Dietrich …show more content…
The first he completed at the age of twenty-one. He completed his second dissertation in 1931, entitled “Act and Being” written in 1930, deals with the consciousness of human sinfulness and the revelation of God. . He completed his dissertation entitled, The Communing of the Saints at the age of twenty-one. Bonhoeffer said that his true genuine faith in Christ did not begin until after his first dissertation was published. Communing of the Saints with the subtitle- “A Theological Study of the Sociology of the Church” was a “virgin” endeavor to link the disciplines of both sociology and theology in the structures of the church (Dramm. 68) Although Bonhoeffer explains the issues of the church to be sociological, he explains that the church can only be truly understood from the inside out with “wrath and affection” His doctoral work focus very much on the church and community. Through all of the academia, Bonhoeffer asks the question “Where within the reality of the world does the new life confessed by Christians become real?” Arguing that God is not “merely a mode or modulation of human experience” (Marsh 56) It was successfully defended and received favorable criticism from all of his …show more content…
The first is “The Cost of Discipleship”, published in 1937, which has some shocking and eerie parallels to how his life would eventually be ended. “Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will gladly go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for which sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble, it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.” (The Cost of Discipleship) I think in our modern cozy Christianity; this is a book that would start a fiery revival in our churches if we would take what is has to say to heart. If anyone lived their teachings, it was Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He knew what it meant to truly lay down his entire self for the sake of the glory of God and costly grace. “Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, and the gift which must be asked for and the door at which a man must knock” (Costly Discipleship) Bonhoeffer thought the view of ethics in the church were way too lax. This is discussed in Cost of Discipleship when he discusses that the church has developed a romance with “Cheap grace”, a grace that does not require