“We ought not to be in too much of a hurry here to speak piously of God’s will and guidance. It is obvious, and it should not be ignored, that it is your own very human wills that are at work here, celebrating their triumph; the course that you are taking at the outset is one that you have chosen for yourselves…”

German Lutheran pastor, theologian and anti-Nazi dissident

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor, neo-orthodox theologian and anti-Nazi dissident, active in the 20th century. He was a founding member of the Confessing Church, and his writings made him widely known beyond theology. He is especially remembered for work on Christianity in the secular world, and for The Cost of Discipleship, published in 1937 and often described as a modern classic. He also stood firmly against the Nazi dictatorship, speaking out against the euthanasia program and the persecution of Jews. Arrested by the Gestapo in April 1943, he was held at Tegel Prison for a year and a half before being moved to Flossenbürg concentration camp.