Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a man of deep spiritual understanding at a young age.  Despite his martyr's death at the age of 39 (at the hands of Hitler), his legacy and impact live on as Christian men and women learn from him.

Reading the first page of the acknowledgements in Bonhoeffer on the Christian Life: From the Cross, for the World, I had to return to the cover of the book to learn the author's name of this biography.  Stephen J. Nichols.  Huh!  Right away I recalled his passion for teaching history and how I enjoyed listening to him at family camp at a summer Bible conference during two different years, discussing church history and such.  I even remember him bringing up Bonhoeffer's name a time or two.  At that time I did recognize the name from the now popular (and recommended by Nichols) book Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy when reviewed by a friend.



However, I never really educated myself about church history until this Christian Life Series from Crossway.  (I have also read the biography Francis Schaeffer (linked to review) and intend to read the title on John Wesley in this series.)  I find this series to be full of truth and wisdom, while being honest about the subjects' weaknesses.  Though less than two hundred pages, I find that these are full of information.  I actually spent about two months reading about Bonhoeffer.  Though I enjoyed reading and learning, it was a lot to digest, so I took it slowly.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was many things.  Stephen Nichols writes of his intelligence and compassion.  Humility and courage.  Devotion and complex.

A look at life and worldliness:

"Instead of pitting the "real world" against the "spiritual world" and spawning conflict between the two, Bonhoeffer calls us to fully live in the world that is God's, and in our culture as God's disciple."

That is just what I needed to hear.  Bonhoeffer on the Christian Life is full of Bonhoeffer's quotes and takes a good look at what his Christian life looked like and how Christians can live for God.  At the very least, it will make the reader examine his own heart and motives a bit a more.  As we should.

Thank you, Crossway for providing this book for review purposes.  Did you know that Crossway is a non-profit publisher?  Something to consider!  Also to note is that they always provide the ESV Bible ebook for free, but now you can also get the ESV Study Bible for free.  (I actually have the bound copy of the ESV Study Bible.  It's good stuff!)

~ Annette {This Simple Mom} Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. By purchasing an item through a link, I will earn a small percentage. Thank you!