Prayerbook of Christ: Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Christological Interpretation of the Psalms by Brad Pribbenow (review)

Pribbenow teaches courses in Old Testament, Hebrew, and Worship and is Dean at Lutheran Brethren Seminary in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. This book grew out of his doctoral work under Dr. Timothy Saleska of Concordia Seminary-St. Louis as well as discussions with scholars in the Bonhoeffer section at an AAR/SBL conference. “I became more and more convinced,” Pribbenow writes, “that Bonhoeffer injects something new into the history of Psalm interpretation” (x).

The book is divided into three major parts. Part I (chapters 1–3) is “A Brief History of Christological Interpretation of the Psalms.” Pribbenow begins with a short survey of Psalm interpretation, from the New Testament (beginning with Luke 24:27) through Augustine, Scholasticism and the fourfold sense of scripture. Chapter 2 deals with Luther’s Christological interpretation of the Psalms and chapter 3 is a short consideration of Psalms studies during the modern era. Skipping ahead to the beginning of the twentieth century, two scholars were especially important for setting the course of future Psalm studies. Hermann Gunkel in Berlin sorted out a variety of psalm types (Gattungen). His student Sigmund Mowinckel focused on the cultic origin and function of the psalms. While the psalms continued to function in synagogues as well as churches, scholars in universities began to search for the “life setting” (Sitz im Leben) which gave rise to the psalm. After Gunkel, Psalms scholarship moved from the church to the university, and questions driving psalm research became mainly historical and literary, rather than theological.

Part II (chapters 4–9) examines “The Influences and Development of Bonhoeffer’s Christological Interpretation of the Psalms.” In the 1920s, when Bonhoeffer was beginning his studies at Tübingen, there were three opinions about how the Old Testament should be approached. Some said (“Total Rejection”) there was no place for the Old Testament in the Christian canon and it should be rejected. The influential Berlin historian Adolf von Harnack put it sharply: he concluded that for Protestant Christians to retain the Old Testament as a canonical document was an example of “a religious and church paralysis” (34). A second view encouraged “Limited Retention” of the Old Testament. Professors in Berlin articulating this position included Reinhold Seeberg, who became Bonhoeffer’s doctoral advisor, Ernst Sellin, and Friedrich Baumgaertel. The third opinion supported “Total Acceptance” of the Old Testament as canonical scripture. Among those in this category was Adolf Schlatter in Tübingen whose influence on Bonhoeffer was significant. Others influencing Bonhoeffer were Karl Barth, Hans Walter Wolff, Walter Zimmerli, and Gerhard von Rad (chapter 4). These figures in the “Total Acceptance” category made up a powerful group who would fan out to occupy important teaching posts throughout Europe. Chapter 5 offers sermons preached by Bonhoeffer, on Psalms 127:1; 62:1; and 98:1. In each case the preacher dealt with only one verse of the psalm. Note his effort to apply the psalm to the contemporary situation. For example, he applied 127:1 “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain” to the building up of Germany after World War One. Chapter 7 discusses the Psalms and prayer and chapter 8 the Psalms and Christ Crucified. Chapter 9 summarizes Bonhoeffer’s unique contributions, including a segment on Bonhoeffer and the Jews.

Part III (chapters 10–15) surveys Bonhoeffer’s later interpretation of the Psalms. Here are the beginnings of a commentary on Psalm 119, which Bonhoeffer hoped to write but never completed. Bonhoeffer considered this partly-finished work to be “the climax of his theological life” (103, 104). Chapters 12–15 consider the context and content of Bonhoeffer’s use of the psalms during his imprisonment.

In sum: I found this book to be a creative, learned, careful, and readable fulfillment of the author’s promise to offer “something new” in Bonhoeffer studies. Here is typically thorough German scholarship, picked up and refocused to bring God’s word...