The Oxford Handbook of Dietrich Bonhoeffer

This volume provides a comprehensive resource for those wishing to understand the German theologian, pastor, and resistance conspirator Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) and his writings. During his lifetime he made important contributions to many of the major areas of theology: ecclesiology, creation, Christology, discipleship, and ethics. The Oxford Handbook of Dietrich Bonhoeffer surveys, assesses, and presents the field of research and debates of Bonhoeffer and his legacy, as well as of previous Bonhoeffer scholarship. Featuring contributions from leading Bonhoeffer scholars, historians, theologians, and ethicists, many essays draw attention to Bonhoeffer's positive contributions, while several essays also identify limits and problems with his thinking as it stands.

Divided into five parts, the first section provides a detailed outline of Bonhoeffer's biography and the contexts that gave rise to his theology. The contributors explore the dynamic relationship between Bonhoeffer's life and theology. Section two provides rigorous engagements with and assessments of Bonhoeffer's theology on its own terms. Part three demonstrates how Bonhoeffer's ethical claims and engagements are deeply integrated with theological commitments. The fourth section showcases some of the best work drawing upon Bonhoeffer for engaging contemporary challenges, including feminism, race, public theology in South Africa, and contemporary philosophy. In recent decades, Bonhoeffer's theology has provoked significant critical reflection on social and cultural issues. The essays in this section exemplify how his writings can continue to contribute to such reflection today. The fifth and final section consists of essays on resources for the contemporary study of Bonhoeffer and his theology, including sources and texts, biographies and portraits, and readings and receptions. These essays also address pressing historiographical issues and problems surrounding writing about Bonhoeffer's life and theology. This authoritative collection draws together and assesses the very best of existing research on Bonhoeffer and promotes new avenues for research on Bonhoeffer.

Philip G. Ziegler, Professor of Christian Dogmatics, University of Aberdeen., Michael Mawson, Senior Lecturer in Theology, Charles Sturt University

Philip G. Ziegler is Professor of Christian Dogmatics at the University of Aberdeen. He is the author of Doing Theology When God is Forgotten: The Theological Achievement of Wolf Krotke (2007) and Militant Grace: The Apocalyptic Turn and the Future of Christian Theology (2018). He is a General Secretary of the Karl Barth Society of North America, and had served on the executive committee of the English language section of the International Bonhoeffer Society.

Michael Mawson is Senior Lecturer in Theology at Charles Sturt University, and was previously Senior Lecturer in Theological Ethics at the University of Aberdeen. He is the author of Christ Existing as Community: Bonhoeffer’s Ecclesiology (2018) and co-editor of Christ, Church and World: New Studiesin Bonhoeffer’s Theology and Ethics (with Philip G. Ziegler; 2016).