Daring, Trusting Spirit - as Bonhoeffer called his friend in a poem written from prison - offers new historical information and insights into Dietrich Bonhoeffer's "Eckermann." Like Goethe's scribe, Eberhard Bethge devoted his life's work to ensuring that Bonhoeffer's contribution to Christian thought would not be forgotten, yet he deliberately chose to remain in the background. This book is a portrait of a remarkable theological friendship and a reflective essay on how history is written. It provides valuable new information about Eberhard Bethge that may, in turn, give readers new insights into the life and legacy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer himself. Drawing upon new archival documentation and previously unpublished essays and letters, Daring, Trusting Spirit explores a theological friendship - in life and death -- between two remarkable thinkers.

John de Gruchy is the Robert Selby Taylor Professor of Christian Studies at the University of Cape Town. Victoria Barnett is a Bonhoeffer scholar and author of many published works.