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A study of the great German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer analysing the role of the women in his life and his struggles with his sexuality.
Few twentieth-century theologians have had a bigger impact than Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a man who lived his faith and died at the hands of the Nazis. For Bonhoeffer, the theological was the personal: life and faith were deeply intertwined - and to this day the world is inspired by that witness. Yet the true story of the women in this remarkable man's life has until now been obscured by a conventional narrative that has distorted their role. Using primary sources written by the women in his life, and even including the first ever photo of alleged 'first fiancée' Elisabeth Zinn, this book 'sees' these women fully for the first time. A highly readable but scholarly work of narrative nonfiction, The Doubled Life places Bonhoeffer's theology of love and sexuality within the context of his struggles with women, friendship, and the evils of Nazi Germany.
Few twentieth-century theologians have had a bigger impact than Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a man who lived his faith and died at the hands of the Nazis. For Bonhoeffer, the theological was the personal: life and faith were deeply intertwined - and to this day the world is inspired by that witness. Yet the true story of the women in this remarkable man's life has until now been obscured by a conventional narrative that has distorted their role. Using primary sources written by the women in his life, and even including the first ever photo of alleged 'first fiancée' Elisabeth Zinn, this book 'sees' these women fully for the first time. A highly readable but scholarly work of narrative nonfiction, The Doubled Life places Bonhoeffer's theology of love and sexuality within the context of his struggles with women, friendship, and the evils of Nazi Germany.
Price: $54.95
Pages: 466
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Inc.
Imprint: James Clarke
Publication Date:
23 February 2017
Trim Size: 9.02 X 6.02 in
ISBN: 9780227176320
Format: Paperback
BISACs:
RELIGION / Christian Theology / General, Christianity, Theology
Bonhoeffer finally learned the best theology is a kind of writing that spans systematics, confession, narrative and poetry. The engaging biographical writing of Diane Reynolds presents a neglected side of the Bonhoeffer story: the place of women and the presence of sexuality in the Christian discipleship and political resistance of this German saint. This book will be a required text in my Bonhoeffer graduate seminar.
— Scott Holland, Slabaugh Professor of Theology & Culture, Director of Peace Studies at Bethany Theological Seminary
Diane Reynolds' The Doubled Life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer offers a new and important perspective on the life of Bonhoeffer. Her broadening of our understanding of Bonhoeffer's immense contribution resonates with the changes in attitude toward homosexuality we are witnessing in the world today. Not only was Bonhoeffer a committed pacifist and protector of Jews during the Holocaust, but as Reynolds aptly suggests, Bonhoeffer's sexual orientation may have heightened his sensitivity to the plight of the marginalised under the Nazi Regime. Readers have much to gain from Reynolds' insights.
— Elaine Pigeon, author of Queer Impressions: Henry James's Art of Fiction
— Scott Holland, Slabaugh Professor of Theology & Culture, Director of Peace Studies at Bethany Theological Seminary
Diane Reynolds' The Doubled Life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer offers a new and important perspective on the life of Bonhoeffer. Her broadening of our understanding of Bonhoeffer's immense contribution resonates with the changes in attitude toward homosexuality we are witnessing in the world today. Not only was Bonhoeffer a committed pacifist and protector of Jews during the Holocaust, but as Reynolds aptly suggests, Bonhoeffer's sexual orientation may have heightened his sensitivity to the plight of the marginalised under the Nazi Regime. Readers have much to gain from Reynolds' insights.
— Elaine Pigeon, author of Queer Impressions: Henry James's Art of Fiction
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
Prelude
Part I: Pleasure and Pain (tob and ra)
1 'Sacred Space'
2 Ruptures
3 Life Amid the Ruins
4 Happy Times
5 Weddings
Part II: Seeking Ground
6 Wanderings and Worries
7 Manhattan
8 Nazis
9 London
10 Battles and Choices
Part III: The Incomparable Year
11 New Ground
12 New Arrival
13 Finkenwalde
14 Murmurs of War
15 First Encounter
16 Ruth
17 Collision Courses
Part IV: Reconfigurations
18 New World
19 Days of Love and Hope
20 Squaring Off against the Führer
21 Friendship
22 'Convents' and Concentration Camps
23 What Will It Be?
Part V: Decisions
24 Troubles
25 Escape
26 Changes
27 War Worries: 1939
28 London Redux
29 Sailing Away
30 Agony
31 Do You Want Me?
Part VI: War and Conspiracies
32 Homecoming
33 Cold Idyll, Dark Nights
34 Winter, War, Wonder, Woe
35 Gert Gone
36 Darker Hours
37 Exile in Ettal
38 The Foretaste of Paradise
39 Human Hearts in 1941
40 Conspiracies
41 City Life, Country Life
42 Horrors and Joys
43 Shadows
Part VII: Cornered: 1942-43
44 Risks
45 Ruth and Maria
46 Sweden, Krössin, Berlin
47 Maria
48 Pursuit
49 The Noose Tightens
50 Trapped
51 White Nurse
Part VIII: Alone
52 Locked In
53 Care and Feeding
54 The Wedding Sermon
55 Don't You Like Being Romantic?
56 Writing and Dissatisfaction
57 Doubts and Delights
Part IX: Eberhard and Maria
58 Joy
59 Christmas
60 Berlin Falling
61 Birth and Ruin
62 Seesaw
63 Maria, Eberhard
64 Unraveled
Part X: Saints
65 Catastrophe
66 Endings
67 Revenge
68 Arrest
69 Escape
70 Threads
71 Over
72 More Threads
Epilogue
Appendix I: Maria von Wedemeyer Timeline: 1935-45
Appendix II: Orientation and Celibacy Questions
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
Prelude
Part I: Pleasure and Pain (tob and ra)
1 'Sacred Space'
2 Ruptures
3 Life Amid the Ruins
4 Happy Times
5 Weddings
Part II: Seeking Ground
6 Wanderings and Worries
7 Manhattan
8 Nazis
9 London
10 Battles and Choices
Part III: The Incomparable Year
11 New Ground
12 New Arrival
13 Finkenwalde
14 Murmurs of War
15 First Encounter
16 Ruth
17 Collision Courses
Part IV: Reconfigurations
18 New World
19 Days of Love and Hope
20 Squaring Off against the Führer
21 Friendship
22 'Convents' and Concentration Camps
23 What Will It Be?
Part V: Decisions
24 Troubles
25 Escape
26 Changes
27 War Worries: 1939
28 London Redux
29 Sailing Away
30 Agony
31 Do You Want Me?
Part VI: War and Conspiracies
32 Homecoming
33 Cold Idyll, Dark Nights
34 Winter, War, Wonder, Woe
35 Gert Gone
36 Darker Hours
37 Exile in Ettal
38 The Foretaste of Paradise
39 Human Hearts in 1941
40 Conspiracies
41 City Life, Country Life
42 Horrors and Joys
43 Shadows
Part VII: Cornered: 1942-43
44 Risks
45 Ruth and Maria
46 Sweden, Krössin, Berlin
47 Maria
48 Pursuit
49 The Noose Tightens
50 Trapped
51 White Nurse
Part VIII: Alone
52 Locked In
53 Care and Feeding
54 The Wedding Sermon
55 Don't You Like Being Romantic?
56 Writing and Dissatisfaction
57 Doubts and Delights
Part IX: Eberhard and Maria
58 Joy
59 Christmas
60 Berlin Falling
61 Birth and Ruin
62 Seesaw
63 Maria, Eberhard
64 Unraveled
Part X: Saints
65 Catastrophe
66 Endings
67 Revenge
68 Arrest
69 Escape
70 Threads
71 Over
72 More Threads
Epilogue
Appendix I: Maria von Wedemeyer Timeline: 1935-45
Appendix II: Orientation and Celibacy Questions
Bibliography
Index