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The Church is the Church only when it exists for others.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

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Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Age: 39 †
Born: 1906
Born: February 4
Died: 1945
Died: April 8
Pastor
Philosopher
Poet
Resistance Fighter
Theologian
Breslau
Bonhoeffer
Exists
Church
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More quotes by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

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It is the voice of the Church that is heard in singing together. It is not you that sings, it is the Church that is singing, and you, as a member of the Church, may share in its song.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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When a man really gives up trying to make something out of himself - a saint, or a converted sinner, or a churchman (a so-called clerical somebody), a righteous or unrighteous man,...and throws himself into the arms of God...then he wakes with Christ in Gethsemane. That is faith, that is metanoia and it is thus that he becomes a man and Christian.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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The first service that one owes to others consists in listening to them.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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Politics are not the task of a Christian.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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Battles are won, not with weapons, but with God. They are won where the way leads to the cross.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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The physical presence of other Christians is a source of incomparable joy and strength to the believer.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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It is a blessed thing to know that no power on earth, no temptation, no human frailty can dissolve what God holds together.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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If we are to pray aright, perhaps it is quite necessary that we pray contrary to our own heart. Not what we want to pray is important, but what God wants us to pray. The richness of the Word of God ought to determine our prayer, not the poverty of our heart.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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We are so afraid of silence that we chase ourselves from one event to the next in order not to have to spend a moment alone with ourselves, in order not to have to look at ourselves in the mirror.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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time is the most valuable thing that we have, because it is the most irrevocable.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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In Jesus, the service of God and the service of the least of the brethren were one.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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The wars of Israel were the only 'holy wars' in history... there can be no more wars of faith. The only way to overcome our enemy is by loving him.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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Monastic life thus became a living protest against the secularization of Christianity, against the cheapening of grace.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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God is in the manger, wealth in poverty, light in darkness, succor in abandonment. No evil can befall us whatever men may do to us, they cannot but serve the God who is secretly revealed as love and rules the world and our lives.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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...And then, just when everything is bearing down on us to such an extent that we can scarcely withstand it, the Christmas message comes to tell us that all our ideas are wrong, and that what we take to be evil and dark is really good and light because it comes from God. Our eyes are at fault, that is all.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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The fearful danger of the present time is that above the cry for authority, we forget that man stands alone before the ultimate authority, and that anyone who lays violent hands on man here, is infringing eternal laws, and taking upon himself superhuman authority, which will eventually crush him.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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The deceit, the lie of the Devil consists of this, that he wishes to make man believe that he can live without God's Word.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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A father acts on behalf of his children by working, providing, intervening, struggling, and suffering for them. In so doing, he really stands in their place. He is not an isolated individual, but incorporates the selves of several people in his own self.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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Discipleship is not limited to what you can comprehend – it must transcend all comprehension. Plunge into the deep waters beyond your own comprehension, and I will help you to comprehend even as I do. Bewilderment is the true comprehension. Not to know where you are going is the true knowledge. My comprehension transcends yours.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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The right way to pray is to stretch out our hands and ask of One who we know has the heart of a Father.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer