God Speaks to Us

Bonhoeffer was convinced that God spoke to his people through the Bible. How did a theologian of his caliber, who was well acquainted with the historical-critical interpretation of the scriptures, justify such a claim, and how did he apply this conviction to his daily challenges as theologian, pastor and political dissident during the Nazi regime? This book presents the attempts by a group of international Bonhoeffer scholars to answer some of these questions. By approaching Bonhoeffer’s theology from a number of different hermeneutical angles, the contributions in this volume cast new light both on his more general hermeneutical framework and on specific theological and political issues concerning his reading of the Bible. The essays underline Bonhoeffer’s contemporary relevance for the current resurgence of theological interpretation and for postmodern discussions about the interpretive nature of truth.

Author Biography

Ralf K. Wüstenberg is Chair and Director of the Department for Protestant Theology at Flensburg University. He is a graduate of Humboldt-University Berlin (Dr. theol.) and Heidelberg University (Habilitation). In the past he held Fellowships at the University of Cape Town, was Visiting Bonhoeffer Teaching Scholar at Union Theological Seminary, New York and Visiting Professor at Freie Universität Berlin. He is currently a Visiting Fellow in the Faculty of Divinity, Cambridge University. Jens Zimmermann is Canada Research Chair for Interpretation, Religion and Culture at Trinity Western University, Langley, British Columbia. He holds PhDs in Comparative Literature (University of British Columbia) and in Philosophy (Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz). He authored and edited books in theology, philosophy and literary theory.