The Cost of Discipleship

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian, and anti-Nazi dissident, born in 1906 into an academically oriented family. His early intellectual environment provided him with rigorous training in knowledge acquisition and analytical thinking. As an adult, Bonhoeffer chose an academic and pastoral career, during which he contributed to Christian theology. His most notable work, The Cost of Discipleship, introduced the concepts of “cheap grace” and “costly grace,” critiquing a superficial understanding of faith and advocating for a more committed, action-oriented approach. His theology was informed by his German intellectual upbringing and his experiences in other cultural contexts, notably the United States.

Bonhoeffer’s work is set against the backdrop of Nazi Germany, a context that profoundly influenced his theological and ethical considerations. His writings served as both an academic exploration of Christian teachings and an urgent critique of the ethical decline he observed in German society and the church. Bonhoeffer was not a passive observer; his deeply held convictions led him to join the German resistance against the Nazi regime, an unusual move among theologians and academics of his time. His choice to actively oppose the regime was a complex decision that led to his arrest and eventual execution.