I’ve just finished reading Strange Glory, a biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, by Charles Marsh. What emerges is a somewhat detached (to me) view of a complex man living in apocalyptic times. Bonhoeffer’s spiritual journey began with an early yearning for the eternal in time. The influence of his family’s expectations on the methodical character of his theological exploration was well described. I would have liked (if it’s in fact available), more detail about his interaction with his twin, Sabine, and his mother. I suspect more light might’ve been shed on the nature and motivations of his later relationships with Bethge and Wedemeyer. 

Marsh does a wonderful job of exploring and explaining the social and political landscape within which Bonhoeffer lived. I was particularly grateful for his ability to limit his narrative to descriptions of what was germane to Bonhoeffer’s situation.

From his upbringing to his death so heartbreakingly close to the end of the war, the trajectory of Bonhoeffer from a child of privilege to an authentic human Christian, witnessing without pretense or theological ostentation to the truth in the darkest of circumstances, emerges with clarity. Some of the more tedious details might have profitably been omitted, e.g., an argument with an unnamed border guard over an unknown annoyance; the biographer’s insinuation of an erotic relationship with Bethge; Bonhoeffer’s sartorial quiddities and the peregrinations of his laundry.

Marsh mentions having written his doctoral dissertation of Bonhoeffer’s philosophy. It would thus behoove the reader to have some knowledge of Bonhoeffer’s philosophy and his writings (especially Life Together) before delving into this biography, since some of it will be assumed to be commonly known and hence left unstated explicitly. The title itself comes from one of Bonhoeffer’s sermons: “It is a strange glory, the glory of this God.”

Errors in fact were few, e.g., Henry Sloane Coffin lived in Lakeville, CT, not Lakeland [no such place in CT], the United States Air Force didn’t exist until 1947 [it was the US Army Air Corps and US Army Air Forces up to then], and there might be a doctrinal quibble or two for folks of a certain mind to gnaw upon. By and large the book gives the impression of having been well-researched.