In 2022, the HRC’s Works that Shaped the World public lecture series focuses on religion.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) was a German Lutheran pastor and theologian, executed at the end of the Second World War for his role in conspiring against Hitler. First censured then imprisoned for two years, Bonhoeffer wrote some of his most important and creative theology from within his prison cell in Berlin.

This presentation will provide an overview of Bonhoeffer's life and theological contribution, and examine some of the key elements within his prison writings. Ideas such as “religionless Christianity” and questions such as “who is Christ for us today?” remain significant notions for theological and ethical thought in the Anthropocene.

Presenter

Dr Di Rayson teaches theology and ethics at the University of Newcastle and Charles Sturt University. She is a public theologian focussed on issues of climate change and justice. She is the author of Bonhoeffer and Climate Change: Theology and Ethics (Lexington, 2021) and co-convenor of the 2024 International Bonhoeffer Congress in Sydney.