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Author Eric Metxas to lecture on heroic man of faith, Dietrich Bonhoeffer
By Julie Filby
Espionage, conspiracy, passion, valor—all ingredients of a Hollywood block buster. But those terms also describe the life story of early 20th-century German, Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
On Jan. 18 all are invited to learn more about this man of faith when author Eric Metaxas presents “Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Why He Matters Today” at the third installment of the Archbishop’s Lecture Series.
Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) is known for standing up against the Third Reich for their brutal treatment of the Jews. Though executed by the Nazis at age 39 for participating in a conspiracy against Adolf Hitler, his shortened life has proven to be influential to this day.
Metaxas is the author of the biography “Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy,” which was recently recognized by several organizations including Barnes & Noble (best nonfiction 2010), Kirkus Reviews (2010 best nonfiction: top 25), Relevant magazine (top 10 books of 2010), The Gospel Coalition (2010 recommended books), Zambian Economist (top 5 books 2010) and Christianbook.com (2010 books of the year).
“Bonhoeffer was one of the leaders who understood that they (Christian leaders) had to stand up to the Nazis,” Metaxas said. “Here was a man who lived his faith. God wants us to live the way Bonhoeffer did—that’s his plan for everyone—not just for Bonhoeffer, not just for a few heroes, we’re all meant to live like that.”
Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., whose office sponsors the lecture series, has admired the witness of Bonhoeffer for decades. He wrote a review of Metaxas’ book in the October 2010 issue of First Things.
“Eric Metaxas has created a biography of uncommon power: intelligent, moving, well researched, vividly written and rich in implication for our own lives,” he wrote. “Or, to put it another way: Buy this book. Read it. Then buy another copy and give it to a person you love. It’s that good.”
Archbishop Chaput commended Metaxas for showing how Bonhoeffer’s actions cannot be appreciated outside the Christian faith in an age of “arid theology and practical unbelief” even among Christians.
“Bonhoeffer committed himself to live what he claimed to believe,” according to Archbishop Chaput. “He had a passion for Jesus Christ and a deeply evangelical faith. … This makes him a rather awkward hero for modern secularizers who fail to read the Bonhoeffer fine print—especially when he speaks, with inconvenient Christian clarity, about the nature of marriage, family, and euthanasia and abortion, which he bluntly described as ‘murder.’”
Metaxas is also the author of The New York Times bestselling biography “Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery,” and the apologetics trilogy “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About God.” Metaxas has also written for the popular children’s animated series “VeggieTales” and for Charles Colson, one of the co-authors of the 2009 “Manhattan Declaration: A Call to Christian Conscience,” a statement defending the sanctity of life, traditional marriage, and religious liberty.
The Yale graduate, who served as editor of the Yale Record, the nation’s oldest college humor magazine, is regularly featured on CNN, Fox News and National Public Radio. He attends Calvary-St. George’s Episcopal Church, and lives in Manhattan with his wife and daughter. For more information and links to recent interviews and lectures, visit www.ericmetaxas.com.
The 7 p.m. lecture is free and open to the public; a question and answer session will follow. It will be held in Bonfils Halls on the east side of the John Paul II Center campus at 1300 Steele St. in Denver. Advance sign-up is not required.
The next speaker in the Archbishop’s Lecture Series will be professor, lawyer and broadcast journalist Hugh Hewitt at 7 p.m. Feb. 22. Learn more here: http://www.archden.org/index.cfm/id/309/iEventID/611
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