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Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Dietrich Bonhoeffer Quotes

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Famous Dietrich Bonhoeffer Quotes

“Will not the very moment of great disillusionment with my brother or sister be incomparably wholesome for me becuase it so thoroughly teaches me that both of us can never live by our own words and deeds, but only by that one Word and deed that really binds us together, the forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ? The bright day of Christian community dawns wherever the early morning mists of dreamy visions are lifting”

MomentsChristianTogetherJesusChristCommunitySinVisionTeachMorningBrotherJesus ChristDeedsDawnMy BrotherLive ByOne WordMistLiftingDisillusionmentEarly MorningDreamyChristian CommunityForgiveness Of SinsBright DaysMorning Mist
Author:Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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“Man no longer lives in the beginning--he has lost the beginning. Now he finds he is in the middle, knowing neither the end nor the beginning, and yet knowing that he is in the middle, coming from the beginning and going towards the end. He sees that his life is determined by these two facets, of which he knows only that he does not know them”

KnowsMenDoeTwoEndsLife IsLostKnowingMiddleDeterminedFacetsLonger Life
Book:Creation and fall: a theological interpretation of Genesis 1-3
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“It is God's earth out of which man is taken. From it he has his body. His body belongs to his essential being. Man's body is not his prison, his shell his exterior, but man himself. Man does not "have" a body; he does not "have" a soul; rather he "is" body and soul. Man in the beginning is really his body. He is one. He is his body, as Christ is completely his body, as the Church is the body of Christ”

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Book:The martyred Christian: 160 readings from Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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“The question of why evil exists is not a theological question, for it assumes that it is possible to go behind the existence forced upon us as sinners. If we could answer it then we would not be sinners. We could make something else responsible...The theological question does not arise about the origin of evil but about the real overcoming of evil on the Cross; it ask for the forgiveness of guilt, for the reconciliation of the fallen world”

IfsWorldDoeRealEvilAsksAnswersBehindsExistenceCrossesOvercomingResponsibleGuiltAssumingAriseFallenSinnerReconciliationTheologicalFallen World
Author:Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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“In ordinary life we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich.”

LifeInspirationalGivingRealizingDealsRichGratitudeOrdinaryGratefulBe GratefulThank YouThankfulnessThankfulBeing ThankfulOrdinary LifeThankful GratitudeGratitude And AppreciationI Am GratefulExpressing GratitudeThanksgiving And GratitudeThank You GratitudeThankfulness And GratitudeGreat GratitudeLove And GratitudeBecome RichInspirational GratitudeThankful For YouExpress AppreciationGratitude For HelpWords Of GratitudeLove GratitudeGratitude For LifeGrateful For YouGrateful ThankfulGratitude For HealthGrateful InspirationalGrateful ThanksFeeling GratefulGrateful For LifeGratitude For FriendsBeing Grateful For LifeThankful For LifeThanking Friends
Book:Letters Papers from Prison
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“God loves human beings. God loves the world. Not an ideal human, but human beings as they are; not an ideal world, but the real world. What we find repulsive in their opposition to God, what we shrink back from with pain and hostility, namely, real human beings, the real world, this is for God the ground of unfathomable love.”

WorldHumansRealPainHuman BeingsIdealsGod LoveOppositionReal WorldGodlyShrinksHostilityUnfathomableReal HumanIdeal World
Author:Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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“We ought not to be in too much of a hurry here to speak piously of God's will and guidance. It is obvious, and it should not be ignored, that it is your own very human wills that are at work here, celebrating their triumph; the course that you are taking at the outset is one that you have chosen for yourselves.”

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Book:Letters Papers from Prison
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“As God adds his 'Yes' to your 'Yes,' as he confirms your will with his will, and as he allows you, and approves of, your triumph and rejoicing and pride, he makes you at the same time instruments of his will and purpose both for yourselves and for others. In his unfathomable condescension God does add his 'Yes' to yours; but by doing so, he creates out of your love something quite new - the holy estate of matrimony.”

DoePurposePrideHolyInstrumentsAddTriumphRejoiceEstatesMatrimonyUnfathomableCondescension
Book:Letters Papers from Prison
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“In a word, live together in the forgiveness of your sins, for without it no human fellowship, least of all a marriage, can survive. Don't insist on your rights, don't blame each other, don't judge or condemn each other, don't find fault with each other, but accept each other as you are, and forgive each other every day from the bottom of your hearts.”

InspirationalHumansHeartTogetherSinAcceptingMarriageRightsJudgingBlameForgivingFaultsBottomFellowship
Book:Letters Papers from Prison
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“If we look more closely, we see that any violent display of power, whether political or religious, produces an outburst of folly in a large part of mankind; indeed, this seems actually to be a psychological and sociological law: the power of some needs the folly of others. It is not that certain human capacities, intellectual capacities for instance, become stunted of destroyed, but rather that the upsurge of power makes such an overwhelming impression that men are deprived of their independent judgment, and...give up trying to assess the new state of affairs for themselves.”

IfsMenNeedsGivingTryingHumansLooksStatesSeemsLawPoliticalCertainReligiousMankindProduceGiving UpJudgmentIntellectualCapacityIndependentAffairViolentImpressionPsychologicalDestroyedInstanceFollyOverwhelmingDisplayDeprivedOutburstSociologicalHuman Capacity
Book:Letters Papers from Prison
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“Judgement is the forbidden objectivization of the other person which destroys single-minded love. I am not forbidden to have my own thoughts about the other person, to realize his shortcomings, but only to the extent that it offers to me an occasion for forgiveness and unconditional love, as Jesus proves to me.”

PersonsJesusRealizingMy OwnOffersProveOccasionsJudgementUnconditional LoveForbiddenDiscipleshipUnconditionalShortcomingsProve To Me
Book:The Cost of Discipleship
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“It is remarkable how I am never quite clear about the motives for any of my decisions. Is that a sign of confusion or inner dishonesty or is it a sign that we are guided without our knowing or is it both ...The reasons one gives for an action to others and to one's self are certainly inadequate. One can give a reason for everything. In the last resort one acts from a level which remains hidden from us. So one can only ask God to judge us and to forgive us.... At the end of the day I can only ask God to give a merciful judgement on today and all its decisions. It is now in his hand.”

GivingI CanEndsSelfReasonHandsTodayActionLastsAsksDecisionLevelsKnowingClearJudgingRemainsForgivingConfusionJudgementMotiveThe End Of The DayRemarkableResortsDishonestyInadequateMercifulReason For Everything
Author:Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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“Christian community is like the Christian's sanctification. It is a gift of God which we cannot claim. Only God knows the real state of our fellowship, of our sanctification. What may appear weak and trifling to us may be great and glorious to God. Just as the Christian should not be constantly feeling his spiritual pulse, so, too, the Christian community has not been given to us by God for us to be constantly taking its temperature.”

KnowsShouldMayRealStatesFeelingsChristianSpiritualGivenGrowsCommunityPleaseWeakClaimsIncreaseGloriousDay To DayGod KnowsFellowshipTemperaturePulseGift From GodSanctificationTriflingChristian CommunityOnly God Knows
Author:Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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“Struggling against the legalism of simple obedience, we end by setting up the most dangerous law of all, the law of the world and the law of grace. In our effort to combat legalism we land ourselves in the worst kind of legalism. The only way of overcoming this legalism is by real obedience to Christ when he calls us to follow him; for in Jesus the law is at once fulfilled and cancelled.”

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Book:The Cost of Discipleship
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“If any man would come after me, let him deny himself." The disciple must say to himself the same words Peter said of Christ when he denied him: "I know not this man." Self-denial is never just a series of isolated acts of mortification or asceticism. It is not suicide, for there is an element of self-will even in that. To deny oneself is to be aware only of Christ and no more of self, to see only him who goes before and no more the road which is too hard for us. Once more, all that self denial can say is: "He leads the way, keep close to him.”

IfsKnowsMenWaySaidSelfHardChristElementsSuicideSeriesOneselfDenyDenialDeniedPeterIsolatedDiscipleSelf-denialAsceticismMortificationSelf Will
Book:The Cost of Discipleship
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“Who is pure in heart? Only those who have surrendered their hearts completely to Jesus that he may reign in them alone. Only those whose hearts are undefiled by their own evil--and by their own virtues too. The pure in heart have a child-like simplicity like Adam before the fall, innocent alike of good and evil: their hearts are not ruled by their conscience, but by the will of Jesus.”

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Author:Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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“Christian love draws no distinction between one enemy and another, except that the more bitter our enemy's hatred, the greater his need of love. Be his enmity political or religious, he has nothing to expect from a follower of Jesus but unqualified love. In such love there is not inner discord between the private person and official capacity. In both we are disciples of Christ, or we are not Christians at all.”

NeedsPersonsChristianPoliticalJesusChristReligiousLove IsEnemyGreaterDrawsCapacityHatredBitterOfficialsDistinctionFollowersDiscipleDiscordEnmityChristian LoveUnqualified
Book:The Cost of Discipleship
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