Dietrich Bonhoeffer Influence On Religion

“Who stands firm? Only the one for whom the final standard is not his reason, his principles, his conscience, his freedom, his virtue, but who is ready to sacrifice all these, when faith and sole allegiance to God, he is called to obedient and responsible action: the responsible person, whose life will be nothing but an answer to God’s question and call.” This quote reflected Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s view of Christianity. Bonhoeffer was a German pastor and religious scholar who opposed Adolph Hitler and the German Nazis. Bonhoeffer was one of the few Christian leaders actively to resist the discriminatory actions of the German leaders.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was one of the earliest critics of Nazi Germany and became a leading spokesman of the Confessing Church. Bonhoeffer and his twin sister Sabine were born on February 4, 1906, in Breslau,
Due to be strongly influenced by nationalism, many church leaders and members applauded the growth of Nazism. German Christians in 1933 started the Reich Church, which encouraged the Nazification of German Protestants. These Christians wanted the Protestants to conform to the Nazi philosophy and wanted the Church to embrace Aryan laws. They also believed Jews could not become members of the German Church through baptism. The extreme ideas of the German Church caused moderate Protestants to form the Confessing Church. When the Nazis started issuing strict laws against the Jews in 1933, Bonhoeffer spoke out against them in his essay, “The Church and the Jewish Questions.” He said, “The church must defend those abused by the state, even to the point of taking direct action against the government if necessary.” In creating this argument, he used scripture to support his belief. Bonhoeffer’s argument of the Jews was based on the Christian belief that Christianity replaced Judaism as God’s chosen