Bonhoeffer and Me
14 August 2006

As a student preparing to go to theological college in the late 1950s, I came across a book by George MacLeod – Only One Way Left.   It contained MacLeod’s vision for a renewed church and society that was to be worked out and inspired through the physical effort of rebuilding the ruined Abbey at Iona. This book opened so many doors in my imagination but it was not until I discovered the work of Dietrich Bonhoeffer that I I was able to start furnishing those rooms in my imagination.  That was 45 years ago and I am glad to report the furnishing of my imagination continues ... for in a living tradition the dead never quite lie down.

Bonhoeffer came from a living tradition, his formation was clearly founded upon his family and the rich culture within which he grew up.  Added to that, the scope of his theological studies, together with his continual travelling, filled out the enrichment of his early years.  Keith Clements’ latest book Bonhoeffer and Britain reminded me that crucial aspects of the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer were formed in the UK, out of the very culture from which we ourselves have emerged, and of which we are often dismissive.  England was both refuge and crucible in Bonhoeffer’s short life. 

Although Bonhoeffer’s principal contacts in the UK were from the Church, the burning issues were about the church’s relationship with the world.  This is not to gloss over the ordinariness of his daily duty – minutes, meetings, prayer, bible study - all of that existed ... but so did the urgent task of displaced persons and refugees; of the struggle German Christians were having with each other and with the State. 

The evidence is that Bonhoeffer was both a very serious and a very playful young man.  Reading ‘Bonhoeffer as a Young Man 1918-1927’ (Works Volume 9) has been most instructive.  I was surprised how often he asked family and friends for money - so reminiscent of my student days.  As a teenager, how serious he was about restaurants and the quality of the wine served.  It would appear that for him the world was both a watering hole and a crucible.  Sport, food - he had a good knowledge of London restaurants - the English countryside, art galleries, the cinema, all enriched him.  

Then there was the internationalism which grew out of his frequent travelling.  His visits to Spain, Italy and USA are well documented and though the countries he visited run into double figures, it was in England where he spent most time away from Germany.  And it was here that his links with George Bell and others on the edge of the British establishment were established.

Within a few months of commencing his ministry in London, he attended a German pastors’ meeting in Bradford where he argued powerfully and convincingly with his fellow pastors, to send a strongly worded message to the Church in Germany – now known as the Bradford Declaration.

A draughty manse infested with mice, massive telephone bills to Germany, a housekeeper who had to be dismissed because she was offering more than she was being paid to do!, Sunday school, a nativity play, weddings, funerals, playing the piano, and a longing for home that drove him relentlessly to remain engaged with the struggle for the heart and soul of the German Church.  I understand that the Post Office in Sydenham, which Bonhoeffer used so often for phone calls to Germany, was better equipped than most for overseas calls.  It appears the family of Ernest Shackleton, the polar explorer, had previously lived in the neighbourhood!

It is somewhat ironic that in August this year (2006) Resisting Tyranny - an exhibition celebrating Bonhoeffer’s life - was at Bletchley Park.  Hut 12 to be precise! This was the top-secret centre for wartime code breaking, now of Enigma Machine fame.  Winston Churchill, referring to Bletchley Park, is reported to have said “some secrets are so valuable that they have to be guarded by a bodyguard of lies.” It was that captured Enigma Machine at Bletchley Park which cracked the codes of Abwehr (the Germany Naval Military Intelligence) and it was that same Abwehr where Dietrich Bonhoeffer had chosen (been recruited?) to work.  And it was the Abwehr which enabled Bonhoeffer to continue travelling after the outbreak of war.

So, 60 years on, the spirit of Bonhoeffer visited Bletchley Park.  Meanwhile, as I write, a ceasefire has been ‘installed’ between Israel and Hezbollah.  I stand in Hut 12, remembering its past and I look at a photograph of Bonhoeffer and I recall the front page of today’s newspaper … I think of the carnage then ... and the carnage now.

David Moore