Bonhoeffer: The Harlem Influence

Did you know Lovett Memorial Library, 111 N. Houston, Pampa, Texas, has access to no less than four non-fiction works on Dietrich Bonhoeffer in various digital formats? Check out the digital audiobook edition of “Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in the Community” by Bonhoeffer as well as the following e-books: “Bonhoeffer” by Eric Metaxas; “Bonhoeffer Speaks Today: Following Jesus at All Costs” by Mark Devine; and “The SPCK Introduction to Bonhoeffer” by Keith Clements.

A 2014 article by Louis Porter quotes from Metaxas’ book. Porter’s article — titled “An Unlikely Alliance: Adam Clayton Powell Sr., Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Seeds of Transformation” — is available through the library’s Web site via TexShare Databases. The Metaxas’ book, listed above, is available as a Spanish edition e-book through Lovett Memorial. For more information on accessing Porter’s article and other articles provided through TexShare, contact the library at 806.669.5780. This blogster discovered Porter’s piece through the database Academic Search Complete.

The primary focus of Porter’s article is Bonhoeffer’s visit to America and the impact of that visit on the theologian's future decisions. Of particular interest is Bonhoeffer’s relationship with Adam Clayton Powell Sr., leader of an African-American Church in Harlem, New York, and the effect that relationship had on the rest of Bonhoeffer’s historic and hugely influential life.

For those unfamiliar with the story of this great man, Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran theologian who not only refused to flee his country in the face of the corrupt and hateful Nazi regime with its all-encompassing annihilation of personal freedoms, but who worked doggedly behind the scenes to depose Hitler and to counteract the evil swamping Germany and German-occupied lands. Alas, Bonhoeffer suffered the ultimate consequences of his valiant and heroic efforts. Bonhoeffer, according to Wikipedia, was executed by the Nazis a mere two weeks before Allied liberators swept to the rescue and freed those imprisoned in the concentration camps.

Bonhoeffer is best known for his writings during his incarceration, first, in prison, and, later, in the concentration camp. Wikipedia described his “The Cost of Discipleship” as “a modern classic.”

References

Porter, Louis. 2014. "An Unlikely Alliance: Adam Clayton Powell Sr., Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Seeds of Transformation." Cross Currents 64, no. 1: 116-122. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed May 28, 2014).

Wikipedia. n.d. “Dietrich Bonhoeffer.” http://www.weblinksresearch.com.au (accessed May 28, 2014).