This article deals with the biographical and theological relationship between Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Reinhold Niebuhr. For doing this, we divide their relationship into three phases: theological exchanges at Union Theological Seminary, New York(1930~1931), personal advice(1933~1934), and political assistance and decision(1939). In the first stage, Bonhoeffer and Niebuhr become a critical dialogue partner for each other's theology and ethics. For Bonhoeffer, Niebuhr's socio-ethical concern lacks of dogmatic theology, while for Niebuhr, Bonhoeffer's Barthian dialectical theology has no any practical results in socio-ethical senses. In the second phase, Bonhoeffer asks Niebuhr to give him help and advice in regard to the political circumstances of German society. In the last stage, Niebuhr does his best for delivering Bonhoeffer from Hitler's hands. We come to a conclusion that through their friendship, both Bonhoeffer and Niebuhr get a balance between their theology and their ethics.

This article deals with the biographical and theological relationship between Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Reinhold Niebuhr. For doing this, we divide their relationship into three phases: theological exchanges at Union Theological Seminary, New York(1930~1931), personal advice(1933~1934), and political assistance and decision(1939). In the first stage, Bonhoeffer and Niebuhr become a critical dialogue partner for each other's theology and ethics. For Bonhoeffer, Niebuhr's socio-ethical concern lacks of dogmatic theology, while for Niebuhr, Bonhoeffer's Barthian dialectical theology has no any practical results in socio-ethical senses. In the second phase, Bonhoeffer asks Niebuhr to give him help and advice in regard to the political circumstances of German society. In the last stage, Niebuhr does his best for delivering Bonhoeffer from Hitler's hands. We come to a conclusion that through their friendship, both Bonhoeffer and Niebuhr get a balance between their theology and their ethics.