parameters for knowing when this happened. For as recently as 1929 Bonhoeffer’s views on war were similar to those of most Germans of his time. In February of that year, in a lecture on ethics in Barcelona, Spain, Bonhoeffer gave a rationale for killing in war: “I will defend my brother, my mother, my people, and yet I know that I can do so only by spilling blood; but love for my people will sanctify murder, will sanctify war.”517 Eberhard Bethge says Bonhoeffer would never speak in these terms again. In fact, he would speak in quite different terms after his time in New York City, 1930–1931.
