Tracing the major themes in the theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. James Woelfel fulfills a very real need--to understand Bonhoeffer's theological thought as fully and accurately as pos sible in order to interpret, criticize, and apply his insights to the continuing the ological task. Dr. Woelfel deals with the influences on Bonhoeffer of secularism, personalist existentialism, and Lutheran Christian: ity, and with his relationships to such theologians as Barth, Bultmann, Heim, and Tillich. In this context the author discusses Bonhoeffer's christology, doc trine of the church, methods of exegesis, and ethics. Finally Dr. Woelfel considers difficulties of interpreting Bonhoeffer's theological development and discusses efforts to evaluate him from conservative, liberal, and radical standpoints. Through this solid and thorough work the reader will become aware of the whole Bonhoeffer--not as a myth but as a profound thinker- who "out-theolo. gized" the theologians and *out secular. ized" the secularists.