St.Mark's Adult Education
Dietrich Bonhoeffer - Dr. David Fletcher
Dr. David Fletcher kicked off the session by showing part of a film about Bonhoeffer.
Bonhoeffer received his PhD in theology from the University of Berin at the age of 21. In 1931 he began lecturing in theology at Berlin, and as a vigorous opponent of Nazism, he founded the Confessing Church with Martin Niemoller and Karl Barth. The Confessing Chuch was an alternative to the Lutheran Church which was actively collaborating with Nazi leaders. He pastored Lutheran churches in London for two years and then returned to head a seminary of the Confessing Church, which was now illegal in Germany.
In 1939 Bonhoeffer joined a secret group of high-ranking military officers who wanted to overthrow the Nazis by assassinating Hitler. He was found out and hanged on April 9, 1945, just three weeks before the liberation of the city. |
