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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What was Bonhoeffer doing while living abroad from Germany?

2. In which country had Bonhoeffer been living prior to his return to Germany?

3. Bonhoeffer claimed that a Christian community is a ______ reality.

4. According to Bonhoeffer, what was the third element that defines a Christian fellowship?

5. According to Bonhoeffer, what is the Holy Spirit's purpose?

Short Essay Questions

1. Does spiritual love desire immediacy or the nearness of other human beings, according to Bonhoeffer? Why or why not?

2. What effect did Bonhoeffer believe that living in exile, with unbelievers, could have on a Christian's faith?

3. How do the prison guards treat Bonhoeffer?

4. In Chapter 1, what source did Bonhoeffer use to establish how a community should live together? Why?

5. How did the common morning devotions at the seminary begin, according to what we learned in Chapter 2?

6. In Chapter 1, what did Bonhoeffer say about Christians extending mercy and forgiveness to one another?

7. What does the book of Genesis describe?

8. When Bonhoeffer returns to Berlin after his term at Union Theological Seminary, what does he do?

9. In Bonhoeffer's opinion, as expressed in Chapter 2, how do Christians discover the unity that can be found through a day's work?

10. How, according to Bonhoeffer's fellow prisoners, does his attitude consistently remain throughout his captivity, even as he becomes increasingly isolated?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Bonhoeffer's lessons in Chapter 3 about intercession are germane to recent calls for all of America to get more involved in helping each other; community service is a form of intercession. Think of a community service organization, preferably something you have participated in yourself, and use Bonhoeffer's comments on intercession in Chapter 3 to show how what they do is a form of intercession.

Essay Topic 2

In Chapter 2, Bonhoeffer explains that a person should become completely absorbed in his/her work. Write an essay comparing either your favorite and your least favorite subject or your favorite and your least favorite chore. Explain why you like the favorite and dislike the favorite, then think about and explain how you might be able to apply Bonhoeffer's principle (back your statements up with the text) about becoming absorbed in your work so as to make the disliked subject or chore less of a burden.

Essay Topic 3

Perhaps the cornerstone of the ministries Bonhoeffer discussed in Chapter 4 was that of holding one's tongue. James, one of Jesus' disciples, described the tongue and the bad things we can say with it as able to set the entire world on fire. It is so easy, and even fun, to repeat bad things we hear and say bad things we think; however, Bonhoeffer's comments on not doing so hold a great deal of wisdom. Use the text to demonstrate Bonhoeffer's reasons why a person should never speak evil thoughts and why he absolutely forbade his seminarians to say ANYTHING secretly about each other. Then, compare and contrast this rule by which Bonhoeffer governed his seminary with the typical high school student's attitude towards and behavior when it comes to holding one's tongue, not saying bad things, and not saying things secretly about others.

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