You may have heard that there is a new movie in theaters titled "Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin." It is a story about the life of German Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who lived and ministered in the years prior to World War II. Eventually he was executed by the Nazis at the Flossenburg concentration camp for his alleged participation in an assassination plot against Adolf Hitler.
Bonhoeffer practiced his Gospel-driven ministry, both in Germany and New York City, against the backdrop of the rise of the fascist movement in Germany. He taught at seminaries, preached in churches, and wrote wonderful and thought-provoking books like Ethics>>, Life Together>>, and The Cost of Discipleship>>. His life has been portrayed in films like Bonhoeffer: Agent of Grace.
And now there is a new film about him, in theaters right now (mid-November 2024). If you're wondering whether it would be worth seeing, I can't answer that for you. But I can ask you to read and think about these articles before you decide:
HERE>> is a review of the film in Christianity Today with the tagline "The new biopic from Angel Studios twists the theologian’s life and thought to make a political point." Here's more:
"In the latest offering from Angel Studios, the story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer is an empty container into which our own desires—in this case, desires for a faith that serves political ends—are poured. . . ." and
"The ultimate failure of Bonhoeffer is not just that it gets the history wrong. It also misunderstands how Bonhoeffer’s life was already an extraordinary example of Christian courage."
HERE>> is a review in The Christian Century with the title "The new Bonhoeffer movie isn’t just bad. It’s dangerous."
And finally, HERE>> is a letter (in German, and with an English translation) by dozens of Bonhoeffer's descendents and family members that says in part, "We are horrified to see how the legacy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer is increasingly being distorted and misused by right-wing extremists, xenophobes, and religious agitators. As direct descendants of the seven siblings of the theologian and resistance fighter executed by the Nazis, we can testify based on what we learned from our families that he was a peace-loving, freedom-loving humanitarian. Never would he have seen himself associated with far-right, violent movements such as Christian Nationalists and others who are trying to appropriate him today. On the contrary, he would have strongly and loudly condemned these attitudes."
