After Ten Years
An Account at the Turn of the Year 1942–1943
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Translation by Barbara and Martin Rumscheidt
Introduction
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (German: [ˈdiːtʁɪç ˈbɔnhøːfɐ] ⓘ; 4 February 1906 – 9 April 1945) was a German...
Ten Years
Ten years is a long time in the life of every human being. Because time is the most precious gift...
Without Ground under One’s Feet
Have there ever been people in history who in their time, like us, had so little ground under the...
Who Stands Firm?
The huge masquerade of evil has thrown all ethical concepts into con-fusion. That evil should app...
Civil Courage
What really lies behind the lament about the lack of civil courage? In these years we have encoun...
On Success
While indeed it is not true that success justifies even the evil deed and the reprehensible means...
On Stupidity
Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice. One may protest against evil; it can...
Contempt for Humanity?
The danger of allowing ourselves to be driven to contempt for humanity is very real. We know very...
Immanent Justice
It is one of the most astonishing experiences and also one of the most incontrovertible that evil...
Some Statements of Faith on God’s Action in History
I believe that God can and will let good come out of everything, even the greatest evil. For that...
Trust
Few have been spared the experience of being betrayed. The figure of Judas, once so incomprehensi...
The Sense of Quality
When we lack the courage once again to establish a genuine sense of boundaries between human bein...
Sympathy
We have to consider that most people learn wisdom only through personal experiences. This explain...
On Suffering
It is infinitely easier to suffer in obedience to a human command than in the freedom of one’s ve...
Present and Future
To this day, it seemed to us that developing a plan for our professional and personal life was on...
Optimism
It is more sensible to be pessimistic; disappointments are left behind, and one can face people u...
Peril and Death
In recent years we have become increasingly familiar with the thought of death. We ourselves are ...
Are We Still of Any Use?
We have been silent witnesses of evil deeds. We have become cunning and learned the arts of obfus...
The View from Below
It remains an experience of incomparable value that we have for once learned to see the great eve...