Our international series now moves to Germany.
I have recently seen a documentary of Dietrich Bonhoeffer which I viewed after reading the life story of Adolf Hitler.
What struck me was the total contrast between the life and legacies of these two men.
The one who gave himself to the pursuit of absolute earthly power.
The other who devoted himself to the service of Christ and His quest for reconciliation between men and God.
Hitler and Bonhoeffer died within a month of each other; Hitler by a self inflicted gunshot to the head, Bonhoeffer at the end of noose in a Nazi concentration camp. Both men were of the same generation, both lived the greater part of their lives in Germany, one left a legacy of horror, war and calamity, the other was a profile of steady determination to follow his Christian calling to an almost certain death.
Hitler was a devotee of Charles Darwin and the dark, ogerish music of Richard Wagner; Bonhoeffer modelled a message of servant hood.
Now, 70 years later, we have chance to assess the work of two brilliant German minds. They lived and worked a hand's breadth from each other, they departed earth within the same month but they are as far apart as Heaven and Hell in their final destinations.
Jubilate.
Ian
