The Polyphony of Life: Bonhoeffer's Theology of Music - Softcover

Pangritz, Andreas

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1532661525 ISBN 13: 9781532661525

Publisher: Cascade Books, 2019

Synopsis

This fascinating book, which explores an intriguing idea formulated by Dietrich Bonhoeffer in the very last months of his life, has up until now been available only to German readers. Since Polyphonie des Lebens first appeared twenty-five years ago, a whole new generation of scholars has come into contact, in English as well as in the original German, with the entire collection of his works, as well as with a huge body of Bonhoeffer studies that have provided an exhaustive assessment of the man and his theology. But now with this brand new English edition of a book that explores a neglected but significant aspect of his life, readers may be surprised to discover how Bonhoeffer’s interest in music influenced him—he seriously considered becoming a professional musician as a teenager, but chose the path of theology instead—and that not only did music provide him with a rich inner world of solace during his daily life while confined in Tegel Prison during 1943 and 1944, but music also lent him a remarkable metaphor for the fragmentary nature of life itself. In Polyphony of Life Andreas Pangritz explores Bonhoeffer’s musical development and its impact on his theology and so fills in an important gap in the record of Bonhoeffer’s life and thought.

About this title

About the Authors

Andreas Pangritz is Professor of Protestant Systematic Theology and Director of the Ecumenical Institute at the University of Bonn. He has written widely on theologians such as Barth, Bonhoeffer, Gollwitzer, and Marquardt. His books include "Der ganz andere Gott will eine ganz andere Gesellschaft" (2018), on Gollwitzer; Theologie und Antisemitismus (2017), on Christian-Jewish relations; and Theological Audacities (coeditor, Pickwick Publications, 2010), on Marquardt.

One of South Africa's most celebrated theologians, John W. de Gruchy is also a woodworker, with pieces in many churches, schools, and homes throughout the country and abroad. Among his recent books are Confessions of a Christian Humanist and Led into Mystery. He and his wife, Isobel, are members of the Volmoed Christian Community near Hermanus, South Africa, where he writes, gives seminars, and does woodworking, while Isobel paints and writes poetry.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cascade Books
• Publication date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1532661525
• ISBN 13: 9781532661525
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 92
• Editor: De Gruchy John W., Morris John