Eberhard Bethge (August 28, 1909 – March 18, 2000) was a German theologian and pastor, best known for being the close friend and biographer of the theologian and
anti-Nazi
Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers wer ...
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (; 4 February 1906 – 9 April 1945) was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian and anti-Nazi dissident who was a key founding member of the Confessing Church. His writings on Christianity's role in the secular world have ...
.
Early life
Bethge was born in
Warchau, Landkreis Jerichow II,
Province of Saxony
The Province of Saxony (german: link=no, Provinz Sachsen), also known as Prussian Saxony () was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and later the Free State of Prussia from 1816 until 1944. Its capital was Magdeburg.
It was formed by the merge ...
, the Kingdom of
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
, near
Magdeburg
Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river.
Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebur ...
, on August 29, 1909. He attended several universities, as is customary for theology students in Germany, before attending the underground
Finkenwalde Seminary in
Pomerania
Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...
where Bonhoeffer taught in the name of Germany's
Confessing Church
The Confessing Church (german: link=no, Bekennende Kirche, ) was a movement within German Protestantism during Nazi Germany that arose in opposition to government-sponsored efforts to unify all Protestant churches into a single pro-Nazi German E ...
(part of the anti-Nazi resistance). Bethge became Bonhoeffer's close friend and confidant. With the help of pietist congregations within the
old-Prussian Ecclesiastical Province of Pomerania
The Pomeranian Evangelical Church (german: link=no, Pommersche Evangelische Kirche; PEK) was a Protestant Landeskirche, regional church in the Germany, German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, serving the citizens living in Hither Pomerania. The Po ...
the seminary would be relocated twice after Nazi-imposed closures.
Resistance
Although a member of the
Resistance
Resistance may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Comics
* Either of two similarly named but otherwise unrelated comic book series, both published by Wildstorm:
** ''Resistance'' (comics), based on the video game of the same title
** ''T ...
, Bethge was drafted to serve in the German army during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. He was later arrested, along with dozens of other resisters, after the failed attempt to kill
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
on July 20, 1944, but he was rescued by Soviet troops shortly before his scheduled trial.
Professor
After the war, he spent several years as pastor for the same German-speaking congregation in
Sydenham Sydenham may refer to:
Places Australia
* Sydenham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney
** Sydenham railway station, Sydney
* Sydenham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne
** Sydenham railway line, the name of the Sunbury railway line, Melbourne ...
,
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, that Bonhoeffer had served from 1933 to 1935. From 1961 to his retirement in 1975, Bethge was the Director of the 'Pastoral College' of one of the
Protestant regional churches in Germany, the
Evangelical Church in the Rhineland
Protestant Church in the Rhineland (german: Evangelische Kirche im Rheinland; EKiR) is a United Protestant church body in parts of the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland and Hesse (Wetzlar). This is actually th ...
, charged with continuing ministerial education – a task which no doubt had an element of continuity with his and Bonhoeffer's work in the seminary in Pomerania in the 1930s.
Although Bethge was never formally appointed to a university post, he held various academic posts and lectureships, including stints at
Harvard Divinity School
Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the academic study of religion or for leadership roles in religion, gov ...
,
Chicago Theological Seminary
Founded in 1855, the Chicago Theological Seminary (CTS) is the oldest higher education institution in the City of Chicago and was established with two principal goals: first, to educate pastors who would minister to people living on the new weste ...
, and
Union Theological Seminary in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
; he was named 'Honorary Professor' at the
University of Bonn
The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine U ...
in 1969. While at CTS, Bethge traveled to Kalamazoo, Michigan, in late October 1966 for an evening supper program attended by local college and university students. He continued to give lectures until a year before his death in 2000.
Bethge is best known as the author of the definitive biography ''Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Man of Vision, Man of Courage''. (A new English-language version, ''Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A Biography'', was released in February 2000, edited by Victoria J. Barnett, with corrections of some translation errors, as well as some added material from the German edition, most notably on Bonhoeffer's childhood, that had never appeared in English.) Bethge also collected and edited Bonhoeffer's ''Letters and Papers from Prison'' (most of the which were addressed to him), as well as the unfinished effort Bonhoeffer considered his main life's work: ''
Ethics
Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns m ...
''. In 1995, Bethge edited ''Friendship and Resistance: Essays on Dietrich Bonhoeffer''.
Given that Bonhoeffer was hanged by the Nazis at 39, a relatively young age, as well as the fact that Bonhoeffer's work was mostly "behind the scenes" rather than in the forefront of the
Confessing Church
The Confessing Church (german: link=no, Bekennende Kirche, ) was a movement within German Protestantism during Nazi Germany that arose in opposition to government-sponsored efforts to unify all Protestant churches into a single pro-Nazi German E ...
movement, he was largely unknown in Germany and internationally. It was due to Bethge's untiring efforts that Bonhoeffer's theological and political legacy was preserved for future generations, and that Bonhoeffer became known as a key theologian of the 20th century.
In 1991 Bethge wrote an article for ''Christian History'' titled "My Friend Dietrich." Reflecting on his former companion's work, he admitted that "the language, concepts, and thought paradigms of this man are a half century old and older... We find in him no answers to many of our most pressing questions... Even the world changed by half a century has not diminished, but rather expanded, the question of whether and how we are responsible citizens. Are we mature members of our society, states, corporations, and churches?... Unavoidably, we corrupt or renew the Christian claim and faith. Even in the nuclear, ecological, and feminist age, no one eludes the demands of citizenship with which Bonhoeffer struggled."
Bethge died at
Wachtberg
Wachtberg is a municipality in the Rhein-Sieg district, of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated approximately 15 km south of Bonn. In 2021 the Wachtberg municipality had approximately 20,352 inhabitants.
The municipality was form ...
,
Rhein-Sieg-Kreis
The Rhein-Sieg-Kreis ( ksh, Rhein-Siech-Kreis) is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the south of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis, Oberbergischer Kreis, Altenkirchen, Neuwied, Ahrweiler, Euskirchen, ...
(District), of
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. He was survived by his wife Renate (Dietrich Bonhoeffer's niece), as well as by a son and two daughters. He is buried at Bad Godesberg, a municipal district of Bonn, Germany.
Works
*Eberhard Bethge (ed.), ''Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Letters and From Prison'', New greatly enlarged edition.'' (New Y Papersork: Touchstone (Simon & Schuster), 1997).
*Eberhard Bethge, ''Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Theologian, Christian, Man for His Times: A Biography.'' Rev. ed. (Minneapolis, Fortress Press, 2000).
References
Further reading
*John de Gruchy, ''Daring, Trusting Spirit: Bonhoeffer's Friend Eberhard Bethge.'' (London: SCM, 2005)
*Tobias Korenke, "Widerstand und Ergebung", in: ''Die Politische Meinung,'' No. 366, May 2000.
External links
Preview of Bethge's article in Christian History: My friend Dietrich
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bethge, Eberhard
1909 births
2000 deaths
German biographers
Male biographers
German editors
20th-century German Lutheran clergy
German Lutheran theologians
Protestants in the German Resistance
Harvard Divinity School faculty
People from the Province of Saxony
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
20th-century German Protestant theologians
20th-century biographers
Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany