Customer Reviews

Bonhoeffer's the Cost of Discipleship (Shepherd's Notes. Christian Classics)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

The reviews published above are for Bonhoeffer's book, "The Cost of Discipleship." The book shown above, however, is a STUDY COMPANION, and not the book itself. Bonhoeffers' actual book, as marketed by Amazon, can be found by typing 0684815001 (the ISBN) into the search box.

HEAVY DUTY. Sadly, Bonhoeffer describes a Christian life that is totally foreign to me in the depth of that life's total devotion to the person of Jesus Christ. I am mesmerized by his compelling scholarship, and my spirit is in total agreement with his conclusions. I have never read such an in-depth, personalized treatise on the Sermon on the Mount. This book is a new addition to the few titles I have on my "read this book over and over again until the day you die" bookshelf. TRUE MEAT that will feed you and nourish you over and over again. An eye-opening, siren call to my soul for it's complete capitulation and abandonment to my Maker.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer penned a truly magnificent piece of literature when he sat down and wrote The Cost of Discipleship. In this book, Bonhoeffer looks at the teachings of Jesus and uses them as a basis to redefine discipleship as it pertains to Christians. Bonhoeffer's own personal life is an example of how Jesus calls us to live as disciples. The Cost of Discipleship is a must read for any Christian who desires to add to their knowledge of worthwhile theology. However, I will disagree with one of the readers who has a review listed on this book. I do not feel that The Cost of Discipleship should be canonized by any denomination of the Christian Church. In fact, I think Dietrich Bonhoeffer himself would agree with me on this point. Bonhoeffer went through great pains to base this text soley on scripture and I believe that one of the goals of this book is to point the reader to scriptural truths. For those who have not read the book, I would strongly encourage you to read it. It is a theological masterpiece and will serve to build your faith in Christ.

I bought this book thinking it was the actual "Cost of Discipleship" that Bonhoeffer wrote, but it is not! It is only a study guide. Now I have to spend more money for the real thing. Tricky... the commentaries and reviews are the same.

The book The Cost of Discipleship is a must read. However this is not the book. Several of the reviews help to enforce this mislabel. There needs to be something in the title to the effect of "study guide" or something so that people are not spending money on the wrong item. This is dishonest and a poor business practice for Amazon.

This is not Cost of Discipleship... is a summary of the book by another author....They did not explicitly state that... would have been helpful.

This is one of my five all-time favorite books. If you saw my copy, you would know through the pen and highlighter marks that I took copious notes as I read. And I'm not one who just highlights everything. Bonhoeffer states biblical truth in a straightforward manner. Just some of my favorite quotes:

* "Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession...grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate." * "Christianity without the living Christ is inevitably Christianity without discipleship" * "The life of discipleship can only be maintained so long as nothing is allowed to come between Christ and ourselves--neither the law, nor personal piety, nor even the world."

Bonhoeffer was willing to practice what he preached. He had opportunities to escape from the prison where they kept him (for his part in an assasination plot of Hitler), but he stayed and was an example to everyone, even the guards. Himmler had him killed soon before the war ended. Too bad. It would have been nice to have had Bonhoeffer in the latter half of the 20th century. Whether or not I agree with every doctrinal idea he had, though, this is a book that has been a challenge in my own life, and it's one that I ought to reread more often.

As other reviewers have said, the title is misleading. This is a study companion, and not the book by Bonhoeffer.

I actually ordered this by mistake. I wanted the actual book. However, I was pleasantly surprised with the well written outline and summary.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer's "The Cost of Discipleship" is the kind of book so fundamental to the daily challenges of our lives as followers of Christ that one might compare it to cold water in the long, winding desert of 21st century civilization.

Bonhoeffer knew that very few Christians actually knew what it meant to claim allegiance to God, or to Christian values: how unforgivingly opposed the world has been and always will be to true Christianity.
After all, it rejects social mores and the tenets of the world for selfless love, which seems unnatural on the face of it. His distinction between Cheap Grace and Costly Grace is perhaps the most vital part of the book, though the whole text is necessary down to the last letter. Being a Christian means sharing in Christ's life, not attending Church once or twice a week: it means opposing institutional evil--as Bonhoeffer did at the cost of his own basic human needs and eventually his own life in Nazi Germany--right down to one's last breath. This does not mean that the Christian can never have joy or relaxation, of course; it simply means that Christ's edict of love takes place over all else. The person new to theology may want to start with something else, however, as Bonhoeffer is speaking to those who have reached the point of Christ being pretty much the center of their lives. There's nothing that can be said about Bonhoeffer or this book which would match what it holds between it's covers. A must, must read!