Letters to London: Bonhoeffer’s Previously Unpublished Correspondence with Ernst Cromwell, 1935-1936

In the autumn of 1933 the twenty-seven-year-old Bonhoeffer accepted a two-year appointment as a pastor of two German-speaking Protestant churches in London. It was during this time that he began his friendship with Ernst Cromwell, one of his confirmands–a friendship that is now documented in these letters published for the first time here in this book (most of which are dated between March 20,1935 and March 27, 1936). Seventy-five years later, the publication of these letters throws light on several aspects of Bonhoeffer’s life and thought, including: the development of his views on the practice of silence; his practice of catechesis and confirmation; the impact on his personal relationships of his involvement in the Church struggle; his understanding of friendship, and in particular friendship that values the potential contribution of young people to living out the truth-telling of Jesus Christ.