Bonhoeffer says in the preface: “In times of church renewal holy scripture naturally becomes richer in content for us.

Unfortunately, a point that is sometimes lost is that a good portion of Discipleship is scriptural exegesis, centrally, the Sermon on the Mount. “Our struggle today is for costly grace.” Empty faith will not do obedience is required: “Only the believer obeys, and only the obedient believes.” And this obedience may cost us our lives: “Whenever Christ calls us, his call leads us to death.” The effect of these moments is unavoidably intensified by our retrospective knowledge of the course Bonhoeffer’s life took. “Cheap grace is the mortal enemy of our church,” he says. The breath-taking opening chapters of Discipleship abound with memorable lines and provocative ideas. This same question, I would like to suggest, is at the heart of his classic book, Discipleship. In Christ’s presence, the only appropriate question is: who are you? This “who” question is at the heart of his Christology. Because in Christology we are dealing with the present Christ, we cannot ask about him in a detached way. For Bonhoeffer, Christ is God-with-us he is present by virtue of who he eternally is. Even his earliest works – which are near-impenetrable pieces of academic theology – revolve around his account of Christ’s real presence as the church: “Christ existing as community.” When he turns to the topic of Christology in 1933, it is hardly surprising that he speaks of the person of Christ in terms of his personal presence.

The theme of Christ’s presence is one of the most prominent and consistent in Bonhoeffer’s thought.

Life together bonhoeffer sparknotes