In the Shadow of a Rugged Cross
Reflections on the Spirituality of Dietrich Bonhoeffer
- Prayer & Spiritual Formation
- Publisher: Cascade Books (Wipf and Stock)
- Published: 2025
FritzSearch.com earns a commission on purchases made through Bookshop.org links.
Publisher's Description
Dietrich Bonhoeffer is well-known for his resistance to Hitler's Nazification of the Lutheran Church in Germany and his opposition to Hitler's broader political agenda. He is also celebrated as an innovative theologian and as a faithful pastor. His Cost of Discipleship is now a Christian classic. What animated Bonhoeffer's life and mission was a profound christological spirituality. This accessible approach to Bonhoeffer's spiritual reflections throughout all of his writings makes them an inspirational resource for all who seek to follow Christ in costly service and prophetic witness.
Endorsements (3)
“Charles Ringma’s book, In the Shadow of a Rugged Cross, has been a gift for me. Ringma (re)introduces us to Bonhoeffer’s piety, spiritual practices, and heroic action. [He does this] to help us live in the midst of our contemporary turmoil, a context which he pointedly and sensitively depicts. And he does this by grounding his reflections in Bonhoeffer’s texts, allowing a broader theological vision to situate or contextualize the quotable Bonhoeffer quotes. Bonhoeffer hoped Christians in his time would pray and act. This book can help us to do so in our time.”
“Christian formation is sometimes reduced to a few techniques or straight pathways. This book provides an alternative. By focusing on how Bonhoeffer confronted the misshaping powers of his day through his life, thought and actions, Ringma develops a robust, winding, full-orbed pathway of Christian formation that both avoids trite or simple solutions and equips us to face the powers of our secularized Western cultures. Ringma opens us up to embrace a more mature and transformational spirituality. And God knows that we need to find and take this road much less travelled if we are going to be the people of the Way in our present cultural context.”
“From his deep and long engagement with Bonhoeffer’s writings, Charles Ringma offers us spiritual themes and insights from a protestant saint appropriate to our volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world. This is a masterful interpretation of a Christ-centered piety that is personal and ecclesial, radical yet real, contemplative and compassionate, prophetic yet hopeful. Take, read, then pray and act!”
See something wrong on this page? Report a problem