---
title: "20 Bonhoeffer Quotes By Eric Metaxas"
description: "20 Bonhoeffer quotes by Eric Metaxas. Plus more from Eric Metaxas and more Bonhoeffer sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f7/eric-metaxas-1651_bonhoeffer_if-you-board-the-wrong-train-it-is-no-us_129819.png"
---

> [“If you board the wrong train it is no use running along the corridor in the opposite direction. —DIETRICH BONHOEFFER”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-metaxas/if-you-board-the-wrong-train-it-is-no-use-running-along-the-corridor/)

[Eric Metaxas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-metaxas/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f7/eric-metaxas-1651_bonhoeffer_if-you-board-the-wrong-train-it-is-no-us_129819.png)

> [Christianity contains within itself a germ hostile to the Church (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-metaxas/christianity-contains-within-itself-a-germ-hostile-to-the-church/)

[Eric Metaxas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-metaxas/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e1/eric-metaxas-1651_bonhoeffer_christianity-contains-within-itself-a-ge_2208125.png)

> [Bonhoeffer thought of death as the last station on the road to freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-metaxas/bonhoeffer-thought-of-death-as-the-last-station-on-the-road-to-freedom/)

[Eric Metaxas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-metaxas/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59e/eric-metaxas-1651_bonhoeffer_bonhoeffer-thought-of-death-as-the-last_1699846.png)

> [Wilberforce, because of his faith, stood up for African slaves. Bonhoeffer, because of his faith, stood up for Jews. That's Christianity to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-metaxas/wilberforce-because-of-his-faith-stood-up-for-african-slaves/)

[Eric Metaxas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-metaxas/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fe/eric-metaxas-1651_bonhoeffer_wilberforce-because-of-his-faith-stood-u_804717.png)

> [“Bonhoeffer himself knew that in all of it, he was being utterly obedient to God. For him, that was the cantus firmus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-metaxas/bonhoeffer-himself-knew-that-in-all-of-it-he-was-being-utterly/)

[Eric Metaxas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-metaxas/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c23/eric-metaxas-1651_bonhoeffer_bonhoeffer-himself-knew-that-in-all-of-i_1950019.png)

> [“Bonhoeffer's experiences with African American community underscored an idea that was developing in his mind: the only real piety and power that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-metaxas/bonhoeffer-s-experiences-with-african-american-community-underscored/)

[Eric Metaxas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-metaxas/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/afb/eric-metaxas-1651_african-american_bonhoeffer-s-experiences-with-african-am_464227.jpg)

> [“The rich world of his ancestors set the standards for Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s own life. It gave him a certainty of judgment and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-metaxas/the-rich-world-of-his-ancestors-set-the-standards-for-dietrich/)

[Eric Metaxas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-metaxas/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c05/eric-metaxas-1651_bonhoeffer_the-rich-world-of-his-ancestors-set-the_364521.png)

> [“(Bonhoeffer's) change was not an ungainly, embarrassing leap from which he would have to retreat slightly when he gained more maturity and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-metaxas/bonhoeffer-s-change-was-not-an-ungainly-embarrassing-leap-from-which/)

[Eric Metaxas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-metaxas/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/96c/eric-metaxas-1651_bonhoeffer_bonhoeffer-s-change-was-not-an-ungainly_41152.png)

> [“We will have to move through a very deep valley, I believe much deeper than we can sense now, before we will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-metaxas/we-will-have-to-move-through-a-very-deep-valley-i-believe-much-deeper/)

[Eric Metaxas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-metaxas/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15e/eric-metaxas-1651_bonhoeffer_we-will-have-to-move-through-a-very-deep_1358890.jpg)

> [“Bonhoeffer’s theology had always leaned toward the incarnational view that did not eschew “the world,” but that saw it as God’s good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-metaxas/bonhoeffer-s-theology-had-always-leaned-toward-the-incarnational-view/)

[Eric Metaxas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-metaxas/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/246/eric-metaxas-1651_bonhoeffer_bonhoeffer-s-theology-had-always-leaned_2166576.png)

> [“Death reveals that the world is not as it should be but that it stands in need of redemption. Christ alone is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-metaxas/death-reveals-that-the-world-is-not-as-it-should-be-but-that-it-2/)

[Eric Metaxas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-metaxas/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/356/eric-metaxas-1651_bonhoeffer_death-reveals-that-the-world-is-not-as-i_1409837.png)

> [“In any case, he had long felt that Gandhi could provide some clues for him. Gandhi was not a Christian, but he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-metaxas/in-any-case-he-had-long-felt-that-gandhi-could-provide-some-clues-for/)

[Eric Metaxas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-metaxas/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d9e/eric-metaxas-1651_bonhoeffer_in-any-case-he-had-long-felt-that-gandhi_2220256.png)

> [The family trees of Karl and Paula Bonhoeffer are everywhere so laden with figures of accomplishment that one might expect future generations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-metaxas/the-family-trees-of-karl-and-paula-bonhoeffer-are-everywhere-so-laden/)

[Eric Metaxas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-metaxas/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39d/eric-metaxas-1651_accomplishment_the-family-trees-of-karl-and-paula-bonho_649331.jpg)

> [“In his Bible that day or the next, Bonhoeffer was reading Psalm 74. This was the text he happened to be meditating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-metaxas/in-his-bible-that-day-or-the-next-bonhoeffer-was-reading-psalm-74/)

[Eric Metaxas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-metaxas/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/592/eric-metaxas-1651_bible_in-his-bible-that-day-or-the-next-bonhoe_860581.png)

> [“Bonhoeffer’s three conclusions—that the church must question the state, help the state’s victims, and work against the state, if necessary—were too much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-metaxas/bonhoeffer-s-three-conclusions-that-the-church-must-question-the/)

[Eric Metaxas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-metaxas/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/946/eric-metaxas-1651_bonhoeffer_bonhoeffer-s-three-conclusions-that-the_2312790.png)

> [“Describing Bonhoeffer's demeanor on returning to danger in Germany rather than safety in America, with "with a strong and joyful firmness such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-metaxas/describing-bonhoeffer-s-demeanor-on-returning-to-danger-in-germany/)

[Eric Metaxas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-metaxas/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca4/eric-metaxas-1651_bonhoeffer_describing-bonhoeffer-s-demeanor-on-retu_723443.jpg)

> [...when someone asked Bonhoeffer whether he shouldn't join the German Christians in order to work against them from within, he answered that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-metaxas/when-someone-asked-bonhoeffer-whether-he-shouldn-t-join-the-german/)

[Eric Metaxas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-metaxas/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e96/eric-metaxas-1651_boards_when-someone-asked-bonhoeffer-whether-he_3215906.jpg)

> [Do not try to make the Bible relevant. Its relevance is axiomatic. Do not defend God's word, but testify to it. Trust…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-metaxas/do-not-try-to-make-the-bible-relevant-its-relevance-is-axiomatic-do/)

[Eric Metaxas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-metaxas/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/78e/eric-metaxas-1651_bible_do-not-try-to-make-the-bible-relevant-it_1347092.png)

> [Bonhoeffer knew that twisting the Truth to sell it more effectively was inexcusable. For Bonhoeffer the challenge was to present the Truth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-metaxas/bonhoeffer-knew-that-twisting-the-truth-to-sell-it-more-effectively/)

[Eric Metaxas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-metaxas/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fed/eric-metaxas-1651_attempting_bonhoeffer-knew-that-twisting-the-truth_751715.jpg)

> [“Bonhoeffer’s rule never to speak about a brother in his absence. Bonhoeffer knew that living according to what Jesus taught in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-metaxas/bonhoeffer-s-rule-never-to-speak-about-a-brother-in-his-absence/)

[Eric Metaxas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-metaxas/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/190/eric-metaxas-1651_bonhoeffer_bonhoeffer-s-rule-never-to-speak-about-a_1478557.png)

## Other authors on Bonhoeffer

## More by Eric Metaxas

> [“If we believe miracles cannot happen today but happened to our distant ancestors, what we really seem to be saying is not that miracles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-metaxas/if-we-believe-miracles-cannot-happen-today-but-happened-to-our/)

[Eric Metaxas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-metaxas/)

> [“(Bonhoeffer's) change was not an ungainly, embarrassing leap from which he would have to retreat slightly when he gained more maturity and perspective. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-metaxas/bonhoeffer-s-change-was-not-an-ungainly-embarrassing-leap-from-which/)

[Eric Metaxas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-metaxas/)

> [Religious liberty is the salt and light that has made us the great nation we are in a whole number of ways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-metaxas/religious-liberty-is-the-salt-and-light-that-has-made-us-the-great/)

[Eric Metaxas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-metaxas/)

> [“But we know that true grace comes to us by costly sacrifice. And if God was willing to go to the cross and endure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-metaxas/but-we-know-that-true-grace-comes-to-us-by-costly-sacrifice-and-if/)

[Eric Metaxas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-metaxas/)

> [Created in the awesome image of God, men and women know that life has a meaning beyond 'eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-metaxas/created-in-the-awesome-image-of-god-men-and-women-know-that-life-has/)

[Eric Metaxas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-metaxas/)

> [I have no doubt, if people are really seeking the big questions, it will lead them to the Lord.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-metaxas/i-have-no-doubt-if-people-are-really-seeking-the-big-questions-it/)

[Eric Metaxas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-metaxas/)

> [“human beings were taken from the earth and don’t just consist of thin air and thoughts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-metaxas/human-beings-were-taken-from-the-earth-and-don-t-just-consist-of-thin/)

[Eric Metaxas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-metaxas/)

> [“If you board the wrong train it is no use running along the corridor in the opposite direction. —DIETRICH BONHOEFFER”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-metaxas/if-you-board-the-wrong-train-it-is-no-use-running-along-the-corridor/)

[Eric Metaxas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-metaxas/)

> [“Some illustrations of the fine-tuning of our universe deal with the so-called four fundamental forces physicists talk about, and with which most laymen are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-metaxas/some-illustrations-of-the-fine-tuning-of-our-universe-deal-with-the/)

[Eric Metaxas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-metaxas/)

> [“Many years later, after Niemöller had been imprisoned for eight years in concentration camps as the personal prisoner of Adolf Hitler, he penned these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-metaxas/many-years-later-after-niem-ller-had-been-imprisoned-for-eight-years/)

[Eric Metaxas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-metaxas/)

> [Today, Wilberforce University welcomes many of America's poorest and most underserved populations and transforms their educational dreams into realities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-metaxas/today-wilberforce-university-welcomes-many-of-america-s-poorest-and/)

[Eric Metaxas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-metaxas/)

> [“Although I know full well and hear every day that many people think little of me and say that I only write little pamphlets…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-metaxas/although-i-know-full-well-and-hear-every-day-that-many-people-think/)

[Eric Metaxas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-metaxas/)

> [“The line between courageous faith and foolish idealism is, almost by definition, one angstrom wide.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-metaxas/the-line-between-courageous-faith-and-foolish-idealism-is-almost-by/)

[Eric Metaxas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-metaxas/)

> [Part of my life's thesis is that we live in a culture that has bought into the patently silly idea that there is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-metaxas/part-of-my-life-s-thesis-is-that-we-live-in-a-culture-that-has-bought/)

[Eric Metaxas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-metaxas/)

> [God designed humans to live in community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-metaxas/god-designed-humans-to-live-in-community/)

[Eric Metaxas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-metaxas/)

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                        "text": "“In any case, he had long felt that Gandhi could provide some clues for him. Gandhi was not a Christian, but he lived in a community that endeavored to live by the teachings set forth in the Sermon on the Mount. Bonhoeffer wanted Christians to live that way. So he would travel to India to see it practiced by non-Christians.”",
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                        "text": "The family trees of Karl and Paula Bonhoeffer are everywhere so laden with figures of accomplishment that one might expect future generations to be burdened by it all. But the welter of wonderfulness that was their heritage seemed to have been a boon, one that buoyed them up so that each child seems not only to have stood on the shoulders of giants but also to have danced on them.",
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                        "text": "“In his Bible that day or the next, Bonhoeffer was reading Psalm 74. This was the text he happened to be meditating upon. What he read startled him, and with his pencil he put a vertical line in the margin to mark it, with an exclamation point next to the line. He also underlined the second half of verse 8: “Sie verbrennen alle Häuser Gottes im Lande.” (“They burn all of God’s houses in the land.”) Next to the verse he wrote: “9.11.38.” Bonhoeffer saw this as an example of God speaking to him, and to the Christians in Germany. God was telling him something through his Word that day, and as he meditated and prayed, Bonhoeffer realized that the synagogues that had been burned in Germany were God’s own. This was when Bonhoeffer most clearly saw the connection: to lift one’s hand against the Jews was to lift one’s hand against God himself. The Nazis were attacking God by attacking his people. The Jews in Germany were not only not God’s enemies; they were his beloved children. Quite literally, this was a revelation.”",
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                        "text": "...when someone asked Bonhoeffer whether he shouldn't join the German Christians in order to work against them from within, he answered that he couldn't. 'If you board the wrong train,' he said, 'it is no use running along the corridor in the opposite direction.",
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                        "text": "Do not try to make the Bible relevant. Its relevance is axiomatic. Do not defend God's word, but testify to it. Trust to the Word. It is a ship loaded to the very limits of its capacity. -Dietrich Bonhoeffer",
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