- Apr 2, 2003
- 22,439
- 5,903
I was going to see "Bonhoeffer" until reading a couple of articles about it. It seems as though Angel Studios may be a far-right leaning studio and massacred Bonhoeffer's spiritual and political beliefs to subtly suggest that Christians doing violence is okay, driven in part by Eric Metaxas.
"But Bonhoeffer is more speculative than circumspect. Atop the familiar scaffolding of the theologian’s life, the film constructs the story of a man who, from childhood, seems destined to leave behind prayer for conspiracy, Bible teaching for political espionage, and theology for activism.
Rather than depicting a man of deep theological convictions and subtle intellect, Bonhoeffer tells the story of a man for whom moral convictions are a flexible and useful tool, a man whose actions are determined not by concerns for the church’s witness but by perceived historical necessity."
"Early reactions to the film, particularly by the Bonhoeffer family, have identified a distorted legacy. The source of some of these distortions seems easy to identify. Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin. plays off the title of conservative pundit Eric Metaxas’ 2011 Bonhoeffer biography. (Metaxas’ website references the movie in the context of plans for a forthcoming Bonhoeffer streaming series, and he’s promoted it on X.)
The similarity between this rendering of Bonhoeffer’s life and Metaxas’ own trajectory is telling. Though Angel Studios has downplayed any connection between Metaxas and this project, consider the similarities (beyond the film’s subtitle). Both movie Bonhoeffer and Metaxas begin as religious thinkers, become primarily concerned with political life, and ultimately dally with the use of force in service to their ideals.
Early on in the film, Bonhoeffer’s Harlem friend says that sometimes a punch is necessary; in 2020, Eric Metaxas made news when he punched a DC protester. The parallel is too spot-on to be mere coincidence. In his most recent book, Metaxas continues to marshal Bonhoeffer’s work toward his project of politics as the ultimate end of theology. His inflammatory rhetoric consistently equates the American left with the Nazis."
https://www.christianitytoday.com/2024/11/bonhoeffer-movie-review-angel-studios/
'Descendants of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and a number of Bonhoeffer scholars have signed letters denouncing Eric Metaxas and other Christian nationalists they say are twisting the German theologian’s writing to serve their cause.
“From Project 2025 to violent political rhetoric, the legacy of German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer is being invoked this election season on behalf of Christian nationalism,” the letter from scholars begins. “It is a dangerous and grievous misuse of his theology and life. As an international group of Bonhoeffer scholars, we warn against it.”
A separate letter from 86 of 100 adult descendants of the Bonhoeffer siblings was made public Friday, Oct. 18.
“We are horrified to see how the legacy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer is increasingly being distorted and misused by right-wing extremists, xenophobes and religious agitators,” that letter begins. “As direct descendants of the seven siblings of the theologian and resistance fighter executed by the Nazis, we can testify based on what we learned from our families that he was a peace-loving, freedom-loving humanitarian. Never would he have seen himself associated with far-right, violent movements such as Christian nationalists and others who are trying to appropriate him today. On the contrary, he would have strongly and loudly condemned these attitudes.”
The family letter calls out specifically Metaxas, an ardent Christian nationalist and darling of conservative evangelicalism who wrote a highly contested biography of Bonhoeffer in 2010.
“In the book, he ignored the historical context and misrepresented Bonhoeffer as a fundamentalist evangelical. Metaxas, now a right-wing Trump supporter, regularly compares U.S. President Biden to Hitler, speaks of ‘total war’ and posts photos of a gun on a Bible: ‘So we can now finally clearly see that Biden is our Hitler. … See my Bonhoeffer book for details. The parallels are staggering and increasingly obvious. Pray for this nation. PRAY.’”'
https://baptistnews.com/article/bon...n-against-metaxas-and-christian-nationalists/
It's so unfortunate that Metaxas has gone so far right. It's ungodly. I was wanting his book Bonhoeffer, but not anymore.
"But Bonhoeffer is more speculative than circumspect. Atop the familiar scaffolding of the theologian’s life, the film constructs the story of a man who, from childhood, seems destined to leave behind prayer for conspiracy, Bible teaching for political espionage, and theology for activism.
Rather than depicting a man of deep theological convictions and subtle intellect, Bonhoeffer tells the story of a man for whom moral convictions are a flexible and useful tool, a man whose actions are determined not by concerns for the church’s witness but by perceived historical necessity."
"Early reactions to the film, particularly by the Bonhoeffer family, have identified a distorted legacy. The source of some of these distortions seems easy to identify. Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin. plays off the title of conservative pundit Eric Metaxas’ 2011 Bonhoeffer biography. (Metaxas’ website references the movie in the context of plans for a forthcoming Bonhoeffer streaming series, and he’s promoted it on X.)
The similarity between this rendering of Bonhoeffer’s life and Metaxas’ own trajectory is telling. Though Angel Studios has downplayed any connection between Metaxas and this project, consider the similarities (beyond the film’s subtitle). Both movie Bonhoeffer and Metaxas begin as religious thinkers, become primarily concerned with political life, and ultimately dally with the use of force in service to their ideals.
Early on in the film, Bonhoeffer’s Harlem friend says that sometimes a punch is necessary; in 2020, Eric Metaxas made news when he punched a DC protester. The parallel is too spot-on to be mere coincidence. In his most recent book, Metaxas continues to marshal Bonhoeffer’s work toward his project of politics as the ultimate end of theology. His inflammatory rhetoric consistently equates the American left with the Nazis."
https://www.christianitytoday.com/2024/11/bonhoeffer-movie-review-angel-studios/
'Descendants of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and a number of Bonhoeffer scholars have signed letters denouncing Eric Metaxas and other Christian nationalists they say are twisting the German theologian’s writing to serve their cause.
“From Project 2025 to violent political rhetoric, the legacy of German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer is being invoked this election season on behalf of Christian nationalism,” the letter from scholars begins. “It is a dangerous and grievous misuse of his theology and life. As an international group of Bonhoeffer scholars, we warn against it.”
A separate letter from 86 of 100 adult descendants of the Bonhoeffer siblings was made public Friday, Oct. 18.
“We are horrified to see how the legacy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer is increasingly being distorted and misused by right-wing extremists, xenophobes and religious agitators,” that letter begins. “As direct descendants of the seven siblings of the theologian and resistance fighter executed by the Nazis, we can testify based on what we learned from our families that he was a peace-loving, freedom-loving humanitarian. Never would he have seen himself associated with far-right, violent movements such as Christian nationalists and others who are trying to appropriate him today. On the contrary, he would have strongly and loudly condemned these attitudes.”
The family letter calls out specifically Metaxas, an ardent Christian nationalist and darling of conservative evangelicalism who wrote a highly contested biography of Bonhoeffer in 2010.
“In the book, he ignored the historical context and misrepresented Bonhoeffer as a fundamentalist evangelical. Metaxas, now a right-wing Trump supporter, regularly compares U.S. President Biden to Hitler, speaks of ‘total war’ and posts photos of a gun on a Bible: ‘So we can now finally clearly see that Biden is our Hitler. … See my Bonhoeffer book for details. The parallels are staggering and increasingly obvious. Pray for this nation. PRAY.’”'
https://baptistnews.com/article/bon...n-against-metaxas-and-christian-nationalists/
It's so unfortunate that Metaxas has gone so far right. It's ungodly. I was wanting his book Bonhoeffer, but not anymore.
I suppose I lean left but not hardline or anything. More importantly…
