Bonhoeffer the Preacher

Abstract

In addition to being a noted systematic theologian, ethicist, and leader of the Confessing Church, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was also a preacher. In fact, at the centre of all his theological work stands his unfaltering conviction that the preached Word is the primary expression of the Gospel and the place where contemporary believers encounter their living Lord. Bonhoeffer’s homiletic revolves around the preacher’s role of listening attentively to the witness of Scripture in order to accompany the living Word into the congregation so it may meet people where they are, sustain them in their present circumstances, and form them into the living Body of Christ in order to respond to the current needs of the world.