Faith Seeking Understanding: A Podcast on Christian Faith and 21st Century Life

In his Letters and Papers from Prison, Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes, "Never again will we try to persuade the stupid person with reasons, for it is senseless and dangerous." What does Bonhoeffer mean by "stupidity?" Is he referring to those who lack intelligence or is it something more complicated? Who is he referring to in his context of Nazi Germany? Pidge and Allan discuss the matter.

The Confessing Church was formed in Germany in May 1934 as an alternative to the German Nationalist Church which was complicit with Nazism. Dietrich would play a key role in its formation and work.

In 1930, Dietrich spends a year in New York City. He spends time in Harlem with the black community there. One of the shocking incidents that happens to Bonhoeffer is that one night he and an African American friend are refused service at a restaurant because of his friend's skin color. Bonhoeffer cannot fathom this.

In this episode of A Prophet with Honor, Pidge and Allan reflect on Dietrich's time in Harlem and how it transformed his life and theology.

On this episode of Calmly Considered, Michael and Allan discuss deconstruction particularly as it relates to religion and faith. What is deconstruction? Is it new or something that's been around for a long time? Is deconstruction present in the Bible? Was Jesus a deconstructionist?

In 1930, Dietrich comes to the United States for a year of study at Union Theological Seminary in New York. It will be a formative experience that he will take back to Germany.

In episode five of fifteen, Pidge and Allan reflect on Bonhoeffer’s transformative experience in America.

On this episode of Courageous Conversations, we interview Christy Staats of the National Immigration Forum. We discuss the current situation at the border between the United States and Mexico and separate fact from fiction. Christy also offers a Christian perspective on immigration and how the followers of Jesus can respond to those seeking asylum.

In 1939, Dietrich Bonhoeffer travels to New York for a second time hoping to avoid being drafted into the German army. When he arrives, he immediately begins to regret it, feeling he has abandoned his friends and the cause of the resistance. Six weeks later, he returns to Germany to continue the struggle.

Episode four of A Prophet with Honor, looks at Dietrich Bonhoeffer's life as a secret agent for the resistance until his imprisonment and execution.

In January 1933, Adolf Hitler is made Chancellor of Germany. Two days later, while Dietrich is giving a radio address critical of the Nazis, the broadcast is taken off the air and Bonhoeffer has a direct encounter with Hitler's fascism.

On episode three of A Prophet with Honor, Allan and Pidge highlight the important events of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's life from 1933-1937.

On April 1, 1933, the Nazis proclaimed a boycott of Jewish businesses in Germany in an attempt to intimidate German Jews and discourage others from doing business with Jews. The morning of April 1st, Dietrich's 91 year old grandmother, Julie went into town passing Nazi guards entering a Jewish owned department store and purchasing what she desired. She said, "No one is going to tell where I can and cannot shop."

In the second of fifteen episodes on Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Allan and Pidge converse over the important details of Dietrich's Life from his birth in 1906 to the eve of Hitler's rise to power in Germany.

On this episode of Calmly Considered, Michael and Allan discuss today's media in America and whether or not it can be trusted to give to the public a reliable picture of newsworthy events. They also ponder the implications for Christians who believe in telling and discerning the truth in a world of information overload.

Episode Visuals: Media Bias Chart, Ground News.