FDM Professor Publishes New Book on Films About Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The Department of Film and Digital Media is pleased to announce the publication of Bonhoeffer on Film: Depictions and Interpretations of the Great Theologian, a new book by our own Zachary Sheldon, Ph.D., Senior Lecturer and Interim Undergraduate Program Director. This book offers the first sustained examination of how the life and legacy of German theologian and anti-Nazi dissident Dietrich Bonhoeffer have been portrayed across film and visual media, mostly by independent Christian filmmakers. As interest in Bonhoeffer continues to grow among scholars, church leaders, filmmakers, and the wider public, Sheldon investigates how cinematic portrayals have shaped contemporary understandings of one of the twentieth century's most influential Christian thinkers.
The book analyzes a range of films and documentaries while exploring the theological, historical, and cultural questions raised by translating Bonhoeffer's life to the screen. "Bonhoeffer's life has become a powerful cultural symbol to a lot of people," said Sheldon, “but what they know about his life, or what they think they know about it, is often filtered through the select media they have consumed about him. This book tries to demystify some of that media, to show its biases and particular interests in portraying Bonhoeffer’s life.” Bonhoeffer on Film addresses the growing presence of Bonhoeffer in contemporary Christianity and popular culture, offering readers a critical framework for understanding how film has contributed to the ongoing interpretation of his life and thought. Other scholars of Christian film and of Bonhoeffer have praised the book for its thorough examination of its subject.
Terry Lindvall, the C.S. Lewis Endowed Chair in Communication and Christian Thought at Batten University, says that Sheldon “provides a profound and sympathetic understanding of the strange glory shimmering upon this costly disciple of God and how the movies made him into a Protestant saint.” Stephen Haynes, a respected Bonhoeffer scholar at Rhodes College, called the book “an excellent addition to the growing literature on Bonhoeffer’s cultural reception,” and Barry Harvey, of Baylor’s own Department of Religion, referred to the book as a “masterful study of the documentaries and biopics that have introduced the life, thought, and times of Dietrich Bonhoeffer to so many over the last few decades.” Though he does not plan to use the book as a required text, this publication aligns with much of the course material and intellectual direction of the “Religion and Film” course that Dr. Sheldon has taught the past two fall semesters. “I think one of the most important things we can do as Christians engaging with film is care more about where Christian films come from, what they say, and how they instruct us in our faith and the culture of our faith,” Sheldon says. Bonhoeffer on Film: Depictions and Interpretations of the Great Theologian is available now on Amazon, and with other retailers and independent booksellers.