonhoeffer, Lesestücke (Readings), tagged creation, crucifixion, incarnation, individual salvation, Old Testament, religious interpretation, resurrection, Righteousness of God, this world, worldliness on November 4, 2008 | 3 Comments »
Bonhoeffer to Bethge 5 May 1944
Was heißt nun “religiös” interpretieren”?
Es heißt m.E. einerseits metaphysisch, andrerseits individualistisch reden. Beides trifft weder die biblische Botschaft noch den heutigen Menschen. Ist nicht die individualistische Frage nach dem persönlichen Seelenheil uns allen fast völlig entschwunden? Stehen wir nicht wirklich unter dem Eindruck, daß es wichtigere Dinge gibt, als diese [...]
