View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to Metaxas, after Bonhoeffer had returned to Germany from New York, how did he view theology?
(a) He believed that theology was what separated Christians from pagans.
(b) He believed that theology was to be protected from the Nazis.
(c) He believed that theology must lead to the practical aspects of how to live as a Christian.
(d) He believed that theology was the basis by which the Bible should be studied.

2. To what did Metaxas credit much of Luther's bitterness toward the Jews and others at the end of his life?
(a) An increasing exclusionary view of grace.
(b) A legalistic view of sin.
(c) A series of illnesses and generally declining health.
(d) A hard-line interpretation of the bible.

3. What was the politically dangerous message that Metaxas reports Bonhoeffer made in a sermon at Trinity Church in Berlin one month after Hitler became Chancellor?
(a) "The Jews remain to this day the chosen seed of God, from whom we, the Church of Jesus Christ, are the multitude of the promise to Abraham."
(b) "We have only one God, and His only Son was the King of the Jews."
(c) "Who will you worship, the God of the Bible, or the Fuherer of Germany?"
(d) "The Church has only one altar, the altar of the Almighty...before which all creatures must kneel...."

4. Why does Metaxas claim that Bonhoeffer, "...struggled with the 'problem' of being charming."
(a) Because it was frowned upon by his father.
(b) Because it caused social problems for him.
(c) Because he wanted the words and logic of what he said to be the only things to which others responded.
(d) Because he was, by nature, a recluse.

5. What is the one area in which Bonhoeffer's father saw a relationship with the work of his son, according to a letter cited by Metaxas?
(a) He learned that he could only deal with problems if he separated himself emotionally from them.
(b) He had to depend on what was taught him as a child to deal with the problems as an adult.
(c) He had to depend on hard reason rather than emotions to get him through the challenges.
(d) He had discovered that living relationships to human beings and the possibility of meaning something to them was more important than the professional obligations.

Short Answer Questions

1. What was the reason that Bonhoeffer felt a separation from one of his mentors in Germany, Karl Barth, according to Metaxas?

2. Upon what Christian principal was the Barman Declaration that rejected Nazi influence over the German church based, according to Metaxas?

3. What interests did Bonhoeffer's mother pass to her daughter?

4. What quote of Bonhoeffer's friend, Franz Hildebrandt, does Metaxas use to show the intellectual demands Bonhoeffer placed on those who were close to him.

5. What does Metaxas report to be the response of the German Christians to the choice of Friedrich von Bodelschwing as Reichsbischof?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Metaxas explain how the movie "All Quiet on the Western Front" affected Bonhoeffer?

2. What does Metaxas report to be the "Night of the Long Knives"?

3. Why does Metaxas claim that the people of Germany were impatient with the Weimar Republic?

4. What does Metaxas claim to be Hitler's goal in establishing the office of Reichsbischof (Reich bishop) over the church?

5. What does Metaxas report to be Churchill's response to conspiracies to assassinate Adolf Hitler seeking allied support?

6. What was a criticism of Bonhoeffer's regarding the communal living of American seminary students that was cited by Metaxas?

7. Why does Metaxas lament Martin Luther's late-in-life anti-Semitic comments?

8. How did Bonhoeffer's parents hear of his death, according to Metaxas?

9. How does Metaxas explain the Fuherer Principle?

10. What important church leader does Metaxas report to have come into Bonhoeffer's life while he was involved in his ministry in London?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,103 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample