Till the Night Be Past: The Life and Times of Dietrich Bonhoeffer is a biography about Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He was a Lutheran pastor who was involved in assassination attempts on Hitler. This book is printed by Concordia Publishing House and is a quick read. The author did much research and presents the information in a way that brings Bonhoeffer to life.
The book talks about his family’s history throughout the book. It’s easy to see how Bonhoeffer’s family influenced him throughout his life. One of the striking members of his family was Bonhoeffer’s father who spent time with each of his eight children every day playing or talking with them. It’s wonderful to read about Christian fathers interacting with their children. Reading Till the Night Be Past, it seems like Dr. Bonhoeffer, a psychiatrist, deserves his own biography. He disagreed with Sigmund Frued and thought Hitler was to mentally unstable to control his Cabinet.
Till the Night Be Past discusses historical events like WWI and how the war changed Bonhoeffer’s life and set the stage for WWII. The book shares Bonhoeffer’s many successes in ministry, teaching, and preaching but also highlights his failures. It also includes interesting stories about Bonhoeffer and his seminary or traveling companions.
The author highlights Bohnhaffer’s thoughts on pacifism, putting faith into practice so it isn’t merely an intellectual pursuit, faith being for all times in life and not just bad, and more. The author also talks about Bonhaffer’s preaching politically from the pulpit which some may find brillant or shocking in today’s age and country. The book also paints a picture of what German pastor’s faced as the Nazi party grew more powerful. The book explains Pastor Bonhaffer’s struggles with the state church and confessing church. It shows Bonhoeffer’s thoughts on possibly needing to do a little evil for the greater good. Often Bonhoeffer’s actions or schemes can seem brilliant or sneaky. It gives the reader an opportunity to understand Bonhoeffer’s actions, even if the reader may not always agree with how Bonhoeffer acted.
Till the Night Be Past is a quick and interesting read. It’s educational and helps the reader understand this man and his life. This biography explains the difference between The Cost of Discipleship and Letters and Papers from Prison, the two books Dietrich Bonhoffer wrote. The involvement with the assisanation plots against Hitler aren’t as dramatic as one may hope. It is still interesting to read about Pastor Bonhoeffer’s life and everything he did to help support the confessing church until his death.