--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is always a danger that in our…" description: "\"“There is always a danger that in our asceticism we shall be tempted to imitate the sufferings of Christ. This is a pious but godless ambition, for ben..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8da/dietrich-bonhoeffer-303_quote_there-is-always-a-danger-that-in-our-asc_1035161.jpg" --- # There is always a danger that in our asceticism we shall… ![“There is always a danger that in our asceticism we shall be tempted to imitate the sufferings of Christ. This is a pious but godless ambition, for beneath it there always lurks the notion that it is possible for us to step into Christ's shoes and suffer as he did and kill the old Adam. We are then…” quote by Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8da/dietrich-bonhoeffer-303_quote_there-is-always-a-danger-that-in-our-asc_1035161.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8da/dietrich-bonhoeffer-303_quote_there-is-always-a-danger-that-in-our-asc_1035161.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8da/dietrich-bonhoeffer-303_quote_there-is-always-a-danger-that-in-our-asc_1035161.jpg) > ““There is always a danger that in our asceticism we shall be tempted to imitate the sufferings of Christ. This is a pious but godless ambition, for beneath it there always lurks the notion that it is possible for us to step into Christ's shoes and suffer as he did and kill the old Adam. We are then presuming to undertake that bitter work of eternal redemption which Christ himself wrought for us. The motive of asceticism was more limited--to equip us for better service and deeper humiliation.”” [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Asceticism can become a misguided attempt to emulate Christ’s suffering, turning devotion into a self‑centered quest for redemption rather than service. **In simple terms:** Trying to copy Christ’s pain is a false, self‑focused goal. Key Takeaway Focus on serving others, not on personal suffering. Themes faith humility service spirituality Mood reflective serious Type theological ethical When to use this quote - personal prayer - community service - spiritual formation - leadership training Key Concepts theology asceticism redemption Questions to Reflect On - How can we practice humility without seeking personal martyrdom? - What does true service look like in everyday life? A Different Perspective Such self‑imposed suffering can distract from genuine compassion and practical help. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Asceticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asceticism/) [Asceticism Shall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asceticism-shall-2387437/) [Danger Asceticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/danger-asceticism-2387436/) [Motive Asceticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motive-asceticism-2387435/) [Sufferings Christ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sufferings-christ-926666/) ## Related quotes > [If any man would come after me, let him deny himself." The disciple must say to himself the same words Peter said of Christ…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/if-any-man-would-come-after-me-let-him-deny-himself-the-disciple-must/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [To deny oneself is to be aware only of Christ and no more of self, to see only Him who goes before and no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/to-deny-oneself-is-to-be-aware-only-of-christ-and-no-more-of-self-to/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [If there is no element of asceticism in our lives, if we give free rein to the desires of the flesh (taking care of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/if-there-is-no-element-of-asceticism-in-our-lives-if-we-give-free/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [He feels all our sorrows, needs, and burdens as his own. That is why it is said that the sufferings of believers are called…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-flavel/he-feels-all-our-sorrows-needs-and-burdens-as-his-own-that-is-why-it/) [John Flavel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-flavel/) > [“But little or great, suffering accepted and offered to Our Lord produces peace and serenity. When it is not accepted, the soul is out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-fernandez/but-little-or-great-suffering-accepted-and-offered-to-our-lord/) [Francis Fernandez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-fernandez/) > [“The union between Paul’s sufferings and Christ’s sufferings results in the manifestation of Christ’s life in the person of Paul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-r-marshall/the-union-between-paul-s-sufferings-and-christ-s-sufferings-results/) [Taylor R. Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-r-marshall/) > [Remember the sufferings of Christ, the storms that were weathered... the crown that came from those sufferings which gave new radiance to the faith...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-becket/remember-the-sufferings-of-christ-the-storms-that-were-weathered-the/) [Thomas Becket](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-becket/) > [In consequence of our limited ideas of the sufferings of Christ, we place a low estimate upon the great work of the atonement. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-g-white/in-consequence-of-our-limited-ideas-of-the-sufferings-of-christ-we/) [Ellen G. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-g-white/) > [Humble us, O God, under your mighty hand, and let us rise, not as professionals, but as witnesses and partakers of the sufferings of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-piper/humble-us-o-god-under-your-mighty-hand-and-let-us-rise-not-as/) [John Piper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-piper/) > [When you are subjected to the malicious and furious violence of the passions, and to the harassments of the Devil, during the fulfillment of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-of-kronstadt/when-you-are-subjected-to-the-malicious-and-furious-violence-of-the/) [John of Kronstadt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-of-kronstadt/) > [We are not as Christ-centered and cross-cherishing as we should be, because we do not ponder the truth that everything good, and everything bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-piper/we-are-not-as-christ-centered-and-cross-cherishing-as-we-should-be/) [John Piper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-piper/) > [If we can trust the sufferings of Christ for our sake then we can trust Christ when we suffer for His sake.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/if-we-can-trust-the-sufferings-of-christ-for-our-sake-then-we-can/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [Thus to share in the sufferings of Christ is, at the same time, to suffer for the kingdom of God. In the eyes of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-john-paul-ii/thus-to-share-in-the-sufferings-of-christ-is-at-the-same-time-to/) [Pope John Paul II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-john-paul-ii/) > [“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scotty-smith/dear-friends-do-not-be-surprised-at-the-fiery-ordeal-that-has-come-on/) [Scotty Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scotty-smith/) > [The sufferings of Christ are the means of forgiveness of sin and eternal glory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/the-sufferings-of-christ-are-the-means-of-forgiveness-of-sin-and/) [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) ## More by Dietrich Bonhoeffer > [So the fool, as distinct from the scoundrel, is completely self- satisfied; in fact, he can easily become dangerous, as it does not take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/so-the-fool-as-distinct-from-the-scoundrel-is-completely-self/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [Why do Christians sing when they are together? The reason is, quite simply, because in singing together it is possible for them to speak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/why-do-christians-sing-when-they-are-together-the-reason-is-quite/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [What we shall need is not geniuses, or cynics, or misanthropes, or clever tacticians, but plain, honest, straghtforward men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/what-we-shall-need-is-not-geniuses-or-cynics-or-misanthropes-or/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [...Gratitude transforms the torment of memory of good things now gone into silent joy. One bears what was lovely in the past not as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/gratitude-transforms-the-torment-of-memory-of-good-things-now-gone/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [Only he who believes is obedient and only he who is obedient believes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/only-he-who-believes-is-obedient-and-only-he-who-is-obedient-believes/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [Who can really be faithful in great things if he has not learned to be faithful in the things of daily life?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/who-can-really-be-faithful-in-great-things-if-he-has-not-learned-to/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [“The church can only defend its own space by fighting, not for space, but for the salvation of the world. Otherwise the church becomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/the-church-can-only-defend-its-own-space-by-fighting-not-for-space/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [There remains an experience of incomparable value . . . to see the great events of world history from below; from the perspective of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/there-remains-an-experience-of-incomparable-value-to-see-the-great/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [“To endure the cross is not a tragedy; it is the suffering which is the fruit of an exclusive allegiance to Jesus Christ. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/to-endure-the-cross-is-not-a-tragedy-it-is-the-suffering-which-is-the/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [“There is only one church, the church of faith ruled by the word of Jesus Christ alone. This is the true catholic church that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/there-is-only-one-church-the-church-of-faith-ruled-by-the-word-of/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [“As Christians, we needn’t be at all ashamed of some impatience, longing, opposition to what is unnatural, and our full share of desire for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/as-christians-we-needn-t-be-at-all-ashamed-of-some-impatience-longing/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [Those who love their dream of a Christian community more than the Christian community itself become destroyers of that Christian community even though their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/those-who-love-their-dream-of-a-christian-community-more-than-the/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [“From now on there can be no more wars of faith. The only way to overcome our enemy is by loving him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/from-now-on-there-can-be-no-more-wars-of-faith-the-only-way-to/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [“The scriptures do not present us with a series of Christian types to be imitated according to choice; they preach to us in every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/the-scriptures-do-not-present-us-with-a-series-of-christian-types-to/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [We are not to simply bandage the wounds of victims beneath the wheels of injustice, we are to drive a spoke into the wheel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/we-are-not-to-simply-bandage-the-wounds-of-victims-beneath-the-wheels/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) [Explore all 711 Dietrich Bonhoeffer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) ## More Asceticism quotes > [The religion of art, like the religion of politics, was born from the ruins of Christianity. Art inherited from the old religion the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/the-religion-of-art-like-the-religion-of-politics-was-born-from-the/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Fie on the eloquence that leaves us craving itself, not things!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/fie-on-the-eloquence-that-leaves-us-craving-itself-not-things/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [The beauty of a cuckoo is in its notes, that of a woman in her unalloyed devotion to her husband, that of an ugly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chanakya/the-beauty-of-a-cuckoo-is-in-its-notes-that-of-a-woman-in-her/) [Chanakya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chanakya/) > [The principle of asceticism never was, nor ever can be, consistently pursued by any living creature. Let but one tenth part of the inhabitants…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-bentham/the-principle-of-asceticism-never-was-nor-ever-can-be-consistently/) [Jeremy Bentham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-bentham/) > [“In his treatise on the battles between the gods underlying ancient Dionysian theatre, the young Nietzsche notes: 'Alas! The magic of these struggles is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sloterdijk/in-his-treatise-on-the-battles-between-the-gods-underlying-ancient/) [Peter Sloterdijk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sloterdijk/) > [Catholicism is not ritualism; it may in the future be fighting some sort of superstitious and idolatrous exaggeration of ritual. Catholicism is not asceticism;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/catholicism-is-not-ritualism-it-may-in-the-future-be-fighting-some/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [“A Christian who practices asceticism trains himself to say no to his desires and yes to God.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-dreher/a-christian-who-practices-asceticism-trains-himself-to-say-no-to-his/) [Rod Dreher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-dreher/) > [The main motive for nonattachment is a desire to escape from the pain of living, and above all from love, which, sexual or non-sexual,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-main-motive-for-nonattachment-is-a-desire-to-escape-from-the-pain/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Dieting is our last tie with asceticism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/dieting-is-our-last-tie-with-asceticism/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [When you reach your sixties, you have to decide whether you're going to be a sot or an ascetic. In other words if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/when-you-reach-your-sixties-you-have-to-decide-whether-you-re-going/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) > [Everybody who does not live in a prostitute's bed and on a diet of cocaine snow is called an ascetic nowadays.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/everybody-who-does-not-live-in-a-prostitute-s-bed-and-on-a-diet-of/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Genuine asceticism for finding one's own soul and for the good of humanity is worthy of reverence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rama-swami/genuine-asceticism-for-finding-one-s-own-soul-and-for-the-good-of/) [Rama Swami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rama-swami/) > [Many modern scholars have found the asceticism expressed in Plato unacceptable; it does not sound like the advice of a reasonable man in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mcevilley/many-modern-scholars-have-found-the-asceticism-expressed-in-plato/) [Thomas McEvilley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mcevilley/) > [The dunyâ distracts and preoccupies the heart and body, but al-zuhd (asceticism, not giving importance to worldly things) gives rest to the heart and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hasan-of-basra/the-duny-distracts-and-preoccupies-the-heart-and-body-but-al-zuhd/) [Hasan of Basra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hasan-of-basra/) > [Asceticism is the right way of thinking for those who have to extirpate their sensual drives because they are ravening beasts of prey. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/asceticism-is-the-right-way-of-thinking-for-those-who-have-to/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) [Browse all 113 Asceticism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asceticism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“There is always a danger that in our asceticism we shall be tempted to imitate the sufferings of Christ. This is a pious but godless ambition, for beneath it there always lurks the notion that it is possible for us to step into Christ's shoes and suffer as he did and kill the old Adam. We are then presuming to undertake that bitter work of eternal redemption which Christ himself wrought for us. 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