This article is a reminder that history is rarely so simple that it can only be explained by a single causation, be it an individual’s history or a nation’s. As the well-known saying goes, “Correlation does not equal causation.” This may often be used in a statistical sense, but DeYoung is arguing for it in a historical sense.

Replogle discusses the impact of Bonhoeffer’s Life Together on his life and views on leadership and ministry, particularly this quote: It makes the dreamer proud and pretentious. The man who fashions a visionary ideal of community demands that it be realized by God, by others, and by himself. He enters the community of Christians with his demands, sets up his own law, and judges the brethren and God himself accordingly.