theo|digital

Who said this?

Of course it is our aim to preach Christ and Christ alone, but, when all is said and done, is not the fault of our critics that they find our preaching so hard to understand, so overburdened with ideas and expressions which are hopelessly out of touch with the mental climate in which they live. It is just not true that every word of criticism directed against contemporary preaching is a deliberate rejection of Christ and proceeds from the spirit of Antichrist.
…
Is it not possible that we cling too closely to our own favourite presentation of the gospel, and to a type of preaching which was all very well in its own time and place and for the social set-up for which it was originally intended? Is there not after all an element of truth in the contention that our preaching is too dogmatic, and hopelessly irrelevant to life? (pp35-6)

As much as it could be the well-aimed critique of an emerging church leader (or me) on the American protestant church, it’s not. It’s Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German theologian executed under Hitler in 1945. I was excited to be forced to read his classic The Cost of Discipleship in my NT class, because it’s been on my list for a while. He says so many things worth noting, that I think I’ll create a series of posts just using quotes of his.