An international group of scholars has issued a statement denouncing the misuse of the legacy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer in support of political violence and Christian nationalism in the U.S. Augsburg faculty member Lori Brandt Hale, an internationally recognized Bonhoeffer scholar, co-authored the statement alongside several members of the , where she serves as president of the English Language Section. Brandt Hale was interviewed by about the project.
Bonhoeffer, a German theologian and anti-Nazi dissident, was executed by the Nazi regime in 1945 for his participation in a conspiracy against Hitler.聽
鈥淎ny attempt to invoke Dietrich Bonhoeffer and his resistance against Hitler as a reason to engage in political violence in our contemporary context must be strongly opposed,鈥� the reads. 鈥淒ietrich Bonhoeffer himself provides the best defense against these misuses of his life and work. He did not ask, 鈥渉ow far will you go?鈥� He did not ask, 鈥渋s this a Bonhoeffer moment?鈥� Bonhoeffer鈥檚 life was defined by the question, 鈥淲ho is Christ for us today?鈥� With this question, Bonhoeffer teaches us that Christ is to be found in the presence and suffering of the neighbor, whether across the street or across the border. With this question, he has inspired Christians and non-Christians around the world to work for a society based on solidarity and humanity.鈥�
The statement has been co-signed by prominent scholars and church leaders in the U.S., Canada, and Europe, including Elizabeth A. Eaton, presiding bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop emeritus, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and former president, Lutheran World Federation; Susan C. Johnson, national bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada; Karen Georgia Thompson, general minister and president/CEO, United Church of Christ; Konrad Raiser, general secretary emeritus, World Council of Churches; Kirsten Fehrs, acting chair, Council of the Protestant Church in Germany; Christian Krieger, president, Conference of European Churches; and Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury.聽
Following the release of the statement, 86 of the 100 living descendants of the Bonhoeffer siblings published an open letter, echoing the scholars鈥� concerns. It is the family鈥檚 first public statement about Dietrich Bonhoeffer since 1945.聽
Professor Brandt Hale specializes in Bonhoeffer鈥檚 life and legacy in her research, teaching, and public scholarship. She is the co-author, with Stephen Haynes, of 鈥淏onhoeffer for Armchair Theologians鈥� (Westminster John Knox, 2009) and the co-editor, with W. David Hall, of 鈥淒ietrich Bonhoeffer, Theology, and Political Resistance鈥� (Lexington Books, 2020). She was a keynote panelist at 鈥淒emocracy and Discipleship鈥擫essons from Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Polarized Times,鈥� a two-day conference hosted at Augsburg in July 2024. Professor Brandt Hale currently also serves as the director of Augsburg鈥檚 school of humanities and social sciences and teaches in the department of religion and philosophy.