Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor and theologian executed by the Nazis in April 1945 for his involvement in a plot to kill Adolf Hitler. His Letters and Papers from Prison, a series of ruminations about the role of Christianity in an increasingly secular world, has been widely influential—religiously and politically—since publication in 1951. Professor Martin Marty traces the history of this influence and explores the different ways in which Bonhoeffer’s work has been used by civil rights activists, anti-apartheid campaigners, “death-of-God” theologians, and East German Marxists. The Rev. Dr. Buchanan and Professor Marty will develop these considerations into a larger discussion of the role of religion and religious activism today.

Martin Marty is the Fairfax M. Cone Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago Divinity School, where he taught for 35 years. He is the author of more than 50 books. The Rev. Dr. John Buchanan has been senior pastor of Chicago’s Fourth Presbyterian Church since 1985 and is the editor and publisher of The Christian Century.

Admission is free and no reservations are required. Seating is limited and is first come, first served. Doors will open at 5:30 pm.

This inaugural “Conversations at the Newberry” program is part of series to generate thought-provoking discourse and frame important questions about moral, religious, and political issues of today. Each evening will feature a renowned, recently published author in conversation with a distinguished interviewer, followed by discussion with and among the audience.