Creation and Fall, 1932-1933.

This is DB’s exposition of Genesis 1-3 delivered as lectures at the University of Berlin in 1932-1933. It’s a difficult read, yet many of the points are powerful.

This is from the Editor’s Introduction, which I found both fascinating as well as encouraging:

Despite the impact Bonhoeffer’s lectures had on his students, systematic theologians at the time ignored their publication, and most biblical scholars scorned Bonhoeffer’s Barthian method of “theological exegesis.” Nevertheless this indifferent and critical reception, Creation and Fall provided “a first small literary success for Bonhoeffer.” One of the book’s readers was Karl Barth; indeed it was the only work by Bonhoeffer on which Barth was to express an opinion during the author’s lifetime. Barth’s influence on Bonhoeffer is clear in Creation and Fall, and Barth found it congenial and helpful for his own work (pp. 5-6).

In Creation and Fall, DB tells us that Genesis lets us know that everything has been created by God and is preserved by Him. This means that there are no purely “secular” or “natural” realities out there. Everything constantly depends on God for its existence. Continue Reading…

David Murrow is the author of Why Men Hate Going to Church This book is a helpful analysis of why so many men hate going to church in its present form.

I found the book to be fascinating. In the organic missional churches that I work with, the numbers look very different from what they do in the typical institutional church. Men on average make up 60-65%; women 35-40%. In the typical institutional church, the women outweigh the men by far.

Interestingly, I’ve seen women visit these organic missional churches and weep because there are so many men who are excited about Jesus Christ and functioning together. They testify that they rarely see this in the traditional churches they have been part of. (Note: When I say “organic church,” I’m not talking about the typical house church.)

In addition, the women in body life have a very high place. They are honored by the men, and they function on equal footing.

One of the reasons for this, I believe, is that in organic church life, everyone participates in the ministry and the decision-making. Everyone functions. So men have a strong place in finding the Lord’s mind and executing it. And the women have an equally strong place in both direction and ministry. (If you’re new to this blog and you’re new to my work, I outline the biblical principles for this in my book, Reimagining Church. The book also answers every conceivable objection to what the New Testament teaches on the subject, which is often missed or ignored.)

All told: Body life is exciting. And sometimes it’s high drama. Thus women and men love it once they’ve tasted the real thing.

I had the opportunity to interview David about his book. Here it is. Continue Reading…

Sometime last year, I was spending time at a fellow author’s home. I noticed that he had many commentaries in his library. Most of them I owned. I then asked which commentary he found the most helpful. His answer: The Sacra Pagina.

So I bought a set.

Most of my commentaries are written by mainstream evangelicals, neo-evangelicals, Reformed, or post-evangelicals.

The Sacra Pagina is written by Catholic scholars.

Sacra Pagina means “sacred page,” and it originally referred to the text of Scripture in the Middle Ages. Continue Reading…

Before we plunge in today, a few quick things:

1) Refresh yourself on the Standards of Moderation. If you ever comment and it doesn’t show up, you’ll have an idea why.

2) As I posted a few days ago, I’m using Twitter a lot more than I ever have. You can join me and follow my Tweets here. I just promoted a bunch of other Tweeps this morning. I plan to do that every Friday.

3) Don’t forget the free book offer, which is just around the corner.

Now on to Bonhoeffer.

Act and Being, 1931. This is volume 2 of Deitrich Bonhoeffer Works. Continue Reading…

Last week I promised I’d begin blogging through Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s major works. I won’t do it every day, as we’ll need a break for lighter subjects. But I’ll resume until finished.

I will refer to Bonhoeffer henceforth as DB.

Some of DB’s works are highly academic. Others are prophetic, written in the context of Nazi Germany.

His academic works are dense and presuppose a fair knowledge of theology, philosophy, and history.

I began this series by starting with DB’s biography, which was the subject of my first post. Continue Reading…