Eric Metaxas Says Bonhoeffer's Relatives Who Criticize Him are Jew Hating, Pro-Hamas Lunatics

Don’t hold back, Eric, how do you really feel?

Don’t hold back, Eric, how do you really feel?

(The above clip is a fair use excerpt from an interview of Metaxas by Glenn Beck. To see the entire show, click here.)

To get the context for these remarks, you must go back and read my October post citing the statement of 86 relatives of Dietrich Bonhoeffer regarding the movie about Bonhoeffer which opened last Friday. Indeed Glenn Beck in the clip above was correct about the fact that the family of Bonhoeffer is upset about how Bonhoeffer is portrayed in the promotion of the film, and how he has been promoted by Metaxas over the years. Just so we’re clear, the violent movement the Bonhoeffer relatives speak about has Christian nationalism at the center. Specifically, the relatives mentioned Eric Metaxas:

Never would he [Bonhoeffer] have seen himself associated with far-right, violent movements such as Christian Nationalists and others who are trying to appropriate him today. On the contrary, he would have strongly and loudly condemned these attitudes.

A key figure in this abuse is Eric Metaxas, whose 2010 biography of Bonhoeffer was first published in the United States and sold more than a million copies in 20 languages. In the book, he ignored the historical context and misrepresented Bonhoeffer as a fundamentalist Evangelical. Metaxas, now a right-wing Trump supporter, regularly compares US President Biden to Hitler, speaks of 'total war' and posts photos of a gun on a Bible: “So we can now finally clearly see that Biden is our Hitler. In 1933-34. See my Bonhoeffer book for details. The parallels are staggering and increasingly obvious. Pray for this nation. PRAY.”

January 6 was not mentioned directly by the relatives but Metaxas spread false information about the insurrection and was a key figure in the “stop the steal” mischief that led up to the January 6 riot. In 2021, Metaxas blamed “antifa” for the insurrection at the Capitol and is still doing it. Nota bene: The January 6 insurrection was not caused by “antifa” but was carried out by supporters of Donald Trump.

Metaxas is the fellow that Angel Studios associated with to pitch their Bonhoeffer movie. Lately, we learn that the director Todd Komarnicki tried to stop the screening at the Museum of the Bible which featured Metaxas. It is hard to escape the impression that all of this movie hype is just Hollywood and the audience is just there is make some people wealthy.

As far as I can tell, the people who aren’t getting any payday out of this Bonhoeffer business are the relatives who decided to speak up about their views and their principles. They shouldn’t have to endure the horrible things Metaxas said about them simply for standing up for their family name.