Bonhoeffer's Costly Foundation

In 1937, Dietrich Bonhoeffer published The Cost of Discipleship, a book that drew a sharp line between what he called "cheap grace" and "costly grace." Cheap grace, he wrote, was "grace without discipleship, grace without the cross." It was the religion of those who called Jesus "Lord, Lord" but never submitted to His commands. Bonhoeffer was not writing theory. As the Nazi regime tightened its grip on Germany, he watched pastors and theologians who knew Scripture intimately bend their convictions to accommodate the state.…