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Julie Holm's Blog
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Thoughts as I figure out what to say now that I've finished my final paper on bonhoeffer.
Baby Bonhoeffer
Posted by: Juliana Holm on May 3, 2010 at 1:21PM EST
I'm about 80 pages into Eberhard Bethge's monumental (933 pages plus appendices, notes and indices) biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Some of the interesting things about his life.

We talk and talk about training children up in the way they should do, but Bonhoeffer was unchurched, for the most part, as a child and youth. Don't confuse unchurched with non-religious, since that was not true, and there were several relatives who were pastors, including his grandfather and great-grandfather, who were also professors. But Bonhoeffer didn't even go to church regularly when he was studying theology! He doesn't seem to have considered church an important concept until he came into contact with the Roman Catholic church when he studied in Rome. Wow!

Having grown up Catholic, I am very aware of the concept of church as being very strong in Catholicism. Arguably, right now to the detriment of individual people. But there is a great strength here that we protestants could learn something from. The community is really important as community, and the Catholic context reminds everyone how important being "the church" is. Our churches are strongest when we are more than collections of individuals. how do our churches make being the church important? I know that in my church worship uses the unity of church regularly. But what else?
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