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God Is In The Manger: Reflections On Advent And Christmas (2010)

by Dietrich Bonhoeffer(Favorite Author)

4.15 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0664234291 (ISBN13: 9780664234294)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Westminster John Knox Press

review 1: I really enjoy reading Bonhoeffer materials, but this collection of material was difficult to really follow, and I think that the connection to Advent and Christmas is really forced and not really the purpose for the writings. This is not an actual book written by Bonhoeffer, but rather, it is a collection of different writings by Bonhoeffer and others collected to be a daily Advent reading. I still like Bonhoeffer's writings, but this is not a good representation of them.
review 2: This is not your average Christmas devotional. This book does not bounce through the events leading up to and following the birth of Jesus like I expected from a book subtitled "Reflections on advent and Christmas".For one, the writing is heavy, deep, originally written in the 194... more0's in German by someone who stood up against Hitler's control of Germany at the time. Some of the insights in this book come from the writer's experience in prison, where he was hanged at 39 years of age, less than three weeks before Hitler committed suicide. There are 40 devotionals altogether, 4 weeks preceding Christmas day and 12 days after. Each week has a theme, each day a short excerpt from a sermon, a snippet of a letter (like to his fiance), & related Scripture. I found the layout very easy to use.The content is remarkable. The first week is about "Waiting", for example. "For the greatest, most profound, tenderest things in the world, we must wait. It happens not here in a storm but according to the divine laws of sprouting, growing, and becoming."Other themes are Mystery, Redemption & Incarnation. Altogether these devotionals expand the expectation and celebration of the Advent and Christmas. Did I agree with everything Bonhoeffer said? No, actually. But even where I disagreed, I was provoked to thought about why and how. His opinions are strong coming from his hard experience, but the small, devotional doses are just right. It's not a book full of ideas to swallow hole, it's a book to enter with your brain turned on (as I say to my kids) to examine what the Bible says, what you believe, and a readiness to celebrate Jesus as never before.My Rating: 4.5 - Good book for your library, to read & reference over and over. less

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