Customer Reviews

Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(5)
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Life Together was written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer while he was in a Nazi Gestapo prison during WWII. The book's Introduction is a 6 page mini-bio of Bonhoeffer, which will inform the reader as to why he was in a Nazi Gestapo prison. He was executed by the Nazi's just weeks before the end of the war.

Life Together was written while Bonhoeffer was being held by the Nazi's. It is his short treatise on Faith in Community - what it means to be the Body of Christ. During his time in prison, Bonhoeffer undoubtedly had interaction with Christians of many denominations. This probably led to contemplation of what it meant for all of them to worship together, even in a prison camp.

The book is just five chapters:

1. Community
2. The Day with Others
3. The Day Alone
4. Ministry
5. Confession and Communion

Amazingly enough, Bonhoeffer thinks seriously and deeply about what it should be like for Christians to experience Life Together as the Church. Few current authors are packing so much in so little a book.

In the first chapter he looks at relating to one another as Jesus would have us relate to one another. He distinguishes between the worldly and the biblical concepts of living in community. His observations are astounding and would do many churches a great deal of good today.

In chapters 2 and 3, he looks at one's relationship with God as it should be lived both corporately and individually. He even gives us a glimpse of what family worship was expected to look like at that time. Again, his observations would do Christians much good today.

The chapter on ministry is outstanding, but one really cannot do it justice in just a few sentences. The final chapter on confession and communion was a mixed bag for me. His ideas on confession were pretty good. However, his beliefs on communion are different from my beliefs (he was a Lutheran, I am a Baptist). Even still, I would recommend reading this chapter with one's eyes open.

When all is said and done, this is a wonderful book. It was written in 1940's German and translated to English, so there are some places where the translation is not always the clearest. The reader should know that Bonhoeffer was not only a pastor, but also a theologian - his writing is meaty, not fluffy. For those brave enough to sink their teeth in, this book will be a great read (and probably a great re-read). There is much to learn in this little book. I even found that much of this book can be applied within the marriage context. Read, enjoy, apply it to all aspects of your life.

Best part of book of "Life Together" by Bonhoeffer is the chapter on "Being Alone and in Community" which sets the tone of how one can and should live in a Christian Community.

The entire world was embroiled in a battle for the existance of the human race. Where was God? Several sharp minds wrestled with that most difficult part of faith where the rubber meets the road. One of those was Dietrich Bonhoeffer. In this short, but extremely profound, work, he wrestles with the Christian's relationship to the Christian community. I'll throw out a couple of my favorite quotes from this book. If you find them challenging, buy the entire book and get a lot more like them:

"LET HIM WHO CANNOT BE ALONE BEWARE OF COMMUNITY. He will only do harm to himself and to the community. Alone you stood before God when he called you; alone you had to answer that call; alone you had to struggle and pray; and alone you will die and give an account to God."

"LET HIM WHO IS NOT IN COMMUNITY BEWARE OF BEING ALONE. Into the community you were called, the call was not meant for you alone; in the community of the called you bear your cross, you struggle, you pray. You are not alone, even in death, and on the Last Day you will be only one member of the great congregation of Jesus Christ."

Bonhoeffer is brilliant in his understanding of the church's lifeblood, which is the cross. Where other ecclesiologies become distracted by secondary issues, Bonhoeffer cuts right to the foundational elements of life in Christ. The Church of today would do well to rediscover Bonhoeffer, and not only this book but his others as well. Sanctorum Communio takes a more theological look at these same issues, but Life Together is probably the best book to start with for someone wanting to break into Bonhoeffer's works. Its theme sets everything else that he writes into perspective.

Satan is the accuser, the Bible says. But Christ, with the Spirit, intercedes for us, as the Apostle Paul says in Romans 8:26 "with sighs too deep for words".

A beautiful book, my copy freely given me by a Lutheran pastor who shared my love for Bonhoeffer. I wanted to lead a Bible study, he said if he ever led one he would use this book!

I first heard of Bonhoeffer from someone at my church. I discovered Bonhoeffer for myself when I watched the documentary Hanged on a Twisted Cross, the life and times of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, which I highly, highly recommend.

The parts of the book which spoke to me most were the sections in chapter 1 entitled through and in Jesus Christ and in chapter 3, the section on intercession. Here are some excerpts I love:

"A Christian fellowship lives and exists by the intercession of its members for one another, or it collapses. I can no longer condemn or hate a brother for whom I pray, no matter how much trouble he causes me. His face, that hitherto may have been strange and intolerable to me, is transformed in intercession into the countenance of a brother for whom Christ died, the face of a forgiven sinner......Intercession means no more than to bring our brother into the presence of God, to see him under the cross of Jesus as a poor human being and sinner in need of grace....His need and his sin become so heavy and oppressive that we feel them as our own, and we can do nothing else but pray: Lord, do Thou, Thou alone, deal with him according to Thy severity and Thy goodness."

I do believe Bonhoeffer has " the mind of Christ" on that one.

Beautiful, beautiful book.

P.S. I challenge you to examine and compare the lives of Noah, Daniel, and Job
to find out what was so pleasing to God about them. How do their lives reflect Christ's and what about everyone else's?!!! Please see Ezekiel 14:14-23. So I leave you with some homework, I just couldn't resist!

Bonhoeffer stands in stark contrast to the Christian writers of today. In Life Together, he brings the power of a first class mind to the problem of how we may strengthen the power and meaning of Christian belief.

His emphasis on community, on meaningful Christian interaction boldly stands out against the backdrop of modern Conservative and Evangelical thought. While we strive for a Christian experience that validates our emotions and tends to our individual needs, Bonhoeffer sets aside the individual to strike at the raw nerve of what we value and why. What are we willing to surrender to join in community with other Christians?

A modern reading will suffer from Bonhoeffer's tone which is more authoritative and dogmatic than our sensibilites are attuned to. Once past this, the challenge he presents is clear and worth the effort.

This brief book contains one of the most passionate calls to Christian community of any book I have read. Bonhoeffer does not mince words; he boldly and succinctly tells us that whether we feel it or not, we are bound in community with other Christians. And, like a good Lutheran, Bonhoeffer makes it clear that this community finds its origin and existence only in Christ and in what *Christ* has done to each believer. He emphasizes that Christian community is not an ideal to be worked towards, but rather a divine reality; which differentiates this work from most other works on community which focus on how to "make community happen."
On that same token, the reason I give this book 4 stars instead of 5 is that the second chapter called "The Day with Others" is much weaker than the other four chapters. In this chapter Bonhoeffer strays from laying theological foundations and giving general exhortations, to giving very specific instructions for how the community's daily life should look. He communicates these instructions with the same "this is the only truth" tone that runs through the rest of the book--but in this chapter it seems annoying and pretentious, rather than deeply challenging.
All in all, he does much better when laying out general theological principles and describing the foundations of Christian community; which is thankfully what 4/5 of the chapters consist of. This book is obviously written from a deeply convicted place in Bonhoeffer's own heart, and for that reason it has tremendous power to convict and move the hearts and minds of the readers. I recommend it highly.

This book is a classic little gem about Christian community. His look at community while under persecution shows its simpliticy and strength in the life of a Christian. Not a how to book, but rather a how should book, this books looks at what makes up a healthy church.

Paster Bonhoeffer's life as well as this book is a testimony to Christian community and a challenge to me. Written in 1938, this predates his imprisonments and to quote an English officer "Bonhoeffer always seemed to me to spread an atmosphere of happiness and joy". If he could establish a Christian community in Gestapo prison, can't we try also? I have been guilty of defining a Christian Community in terms of human reality, but Bonhoeffer more clearly centers the community. I am sure there are times I should have paid heed to the section "The Ministry of Holding One's tongue". Bonhoeffer clearly shows the balance of community and being alone ... "Let him who cannot be alone beware of community. Let him who is not in community beware of being alone". The perspective of day-to-day work as "a test of meditation" shows the importance of renewing the blessing of fellowship at the end of the day.

Particularly for those with Protestant background the discussion on confession is challenging, and his phrase about "daring to be a sinner" is paradoxical. "In the presence of a psychiatrist I can only be a sick man; in the presence of a Christian brother I can dare to be a sinner".

Christain martyr Deitrich Bonhoeffer wrote this book to aid its Christian reader in Christian living through the miriad of daily activities. Although it's only about 100 pages, it's a whale of a helpful book.

It takes a little reading to get used to Bonhoeffer's style (prose), but once you can read "Life Together" fluidly, it hits you like a machine gun: practical advice followed by rationalle; practical advice followed by rationalle; etc. Among the topics covered are components to daily, family devotions, the relationship between work and worship; a new way of looking at Psalms and hymns; the importance of daily showing love through your actions so that you can spread the word of Christ; ways to guard against conflict in a church (as if there is ever conflict at voters meetings. Ha!)

This book won't take you very long at all to read, but the thoughts you take away from it will churn in your head for weeks. You'll find yourself turning back to the book re-read a section or two. You'll kick yourself for not reading it sooner. I know I have. HIGHLY recommended.