A home is a kingdom of it's own in the midst of the world, a stronghold amid life's storms and stresses, a refuge, even a sanctuary.
Dietrich BonhoefferRead
It is God's earth out of which man is taken. From it he has his body. His body belongs to his essential being. Man's body is not his prison, his shell his exterior, but man himself. Man does not "have" a body; he does not "have" a soul; rather he "is" body and soul. Man in the beginning is really his body. He is one. He is his body, as Christ is completely his body, as the Church is the body of Christ
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the unity of body and soul, suggesting that a person is not separate from their physical existence.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer reflects on the profound relationship between humanity and the physical world. He argues that a man's identity is intertwined with his body, which is not merely a shell or prison but an integral aspect of his essence. This perspective suggests that our physical presence is fundamental to who we are, akin to how Christ embodies the Church. By asserting that man does not possess a body or a soul, but rather that he is both, Bonhoeffer invites a deeper understanding of human existence that transcends materialism.
Themes
BodySoulIdentityExistenceUnity
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the mind-body connection during a philosophy class.
More from Dietrich Bonhoeffer
All quotes →In normal life we hardly realize how much more we receive than we give, and life cannot be rich without such gratitude. It is so easy to overestimate the importance of our own achievements compared with what we owe to the help of others.
Dietrich BonhoefferRead
Sometimes we just need a firm kick in the pants. An unsmiling expectation that if we mean all these wonderful things we talk about and sing about, then let’s see something to prove it.
Dietrich BonhoefferRead
...And then, just when everything is bearing down on us to such an extent that we can scarcely withstand it, the Christmas message comes to tell us that all our ideas are wrong, and that what we take to be evil and dark is really good and light because it comes from God. Our eyes are at fault, that is all.
Dietrich BonhoefferRead
Anyone who thinks that his time is too valuable to spend keeping quiet will eventually have no time for God and his brother, but only for himself and for his own follies.
Dietrich BonhoefferRead
The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children.
Dietrich BonhoefferRead
Similar quotes
I see Edward Snowden as someone who has chosen, at best, exile from the country he loves-with a serious risk of his assassination by agents of his government or life in prison (in solitary confinement)-to awaken us to the danger of our loss of democracy to a total-surveilla nce state
Daniel EllsbergRead
People will always prefer black-and-white over shades of grey, and so there will always be the temptation to hold overly-simplified beliefs and to hold them with excessive confidence
Thomas GilovichRead
Eventually I lost interest in trying to control my life, to make things happen in a way that I thought I wanted them to be. I began to practice surrendering to the universe and finding out what "it" wanted me to do.
Shakti GawainRead
The greatest issue facing the world today, with all its heartbreaking needs, is whether those who, by profession or culture, are identified as ‘Christians’ will become disciples – students, apprentices, practitioners – of Jesus Christ, steadily learning from him how to live the life of the Kingdom of the Heavens into every corner of human existence.
Dallas WillardRead
Man is now able to soar into outer space and reach up to the moon; but he is not moral enough to live at peace with his neighbor!
Sathya Sai BabaRead
War is too serious a matter to leave to soldiers.
William Tecumseh ShermanRead