Oh Bonhoeffer...

So I'm reading this book called Life Together by an amazing disciple of Christ, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. If you have not heard Bonhoeffer's life story, you should check it out. Despite his apparent relaxed and bespectacled nature* in the photo above, Bonhoeffer's writing is some of the most challenging I have found. It challenges me to to act differently, yes, but it also challenges me at the core of how I think about God. As an example, in the chapter I am currently reading (and I mean currently; the book is open mid-chapter next to me as I type this) about the essential parts of fellowship, Bonhoeffer writes of the reading of scripture:

"[During consecutive reading of Biblical books] A complete reversal occurs. It is not in our life that God's help and presence must still be proved, but rather God's presence and help have been demonstrated for us in the life of Jesus Christ. It is in fact more important for us to know what God did to Israel, to His Son Jesus Christ, than to seek what God intends for us today. The fact that Jesus Christ died is more important than the fact that I shall die, and the fact that Jesus Christ rose from the dead is the sole ground of my hope that I, too, shall be raised on the Last Day. Our salvation is 'external to ourselves.' I find no salvation in my own life history, but only in the history of Jesus Christ. Only he who allows himself to be found in Jesus Christ, in his incarnation, his Cross, and his resurrection, is with God and God with him. " (54)

Earlier in the chapter, he challenges our appetite for small amounts of detail-focused scripture.

"When the practice [of reading a chapter of the Old Testament and at least half a chapter of the New Testament every morning and evening] is first tried, of course, most people will find even this modest measure too much and will offer resistance. It will be objected that it is impossible to take in and retain such an abundance of ideas and associations, that it even shows disrespect to God's Word to read more than one can seriously assimilate. These objections will cause us quite readily to content ourselves again with reading only verses.

...

"Not only the young Christian but also the adult Christian will complain that the Scripture reading is often too long for him and that much therein he does not understand. To this it must be said that for the mature Christian every Scripture reading will be 'too long,' even the shortest one. What does this mean? The Scripture is a whole and every word, every sentence possesses such multiple relationships with the whole that it is impossible always to keep the whole in view when listening to details. It becomes apparent, therefore, that the whole of Scriptures and hence every passage in it as well far surpasses our understanding. It is good for us to be daily reminded of this fact, which again points to Jesus Christ himself, 'in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge' (Col, 2:3). So perhaps one may say that every Scripture reading always has to be somewhat 'too long,' because it is not merely proverbial and practical wisdom but God's revealing Word in Jesus Christ." (51-53)

I guess I haven't really processed this stuff enough to be able to offer any sort of humble wisdom here, but I just thought I should share those quotes. Let them challenge the way you read scripture and the way you think about God and how He reveals His Truth to us. I'm gonna go let my brain stop hurting for a bit.

*I used "bespectacled" just because I think it's a fun word. That is all.