Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Learning to Lead There were three sources in which Dietrich Bonhoeffer primarily formed the basis of his leadership. These included the mentorship of family, associates, and educators, continued learning and theological writings, and introspective development through the life experiences of his travels. As previously discussed, Bonhoeffer came from an affluent, academic family with a strong religious influence. From his parents and siblings, Bonhoeffer formed a scientific based learning style. This would allow him to learn theology and leadership principles from a scientific perspective, an empirical pragmatism.
Eberhard Bethge was Dietrich’s best friend and confidant. An ordinand at the first illegal Confessing Church seminary at …show more content…
Harnack was an older, entrenched professor at the University of Berlin, more of a traditionalist Lutheran. Bonhoeffer would walk with Harnack in the scholarly Grunewald neighborhood, and would question the traditionalist teachings of the church, contradicting him “politely, but clearly on positive theological grounds” (Metaxas, 2010, p. 59). Bonhoeffer was characterized by his contemporaries as “a man who did not only learn and gather in the verba and scripta of some master, but one who thought independently and already knew what he wanted and wanted what he knew”, a reflection of his scientific approach (Metaxas, 2010, p. 59). Swiss born Karl Barth, was a neo-orthodox, ecumenical leader, who provided life-long mentorship to Bonhoeffer. As compared to the traditional evolution versus Darwinism conflict, thus was Barth’s vision of Biblical text as “not just historical sources, but as agents of revelation, not merely specimens of writing, but sacred cannon”, the basis for Bonhoeffer’s core values (Metaxas, 2010, p. 61). Bonhoeffer’s leadership model of discipleship stemmed from and exhibited the mentorship experienced throughout his …show more content…
During the church struggle in Germany, he was regarded by some as extremist and stubborn in his pursuits. On the progressive fringe of the ecumenical movement, his challenges to the norm would suborn oppressive action by the Third Reich. His outspokenness against the Nazis and German Church would lead to his professional exile from Berlin, the banning of his written publications, his imprisonment, and his death. However, Bonhoeffer firmly believed that “anything short of obedience to God smacked of cheap grace” and that “actions must follow what one believed, else one could claim not to believe it” (Metaxas, 2010, p. 340). His propensity to force issues, especially during the pre-war and early war periods, was viewed as situationally exacerbating and at times required softening by other movement leaders. Interestingly, as his role in the resistance changed from that of a counselor to an active participant, he began to develop the ability to impact on a more covert

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