Bible Gateway Blog

There was very little spiritual light to be seen in Nazi Germany in the 1940s. Horrific war had engulfed Europe. Hitler’s policies of euthanasia and genocide were rolling forward unchecked. Even as the European war lurched toward its conclusion in 1945, “peace on Earth” seemed impossibly far away.

Yet even in the dark night of Nazi Germany, there were followers of Christ who held up a light. The most famous of these was pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who actively worked against Hitler for years—until he was murdered by the Nazi regime in the final days of the war.

Bonhoeffer is a challenging and inspiring voice for the church, and this summer, we want to introduce you to that voice. Beginning on Friday, June 1, Bible Gateway is running a special devotional exercise called A 40 Day Journey with Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Each day for 40 days, we’ll email you a devotional based on the writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Each day’s reading features:

• A short devotional excerpt from Bonhoeffer’s writing.
• Relevant Scripture passages to ponder.
• Discussion questions to help you think through the devotional, and journal reflections that encourage you to put your thoughts down on paper.
• Prayer suggestions, and a concluding prayer.

Bonhoeffer’s writing has been enormously influential on the Christian church. In his sermons, letters, and other written works, we can see a picture of a committed Christian struggling to find a way to live out his faith in the midst of overwhelming evil. Bonhoeffer struggled to reconcile his Christianity with the realities of his life—he was a pacifist who participated in the plot to assassinate Hitler; he gave up the safety of life in the United States to “share the trials of this time with [his] people”—and in grappling with those questions, he left an important legacy for his brothers and sisters in Christ.

A 40-Day Journey with Dietrich Bonheffer is not an endless time commitment—it’s a short daily reading that runs for a limited time. Our hope is that you’ll emerge from this everyday reading and journaling experience inspired, and feeling that you’ve learned something from one of Christianity’s most powerful voices.

A 40-Day Journey with Dietrich Bonhoeffer begins this Friday, June 1. It’s completely free; you can sign up at our newsletter signup page. If you’d like to see a sample of what you’ll be sent each day, here’s an example devotional.

We hope you’ll take advantage of this unique and limited-time devotional experience. We’re grateful to Augsburg Fortress for partnering with us to make this content available to Bible Gateway visitors.