Quote

The Church is her true self only when she exists for humanity. As a fresh start, she should give away all her endowments to the poor and needy. The clergy should live solely on the freewill offerings of their congregations, or possibly engage in some secular calling.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Age: 39 †
Born: 1906
Born: February 4
Died: 1945
Died: April 8
Pastor
Philosopher
Poet
Resistance Fighter
Theologian
Breslau
Bonhoeffer
Possibly
Clergy
Away
Exists
Congregation
True
Calling
Needy
Give
Humanity
Solely
Freewill
Live
Existence
Secular
Endowments
Self
Start
Engage
Congregations
Giving
Poor
Offering
Offerings
Fresh
Endowment
Church

More quotes by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Image
Time is the most precious gift in our possession, for it is the most irrevocable. This is what makes it so disturbing to look back upon the time which we have lost. Time lost is time when we have not lived a full human life, time unenriched by experience, creative endeavor, enjoyment, and suffering. Time lost is time not filled, time left empty.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Image
It is from God that parents receive their children, and it is to God that they should lead them.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Image
The pursuit of purity is not about the suppression of lust, but about the reorientation of one's life to a larger goal.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Image
To endure the cross is not tragedy it is the suffering which is the fruit of an exclusive allegiance to Jesus Christ.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Image
A pastor should never complain about his congregation, certainly never to other people, but also not to God. A congregation has not been entrusted to him in order that he should become its accuser before God and men.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Image
The 'polymath' had already died out by the close of the eighteenth century, and in the following century intensive education replaced extensive, so that by the end of it the specialist had evolved. The consequence is that today everyone is a mere technician, even the artist.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Image
Absolute seriousness is never without a dash of humor.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Image
Nothing can fill the gap when we are away from those we love, and it would be wrong to try to find anything.....It is nonsense to say that God fills the gap he does not fill it, but keeps it empty so that our communion with another may be kept alive, even at the cost of pain.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Image
Thinking in terms of two realms understands the paired concepts worldy-Christia n, natural-superna tural, profane-sacred, rational-revela tions, as ultimate static opposites...and fails to recognize the original unity of these opposites in the Christ-reality.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Image
He who fears the face of God does not fear the face of man. He who fears the face of man does not fear the face of God.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Image
Battles are won, not with weapons, but with God. They are won where the way leads to the cross.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Image
Prayer does not mean simply to pour out one's heart. It means rather to find the way to God and to speak with him, whether the heart is full or empty.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Image
Fruit is always the miraculous, the created it is never the result of willing, but always a growth. The fruit of the Spirit is a gift of God, and only He can produce it. They who bear it know as little about it as the tree knows of its fruit. They know only the power of Him on whom their life depends
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Image
The responsible person seeks to make his whole life a response to the question and call of God.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Image
Anything I cannot thank God for for the sake of Christ, I may not thank God for at all to do so would be sin. ... We cannot rightly acknowledge the gifts of God unless we acknowledge the Mediator for whose sake alone they are given to us.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Image
The first call which every Christian experiences is the call to abandon the attachments of this world.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Image
After he has been following Christ for a long time, the disciple of Jesus will be asked, Lacked ye anything? and he will answer Nothing, Lord. How could he when he knows that despite hunger and nakedness, persecution and danger, the Lord is always at his side?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Image
The Psalter is the great school of prayer.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Image
The deep meaning of the cross of Christ is that there is no suffering on earth that is not borne by God.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Image
The essence of chastity is not the suppression of lust, but the total orientation of one's life towards a goal. Without such a goal, chastity is bound to become ridiculous. Chastity is the sine qua non of lucidity and concentration.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer