Meditating on the Word

To be clear, this book is not actually written by Bonhoeffer. It is an edited collection of his letters and notes compiled, organized, and translated after Bonhoeffer's death. All of the content in the book is excellent, as all of Bonhoeffer's writing is, but I was not enamored with the way the book was put together.The first section consists of Bonhoeffer's instructions for a particular method of biblical meditation. He explicitly states that this type of meditation is not for sermons or to share with others, but for personal reflection. This method is excellent, and Bonhoeffer both explains it well and argues convincingly for its practice. The majority of the book, however, is a compilation of Bonhoeffer's sermon notes and commentaries on various Psalms. These notes and sermons clearly do not stem from the practice Bonhoeffer outlines at the beginning of the book, but are instead from the "sermon meditation time" he mentions. In fact, reading these sermons may distract from one's personal biblical meditation, as it is easy to now read the Psalms Bonhoeffer preaches with his thoughts in mind rather than one's own.In essence, I appreciated both Bonhoeffer's description of a particular practice of biblical meditation and his comments on various Psalms, but I don't think they should be combined into this single volume.

Despite what others have said, I'm pretty sure that Dietrich Bonhoeffer did write the materials in this book. It has been translated from German into English and edited by David McI. Gracie. The translation/editing has introduced some alterations to the text of Bonhoeffer's writings. Most noticeably Gracie takes on the often laudable task of inclusivity by changing Bonhoeffer's exclusively masculine pronouns through the introduction of feminine pronouns in an alternating pattern with the masculine ones. The way that this change was made, however, is questionable. Changing back and forth from masculine to feminine pronouns in a single reading is very distracting, even annoying. I would have found it more helpful if either masculine or feminine pronouns had been used in entire readings/sections of the text. This way of doing things would not eliminate all distraction (which draws the reader's attention away from Bonhoeffer's text and to the editorial changes), but it would have achieved both inclusivity and a coherence in each reading.

Used as a devotional book. Great book.

Good read about praying through and meditating on the Word of God.

Really good book@

How can I add anything that could describe the words and works of this man of God

Excellent. One of the most life changing books I've read outside ot The Bible.

Bonhoeffer always thought provoking

An short but excellent collection of some of Bonhoeffer's work - excellent and thought-provoking - a book to go over more than once.

Bonhoeffer is always a great read. Love his commitment and seriousness.

the more we try to cram in each day the less quality time we have for ourselves and family. This book is lovely to pick up and meditate on different things, time for reflection, time for quality time for one self

I chose this rating because it is a must for any proper meditation on the scriptures written by one of the most influential men of the 20th century. I would recommend this book and this authorto everyone

Good for meditation