Theological Education at Finkenwalde

1935-1937: Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, H. Gaylon Barker, Mark S. Brocker, H. Gaylon Barker

• Publisher: Fortress Press
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN:
  9780800698393
  9780800698393
• eBook ISBN:
  9781451425871
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Theology

In the spring of 1935 Dietrich Bonhoeffer returned from England to direct a small illegal seminary for the Confessing Church. The seminary existed for two years before the Gestapo ordered it closed in August 1937. The two years of Finkenwalde's existence produced some of Bonhoeffer's most significant theological work as he prepared these young seminarians for the turbulence and risk of parish ministry in the Confessing Church. Bonhoeffer and his seminarians were under Gestapo surveillance; some of them were arrested and imprisoned. Throughout, he remained dedicated to training them for the ministry and its challenges in a difficult time. This volume includes Bible studies, sermons, and lectures on homiletics, pastoral care, and catechesis, giving a moving and up-close portrait of the Confessing Church in these crucial yearsthe same period during which Bonhoeffer wrote his classics, Discipleship and Life Together.

The complete Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works set is now available in hardcover!

C. Third SessionEvangelization [Volksmission]^[1] and Chamby Conference
April 15–August 23, 1936

12. Wedding Sermon on 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 (Recorded Notes), Falkensee, April 15, 1936^[2]

Wedding Sermon for Hilde and Albrecht Schönherr, Delivered on April 15, 1936, in the Church at Falkensee by Pastor D. Bonhoeffer

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18.

Let this be our wish for you, and may you yourselves desire to say “yes” in obedience to this will.

You now want to go out on your own. You realize that everything today is uncertain as far as the future and even tomorrow are concerned; and yet one thing must and should be absolutely certain, namely, that at such a moment we understand ourselves to be one with God’s will for us. That suffices for us and helps us get through all else that might be uncertain.

And so you are here today to become one with the will of God. You will soon declare that you intend to live for each other and remain faithful to each other until death do you part.^[3] Two people can lead such a life together only if the two wills become “one.” That cannot happen, however, if they seek the interest of the one or the other. The certainty that your wills may become one resides not in you yourselves but in the will of God alone. The certainty that your marriage will remain steadfast resides not in you yourselves, your love, your plans, but in Jesus Christ alone.^[4] There alone is where certainty is to be found; hence seek it there! It is there that you can and should and will become one. And hence precisely on such a day, a day when our thoughts are wholly inclined to focus on personal things, we must^[5] say to you: “But strive first for the kingdom of God, and all these things will be given to you as well.”^[6] It is through God that everything else will be given to you. Strive first for the kingdom of God!

And thanks be to God for revealing rather than concealing that will to us. God reveals the will of Jesus Christ for you in the words you heard first: “Rejoice always . . .”

You will rejoice with the joy you create for and derive from each other. Nothing in life gives us greater joy than being together with a person whom we love and with whom we see ourselves as one. Because we have that other person, we are able to rejoice even amid external cares. But we are not told here: Rejoice today and tomorrow and again and again, but rather: Rejoice always. That is, not just when you are able to derive joy from each other but also when such joy might not be forthcoming, when external difficulties assail and oppress you.

How can we express this notion without exaggerating? We can say it and indeed can be joyous only if we draw the entire ground of our joy from God, from God’s will. Rejoice always, for you have been redeemed by God, have been freed from all care and anxiety about the future, freed also from yourselves. Because you have been redeemed, you can rejoice always, for now you are always with God and God with you. Know that you are redeemed, and rejoice!

Albrecht, become a joyful pastor! Whoever knows himself to be one with Jesus Christ also knows that he is redeemed, and hence the one who also looks redeemed will be an enormous help to his congregation.^[7] People will come to him to unburden themselves. Hence rejoice always in your ministry.

And to you, dear Hilde, I would add: Help your husband to rejoice always, for that is a service you render to both your husband and the congregation. Help him as well though your prayers and your faithfulness. Help him by organizing your own work and time such that you may spend joyful time with him. Then you will both understand when Paul says that everything belongs to you, and you to Christ.^[8]

Such joy, however, comes only through praying without ceasing. It is not a Christian house if one is not praying without ceasing. Albrecht, during the past few years you have learned with much effort what such praying without ceasing means,^[9] and you have discovered how much it can help, and indeed you will discover this even more in your future life. And you, dear Hilde, consider that your husband is to perform this holy office and can do so properly only if you help him and have respect for this ministry and for such praying without ceasing.

Pray together every day, morning, midday, evening; pray for steadfastness in your marriage, for stability, and for the forgiveness of your sins. And in this prayer, also forgive each other’s sins every day. Conduct your marriage amid forgiveness; pray with each other for such a marriage, and pray for each other.

To you, dear Hilde, I would also like to say especially: There are times in history when spouses have themselves won people back to the gospel through intercession. And I want especially to encourage you to engage in such intercession for your husband, for your family, for all who enter your home, and for all with whom you come into contact.^[10]

And give thanks in all circumstances. You will be able to pray properly only if you give thanks in all circumstances, only if you, like Chrysostom, might one day say at the hour of death, “Thanks be to God for all things!”^[11] Be grateful not only for your happiness but also for all the things in your life that may be puzzling, for sickness, suffering, and persecution for the sake of the gospel. Give thanks in all circumstances! Give thanks today for everything you have received up till this very hour. Give thanks that you have each other. And above all give thanks that you have the word and the will of God until the very end. Give thanks that one day, at the end of your own lives, you can say with joy: Indeed, thanks be to God for all things!

And now go forth with great joy and certainty, having become one, with your eyes lifted up to the cross of Jesus Christ, rejoicing always, praying without ceasing. Amen.

13. Bible Study on Ezra and Nehemiah: The Reconstruction of Jerusalem, Finkenwalde, April 21, 1936^[12]

The Reconstruction of Jerusalem according to Ezra and Nehemiah

I. The Awakening

God alone can change his judgments on his people.^[13] All that is left to Jerusalem^[14] amid its destruction is the confidence that God will indeed turn once again to his people according to the promise; otherwise it has nothing. Anyone who might take the initiative in reconstructing the destroyed church without being summoned and without being commissioned would be rebelling against his own judgment, regardless of how devout that person’s intentions might be^[15] or how pure the doctrine or how great his pastoral love for the people. Though “pious flesh” might well act hastily in this fashion, the faith of God’s community [Gemeinde]^[16] does not. Instead, it waits and acquiesces to this judgment until God comes again, and it prays for^[17] awakening. The renewal of the church will come from such awakening through the Spirit of God. Never through restoration, never through unauthorized attempts to suspend God’s judgment. It is only by proceeding through God’s judgment, not by bypassing judgment, that God will return to his community. Because awakening leads from judgment to grace, the beginning of any genuine awakening of the church is to pray for such awakening.

Jerusalem has been destroyed. God’s temple has been violated in its holy of holies,^[18] the priests taken captive and^[19] expelled from the city, and the city walls torn down such that they no longer offer any protection against enemies. The defenseless church is now exposed to every attack. Foreign powers, foreign lords, foreign gods have moved into Jerusalem. The community of God has been struck by the judgment and wrath of God and has fallen captive to gentile rulers. The people of Israel must now dwell as strangers among the godless. Hence who could be surprised or even indignant if after decades of violent foreign ...

Table of contents

• Contents
• General Editor’s Foreword to Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works
• Abbreviations
• Editor’s Introduction to the English Edition
• A. First Session Establishment of the Preachers’ Seminary in Zingst and Finkenwalde April 26–October 16, 1935
• B. Second Session Founding of the House of Brethren and Journey to Sweden November 4, 1935–March 15, 1936
• C. Third Session Evangelization [Volksmission] and Chamby Conference April 15–August 23, 1936
• D. Fourth Session Break with Geneva and Work on Discipleship October 17, 1936–March 15, 1937
• E. Fifth Session Completion of Discipleship, Prohibition of the Seminary, and End of the House of Brethren April 18–September 11, 1937
• A. First Session Establishment of the Preachers’ Seminary in Zingst and Finkenwalde April 26–October 16, 1935
• B. Second Session Founding of the House of Brethren and Journey to Sweden November 4, 1935–March 15, 1936
• C. Third Session Evangelization [Volksmission] and Chamby Conference April 15–August 23, 1936
• D. Fourth Session Break with Geneva and Work on Discipleship October 17, 1936–March 15, 1937
• E. Fifth Session Completion of Discipleship, Prohibition of the Seminary, and End of the House of Brethren April 18–September 11, 1937
• A. First Session Establishment of the Preachers’ Seminary in Zingst and Finkenwalde April 26–October 16, 1935
• B. Second Session Founding of the House of Brethren and Journey to Sweden November 4, 1935–March 15, 1936
• C. Third Session Evangelization [Volksmission][1] and Chamby Conference April 15–August 23, 1936
• D. Fourth Session Break with Geneva and Work on Discipleship October 17, 1936–March 15, 1937
• E. Fifth Session Completion of Discipleship, Prohibition of the Seminary, and End of the House of Brethren April 18–September 11, 1937
• Editor’s Afterword to the German Edition
• Appendices
• Bibliography
• Index of Scriptural References
• Index of Names
• Index of Subjects
• Editors and Translators