The essay examines musical references in Bonhoeffer's writings with respect to their theological significance. In the period of the Church Struggle a theological criticism of music is emphasized, according to which beauty should be renounced in order to serve God's "word". A "theology of spiritual singing" is developed and applied to the Psalms as the "Prayerbook of the Bible". Heinrich Sch³tz's "spiritual concerts" and Paul Gerhard's hymns are representative for this perspective. In "Letters and Papers from Prison", however, the theological criticism of music is balanced by a musical criticism of theology. The ethics of obedience and order is qualified by a cultural "space of freedom", permitting to appreciate Bach's and Beethoven's last works without words as theologically meaningful. Finally the relation between point and counterpoint is applied to the chalcedonian concept of the two natures of Christ and to an understanding of "polyphony of life".

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Personen: Pangritz, Andreas

Schlagwörter: Musik Theologie Bonhoeffer, Dietrich