The Mystery of Holy Night (Book Review)


Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Mystery of Holy Night, edited by Manfred Weber, translated by Peter Heinegg, New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company, ISBN 0-8245-1591-9, $14.95, pp. 47.

This is a short book containing the thoughts of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the well-known German theologian? and pastor. The book also has a number of images connected with Christmas but which have no connection either with Bonhoeffer or his writings. They merely act as stimuli for further reflection on Christmas. Such stimuli can only be helpful to people who have an eye for art and are aware of the didactic personality of art. For the rest of us, a commentary would help. Bonhoeffer’s thoughts are wonderful and I really felt inspired by reading his words. The editor has not arranged the material and hence the result is just an amalgam of words interspersed with pictures. The positive thing is that he has provided a detailed bibliography of sources at the end.
Honestly, the book doesn’t really have the capacity to prepare one for the feast of Christmas except that it helps to situate and shed some light on the importance of Christmas. 

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