Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community

4.31 of 5 stars 4.31 · rating details · 4,712 ratings · 292 reviews

After his martyrdom at the hands of the Gestapo in 1945, Dietrich Bonhoeffer continued his witness in the hearts of Christians around the world. His "Letters and Papers from Prison" became a prized testimony to Christian faith and courage, read by thousands. Now in "Life Together" we have Pastor Bonhoeffer's experience of Christian community. This story of a unique fellows...more

Paperback, 122 pages

Published October 25th 1978 by HarperOne (first published 1939)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

Favorite Christian Books

103rd out of 762 books — 608 voters

The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Best Discipleship Books

8th out of 49 books — 45 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Mar 30, 2012 booklady rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, autobiography, church-documents, non-fiction, philosophy, prayer, religion, spiritual, scripture, theology, worth-reading-over-and-over

In Life Together Bonhoeffer gives us penetrating definitions of human and spiritual love, just as he outlined the distinction between cheap and costly grace in The Cost of Discipleship. Listening to him give specific after specific, you get the decided impression he has lived the experience of which writes. Well could I get lost in his requirements, for often have I strayed down the paths of human love not realizing what a poor substitute it was for the real thing—not speaking for anyone but mys...more

5 likes · like · see review

Jan 11, 2009 Chris rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

1/11/09 I just reread this book for another class. I think it's my fourth reading now. All I want to add is that this book gets better each time. I'm amazed by Bonhoeffer's insight and the understanding of God that informs the whole work. It's small but packed with import. You'd think I would have learned its lessons in the first three readings, but I again found myself deeply challenged about my own behavior in Christian community. This one is worth coming back to again and again.
------
4/1/07 I...more

5 likes · like · see review

Dec 08, 2007 Holly rated it 4 of 5 stars

1. There is value in disillusionment with fellow Christians so to avoid seeing fellowship as an "extraordinary social experience."
2. "God has willed that we should seek and find His living Word in the witness of a brother, in the mouth of a man."
3. "The Psalter is the vicarious prayer of Christ for His church...the new Humanity of Christ, the Body continues to pray His prayer...that is why the prayer of the Psalms belongs...to the fellowship."
4. "Only in the infiniteness of [Scripture's] inner r...more

5 likes · like · see review

Feb 28, 2008 John rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: basic-must-own-books

Now that is the way we should do "church".
DB writes from the perspective of someone living their faith underground (Nazi Germany). His experience clarifies what it really means to be Christians in fellowship, to be Christ's body, to be "the Church". There is no "mega" in true spiritual fellowship. Never heard anyone say, "I go to a mega-body-of-Christ". The Beatles said they would be bigger than Jesus...now we have mega-churches with a "cult of personality"...hmmm, that's interesting. Life toge...more

1 like · like · see review

May 07, 2013 Jonathan Brooker rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book is difficult to evaluate, really. At times I found myself losing focus or being bored. I also felt surprised at how often it felt like he'd fallen down into a pit of rudimentary explanation of spiritual disciplines in such lifeless (*cough* *cough* German) ways. That being said, there were times where I had to stop because his words had so captured me and caused me to stop and explore in my own experience what he was talking about. I found some sections to be mines of great quotables a...more

like · see review

Apr 10, 2013 Daniel Melvill rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: bible-and-theology

The conciseness depth of this book echoes that of Bonhoeffer's life: trimmed of excess, disciplined in its focus on the Word and Christ. Christian community is tackled in deft, yet detailed strokes that show the experience of Bonhoeffer's life. For this I was glad to have read Eric Metaxes biography last year, as knowing that these principles were birthed out of Bonhoeffer's practical experience added to my appreciation of this text.

I found its advice and admonitions practical and timeless, root...more

like · see review

Jan 13, 2013 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars

Translation by John W. Doberstein (Harper, 1954)

1. Community. "It is not simply to be taken for granted that the Christian has the privilege of living among other Christians."
- Through and in Jesus Christ. "...God has put this Word into the mouth of men in order that it may be communicated to other men...Therefore, the Christian needs another Christian who speaks God's Word to him."
- Not an Ideal but a Divine Reality. "If we do not give thanks daily for the Christian fellowship in which we have...more

like · see review

Jan 17, 2012 Shelley rated it 2 of 5 stars

I admire Bonhoeffer immensely and feel bad for my 2 star review, but there you have it. I would have stopped in chapter 1 had it not been for the life of the man who wrote the book. There are 2 things that make me glad I continued reading. Along those lines, if you only read a section, Chapter 4 is your man.

The first comes in chapter 2 regarding praying the Psalms. He says, "Now that Christ is with the Father, the new humanity of Christ, the Body of Christ on earth, continues to pray his prayer...more

like · see review

Apr 25, 2011 Jen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Are there some parts of this that are dated? Yes. Are there some parts of this that are a little odd because I do not live in any kind of intentional community? Yes. But is Bonhoeffer a bit of a genius that has incredible insight into the ways we deal with the spiritual demands of everyday life? Oh yes.
There are so many places here where I said, oh, well, when you put it that way... If I were more into using theological terminology, "conviction" would figure mightily into this review. As is, I w...more

like · see review

Apr 08, 2011 Ryan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, religion-theology

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Bonhoeffer on the Christian community: “We have one another only through Christ, but through Christ we do have one another, wholly, and for all eternity.
That dismisses once and for all every clamorous desire for something more. One who wants more than what Christ has established does not want Christian brotherhood. He is looking for some extraordinary social experience which he has not found elsewhere; he is bringing muddled and impure desires into Christian brotherhood. Just at this point Chri...more Bonhoeffer on the Christian community: “We have one another only through Christ, but through Christ we do have one another, wholly, and for all eternity.
That dismisses once and for all every clamorous desire for something more. One who wants more than what Christ has established does not want Christian brotherhood. He is looking for some extraordinary social experience which he has not found elsewhere; he is bringing muddled and impure desires into Christian brotherhood. Just at this point Christian brotherhood is threatened most often at the very start by the greatest danger of all, the danger of being poisoned at its root, the danger of confusing Christian brotherhood with some wishful idea of religious fellowship, of confounding the natural desire of the devout heart for community with the spiritual reality of Christian brotherhood. In Christian brotherhood everything depends upon its being clear right from the beginning, first, that Christian brotherhood is not an ideal, but a divine reality. Second, that Christian brotherhood is a spiritual and not a psychic reality.”
– Not an Ideal but a Divine Reality –
“Innumerable times a whole Christian community has broken down because it had sprung from a wish dream. The serious Christian, set down for the first time in a Christian community, is likely to bring with him a very definite idea of what Christian life together should be and to try to realize it. But God’s grace speedily shatters such dreams. Just as surely as God desires to lead us to a knowledge of genuine Christian fellowship, so surely must we be overwhelmed by a great disillusionment with others, with Christians in general, and, if we are fortunate, with ourselves.
By sheer grace, God will not permit us to live even for a brief period in a dream world. He does not abandon us to those rapturous experiences and lofty moods that come over us like a dream. God is not a God of the emotions but the God of truth. Only that fellowship which faces such disillusionment, with all its unhappy and ugly aspects, begins to be what it should be in God’s sight, begins to grasp in faith the promise that is given to it. The sooner this shock of disillusionment comes to an individual and to a community the better for both. A community which cannot bear and cannot survive such a crisis, which insists upon keeping its illusion when it should be shattered, permanently loses in that moment the promise of Christian community. Sooner or later it will collapse. Every human wish dream that is injected into the Christian community is a hindrance to genuine community and must be banished if genuine community is to survive. He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community its4elf becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial.
God hates visionary dreaming; 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. He stands adamant, a living reproach to all others in the circle of brethren. He acts as if he is the creator of the Christian community, as if his dream binds men together. When things do not go his way, he calls the effort a failure. When his ideal picture is destroyed, he sees the community going to smash. So he becomes, first an accuser of his brethren, then an accuser of God, and finally the despairing accuser of himself.
Because God has already laid the only foundation of our fellowship, because God has bound us together in one body with other Christians in Jesus Christ, long before we entered into common life with them, we enter into that common life not as demanders but as thankful recipients. We thank God for what He has done for us. We thank God for giving us brethren who live by His call, by His forgiveness, and His promise. We do not complain of what God does not give us; we rather thank God for what He does give us daily. And is not what has been given us enough: brothers, who will go on living with us through sin and need under the blessing of His grace? Is the divine gift of Christian fellowship anything less than this, any day, even the most difficult and distressing day? Even when sin and misunderstanding burden the communal life, is not the sinning brother still a brother, with whom I, too, stand under the Word of Christ? Will not his sin be a constant occasion for me to give thanks that both of us may live in the forgiving love of God in Jesus Christ?
Thus the very hour of disillusionment with my brother becomes incomparably salutary, because it so thoroughly teaches me that neither of us can ever live by our own words and deeds, but only by that one Word and Deed which really binds us together – the forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ. When the morning mists of dreams vanish, then dawns the bright day of Christian fellowship.” P26-29

*** On moving others: “Thus the spiritual love will speak to Christ about a brother more than to a brother about Christ. It knows that the most direct way to others is always through prayer to Christ and that love of others is wholly dependent upon the truth in Christ.” P36-37

*** On fellowship and loneliness: “Let him who cannot be alone beware of 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.” … “But the reverse is also true: 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.” P77

*** On our daily meditation with God, Bonhoeffer distinguishes 3 parts: 1. meditating repeatedly on a single piece of scripture to discern personal meaning, 2. Prayer, which he mentions praying about the objects that come to mind when your mind wanders (incorporating those thoughts into prayer), and 3. Intercession, praying specifically for those around you, repeatedly day after day, and especially for those for whom you hold ill will or have disagreements with.

*** “Every Christian community must realize that not only do the weak need the strong, but also that the strong cannot exist without the weak. The elimination of the weak is the death of fellowship.” P94

*** Bonhoeffer on the desire for charismatic preachers: “Ultimately, this hankering for false authority has at its root a desire to re-establish some sort of immediacy, a dependence upon human beings in the Church. Genuine authority knows that all immediacy is especially baneful in matters of authority. Genuine authority realizes that it can exist only in the service of Him who alone has authority. Genuine authority knows that it is bound in the strictest sense by the saying of Jesus: “One is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren” (Matt. 23:8). The Church does not need brilliant personalities but faithful servants of Jesus and the brethren. Not in the former but in the latter is the lack. The Church will place its confidence only in the simple servant of the Word of Jesus Christ because it knows that then it will be guided, not according to human wisdom and human conceit, but by the Word of the Good Shepherd.“ P109(less)

1 like · like · see review

Apr 04, 2011 Ryan Handermann rated it 5 of 5 stars

Great little book on Christian community! Very accessible and easy to read; a good reminder that community is only achieved in and through Jesus Christ.

I had mixed feelings about this quote here:

"Life together under the Word will remain sound and healthy only where it does not form itself into a movement, an order, a society, a collegium pietatis, but rather where it understands itself as being a part of the one, holy, catholic, Christian Church, where it shares actively and passively in the suf...more

like · see review

Jan 10, 2011 Seth Comfort rated it 5 of 5 stars

In my book club, we finished reading Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. It is a fantastic book that I will probably return to and read again (hopefully each year). It is a short read, my version has 147 pages, but it is filled with wisdom and biblical truth's. The book is about living life together in Christian community. The chapters breakdown the different aspects of life together.
The book starts with an introduction that gives a background on Bonhoeffer and his life. He was born in 1906 an...more In my book club, we finished reading Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. It is a fantastic book that I will probably return to and read again (hopefully each year). It is a short read, my version has 147 pages, but it is filled with wisdom and biblical truth's. The book is about living life together in Christian community. The chapters breakdown the different aspects of life together.
The book starts with an introduction that gives a background on Bonhoeffer and his life. He was born in 1906 and was martyred at the hands of the Gestapo in 1945. It is amazing, to me, to know that he wrote this book while living in a concentration camp, yet he writes with a peace that can only come from God.
Chapter 1: Community - talks about the importance of the Christian community and how it is not only an essential but a tremendous blessing to our lives. He explores how we should serve one another as Christ served the church and how it is only because of Christ's love that we can love our neighbor.
Chapter 2: The Day with Others - this chapter lays out, almost hour by hour, what a typical day could/should look like in a Christian community. He talks about prayer life in the morning and evening. He also address the importance of reading Scripture on a daily basis. He doesn't forget the fact that people have to work too. He says we all need to work and do the job God has set before us. I love this part, he says "Without the burden and labor of the day, prayer is not prayer, and without prayer work is not work." It's like prayer gets us through the work day and work makes our prayer life significant.
Chapter 3: The Day Alone - this chapter addresses silence and solitude. Bonhoeffer explains how even when we live in community, we still need times of solitude, prayer, silence, meditation and intercession. He hits on this but at the end of the chapter he again reminds us that we are apart of the body and that after a time alone, we should again be joined in community.
Chapter 4: Ministry - this chapter is about the ministry of serving each other. I learned a lot in the chapter as he talks about the ministry of holding one's tongue, the ministry of meekness, of listening, of helpfulness, of bearing, of proclaiming and of authority. He address these in the context of sharing our lives with each other.
Chapter 5: Confession and Communion - this chapter is just what the title explains, confessing to one another and then celebrating communion.

Overall, this book is a great read and I would highly recommend it. He definitely challenged my thinking of community and how I can serve those around me. Bonhoeffer writes with such wisdom but also with humility. He really addresses how important it is to live in community. A final quote "In a Christian community everything depends upon whether each individual is an indispensable link in a chain. Only when even the smallest link is securely interlocked is the chain unbreakable." (less)

1 like · like · see review

Sep 20, 2012 Becky B rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: christian-lit, church-and-culture, christian-life

Bonhoeffer's classic book on Christian community was a good read, though not a light read. Remember #1, this was written by a theologian accustomed to writing papers for publication, #2, it is a translation, and #3, the language is getting close to 100 years old, so if you find it slow reading, be patient with yourself. It is worth the read. Thanks to Metaxas' informative biography, I know that the things in this book are not just words, Bonhoeffer practiced them with his students and community....more

like · see review

Feb 16, 2011 Becky Ahrendsen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: faith

Intro tells about Bonhoeffer's life and commitment to his responsibility as a citizen of this world where God has placed him. he was imprisoned by Hitler and ministered and wrote until his execution.

This book has 5 chapters:
1. community
2. the day with others
3. the day alone
4. ministry
5. confession and communion.

Community: A Christian lives among enemies, as Christ did. This way the kingdom of God can be shared. Christians are held together only in Jesus Christ. Any physical presence of other Chr...more

like · see review

Sep 10, 2012 Timothy Darling rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biblical-studies, brain-food, doctoral-reading, classic, family, leadership, pastoral-arts, motivation, religious, spiritual-food, textbooks

From the beginning, Life Together has the ring of truth. There is much in this book that is helpful to the Christian who wants to understand both the value and the limitations of Christian community. Chapter 4 should especially be taken to heart by anyone who either is in leadership or who aspires to leadership in the Church. Unfortuneately chapters 2 and 5 are less helpful. For anyone who comes from a non-liturgical expression of the church, the structure of the hours and the insistance on the...more From the beginning, Life Together has the ring of truth. There is much in this book that is helpful to the Christian who wants to understand both the value and the limitations of Christian community. Chapter 4 should especially be taken to heart by anyone who either is in leadership or who aspires to leadership in the Church. Unfortuneately chapters 2 and 5 are less helpful. For anyone who comes from a non-liturgical expression of the church, the structure of the hours and the insistance on the value of mutual confession will come across as overly demanding. In the first case, the office of hours with its structure of involved family devotions is not very much in keeping with the religious practices of the modern family. I found the suggestion that a'capella, unison singing as the most spiritual brand of religious music offensive. Does the inducement of timbrel, dancing and stringed instruments found in Psalms also contribute to the pride of worshiping with more complex music? In the case of confession it will sound like an adaptation of a very catholic practice. This adaptation is idealistic at best and quite harmful at its worst. I do not trust any other person with the confession of my most shameful sin. I don't trust them to keep it to themselves (since they have no inducement to do so beyond their respect for me ... which can change in the blink of an eye), and I don't trust them to leave it out of their own need for power. Bonhoeffer may be right in his assessment that absolution from a fellow Christian is better than the assumed absolution of private confession to God, but it is a risk I will not take ouside some kind of structured assurance that it is as selfless and loving as Bonhoeffer describes.

On the other hand, his description of the servanthood needed in a leader, and the warnings against the desire for power over others are accurate to a fine measure. I also love his warning that folks look to community to be something it is not and never should be. His balancing of silence with community is also good, reminding us that none of us are alone and none of us should be without solitude. He warns us of the self-deception involved with our fear of solitude and encourages us to welcome the time alone with God, even to incorporate the distraction that frustrates us into intercessory prayer until we come back around to the original meditation.

Christian Community for Bonhoeffer is a structured and focused proposition. Both may be too narrow to be practical. His ideas seem to me to arise out of an over all culture more enamoured with structure. There is little here of the practical outworking of the community, only little to be said of service or evangelism (though they are not completely ignored). The only way the Communal ideal of Life Together could work is if everyone was on the same page as to how and why community exists. Glitches in that mutual understanding would invevitably lead to conflict and dysfunction. The primary value of Life Together has to do with personal spiritual formation and not so much with community function. The more individuals in the community function with Bonhoeffer's personal and communal understandings, the more likely the community is to function as he envisions. Otherwise it would break down rather quickly and grow only very slowly.(less)

like · see review

Oct 31, 2011 John rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"Life Together" might be Bonhoeffer's most practical book; theology with its work clothes on. He was addressing Christian community. It surprised me that he addressed some sections specifically to Christian families, although it shouldn't have. After all, that is a form of community most Christians will be involved in for at least a portion of their lives.
He is quite specific in suggesting how families should live, not only saying that they should sing but what they should sing (first Reformati...more

like · see review

Mar 07, 2011 Maya rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: christian-thought-and-practice

Life Together, published in German in 1938, then translated into English in 1956, is Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s prescriptive for disciplined fruitful Christian life as it is lived in community, whether as the typical family unit or in a more communal setting.

Bonhoeffer had been living and working in London as pastor of two congregations as he had chosen to leave Germany due to what, translator, John W. Doberstein explains was his conviction that German-Christian relations had been compromised in thei...more Life Together, published in German in 1938, then translated into English in 1956, is Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s prescriptive for disciplined fruitful Christian life as it is lived in community, whether as the typical family unit or in a more communal setting.

Bonhoeffer had been living and working in London as pastor of two congregations as he had chosen to leave Germany due to what, translator, John W. Doberstein explains was his conviction that German-Christian relations had been compromised in their relationship with the Third Reich.

However, the Confessing Church requested that he return to his homeland and lead an underground seminary to train young pastors. At great risk, Bonhoeffer returned, living in common with twenty-five vicars in Germany while equipping other ministers. While in this living and work situation, he continued to write and Life Together is one of the works that grew out of this experience.

Bonhoeffer’s theology is decidedly Christocentric in nature, so for those of us who do not subscribe to this type of exegesis, the book may initially be off-putting, however, his thoughtful treatment of what it requires from each individual to live out Christian-based communal life in the healthiest possible manner is strong, consistent, biblical and compassionate. His devotion to G-d is found within every single line and so is his deep desire for others to experience it as well.

The book becomes all the more profound due to the life-circumstances that Bonhoeffer finds himself in. He began as a pacifist, but then was challenged by the question of whether he should take part in an effort to assassinate Hitler. The translator writes:

“The man who felt all the force of the pacifist position and weighed the “cost of discipleship” concluded in the depths of his soul that to withdraw from those who were participating in the political and military resistance would be irresponsible cowardice and flight from reality. “ (pg. 11) “Here he acted in accord with his fundamental view of ethics, that a Christian must accept his responsibility as a citizen of this world where God has placed him.” (pg. 12)

Bonhoeffer was arrested in April of 1943 and placed in a military prison where he continued to minister. He was transferred to various prisons from October 1944 onward and on April 8, 1945 at the concentration camp of Flossenburg, shortly after teaching and praying with fellow prisoners, he was removed from his cell and was led to the gallows the following day. Not long after, the camp was liberated by allied forces.

Bonhoeffer’s passionate recommendations regarding both daily life and the arc of a community’s obligations over time seem daunting even to me, a deeply committed believer, and I wonder if this is either because of Bonhoeffer’s own radical commitment to Christ which might very well supercede the experience of most or if this is due to my own relatively relaxed and informal Christian experience in American culture which, at the present time, doesn’t put a high premium on discipline.

In any case, Life Together not only gives a firm outline for living a truly Christian daily life where G-d is at the center, but gives a coherent, loving rationale for even the strictest discipline. I highly recommend this book, for if even a few of his recommendations were to be put into practice, one could not help but experience a profoundly changed and deepened relational experience with G-d and others.
(less)

1 like · like · see review

Jan 04, 2013 Chris rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013

If you're anything like me, then your experiences in Christian community have been mostly bad with perhaps a few highly exceptional positive ones.

While reading Bonhoeffer's description of Christian community, it was impossible not to think of how it clashed with the Nazi view of the Volk. Rather than a community based on blood and soil, Bonhoeffer's idea of Christian community is based on Jesus Christ and his work, accepting of the weak and called to love even enemies.

The actual description of...more If you're anything like me, then your experiences in Christian community have been mostly bad with perhaps a few highly exceptional positive ones.

While reading Bonhoeffer's description of Christian community, it was impossible not to think of how it clashed with the Nazi view of the Volk. Rather than a community based on blood and soil, Bonhoeffer's idea of Christian community is based on Jesus Christ and his work, accepting of the weak and called to love even enemies.

The actual description of Christian community is very appealing, but I struggle to know how it might actually work in a 21st century world. Our communities are more and more virtual. So we don't always return home together to read, eat, and sing together with those we find most important. Skyping is one thing, Facebook another, blogs and Twitter yet others. There are great advantages, but the actual physical presence, the ability to hug and pat on the back do not exist on social networks or on Skype. Also, American working hours combined with the plethora of distractions like TV, the internet, and video games greatly reduce the amount of possible time that could be spent together.

The last two chapters, for me, stood in great contrast to what I have observed in Christian community, particularly in the blogosphere. Bonhoeffer councils holding one's tongue even with people in your community you know. He encourages meekness, thinking yourself the worst of sinners. He recommends silence and practicing listening. Bearing with the weaknesses of other. All of these things come straight from the Biblical text, all are actually quite difficult to put into practice, and, in my experience, all are regularly disregarded by Christians who have become convinced of others' theological errors.

Perhaps that is the biggest question left unanswered for me in this book: what do you do in community when a hermeneutical or theological issue cuts through it? How do you mediate? Whose rebukes, if any, are justified? I would greatly like it if pastors and bloggers took Bonhoeffer's advice on meekness and holding one's tongue and listening, but how? And when?

I haven't read all his writings, but I'm curious how Bonhoeffer himsefl responded to the German Christians, those who advocated aligning Nazism and German Protestantism. Bonhoeffer resisted and did not back down. But what was his tone like? Did he listen? Was he silent? Did he approach them thinking he was the worst of sinners like he recommends? They wanted Christians to basically be apparatchiks in the Nazi Party. Did they deserve the time to be heard? To say their piece?

You don't have to know the answers to those questions to know how difficult it is to live out the ideals of Christian community. Bonhoeffer's book provides a blueprint for what that might look like. (less)

1 like · like · see review

Aug 02, 2011 Mad Russian the Traveller rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: physical-shelf, audio-version

(July 27, 2011AD)
This short book has only an introduction and five chapters, but oh how profound are the thoughts contained therein. I have only just finished through the first chapter (Community) and found numerous passages to quote. Many of the reviews on this book quote copiously from the text, but I will still add to the din. I will be reading this again periodically as I try to internalize these ideas.

This passage reminds me to pray for my brothers around the world, it is also a comfort to...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 14, 2013 Andrew Choy rated it 5 of 5 stars

One of the perspectives which I reckon most insightful in Bonhoeffer’s book about community is the ministry of helpfulness in which simple assistance is required towards one another. It is strikingly true that many of us are usually preoccupied with seemingly more important tasks that we have neglected the needs of another humble follower of Christ. To a certain extent, I agree that God’s plan and will are higher and he wants us to surrender to his will by “sending us people with claims and peti...more

like · see review

Apr 09, 2013 Blake Chenoweth rated it 4 of 5 stars

I first read this book in Mr. Windham's Acts class, and let's face it, I just read it to get a good grade, missing some of the important messages in this little book. I have probably read it 3 times or more since then and each time I find something new and powerful. The book gives you so many insights into our relationships with others, and with God. Chapter 4 is probably my favorite after talking about the worship service in Chapter 2 and your own personal time with God in Chapter 3 it hits on...more

like · see review

Feb 26, 2013 Emi rated it 3 of 5 stars

Most concerning to me was Chapter II in which "prescriptive" statements seem to be coupled with rather harsh assessments of motives. For example:

"There are destroyers of unison singing on the fellowship that must be rigorously eliminated. There is no place in the service of worship where vanity and bad taste can so *intrude* as in the singing."

There's unity in midst of our different parts sung, even reflecting His triune nature. I feel perhaps he fails to see in practice the uniqueness of each p...more

like · see review

Oct 17, 2010 Tim rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is an introduction to the Christian's life in community. There will be portions that you may disagree with vigorously as Bonhoeffer posits a pretty complete trail to follow after, but overall this is the finest work on Christian community and the possibility and necessity of the church I have ever read. Whenever I feel critical of the community that I am in I reread this book to give me some sort of grounding and reminder of both the importance of Christian community and the gift of it...more

like · see review

Feb 21, 2011 Steve rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is short, but pound for pound, it weighs in with some of the heavier books out there - every sentence is packed with meaning and significance. I'm the kind of reader that likes to underline key sentences and passages to find quickly later, but I found it hard to not mark up the entire book. The section on confession was especially powerful as it relates to our need to understand our own nature in Christ before God, and use that understanding to support each other as we look to grow in...more

like · see review

Dec 14, 2010 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: christian-based-studies, christian-based-nf

I find it amazing that God has blessed the world with Christian thinkers like Bonhoeffer. It's wild that someone was wise enough to recognize the need for this topic and then took time to articulate a thoughful examination of the subject. For instance, when a new church is gathered, I would think it rare that the church would prioritize and recognize and specifically advocate a stance on such subjects as:
*the importance of humility within the community,
*the importance of listening,
*the impact...more

like · see review

Feb 24, 2013 Chris rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is Bonhoeffer's famous study of life in Christian community. He makes suggestions for daily worship in a small community, including practices of Bible study, meditation, prayer, and intercession. He spends a good amount of time on finding the balance between living as part of a community and functioning alone. He also spends a good amount of time talking about the importance of listening as ministry (recognizing the image of God in the other allows us to listen in the presence of Christ rat...more

like · see review

Jun 03, 2012 Greg rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the great Christian minister slaughtered for his beliefs by the Nazis, in this book describes his vision for the Christian living in the twentieth century. Despite written long ago in a horrific time, this book still has outstanding meaning. I cannot do it justice in a short review other than to say that Bonhoeffer writes with a clarity of purpose, and out of such an authentic sense of love, that I am astounded every time I pick up one of his books. He believes that the comm...more

like · see review

Sep 24, 2010 Cindy rated it 5 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this book immensely. There is a great deal of practical wisdom in this book that speaks to the daily struggles people of faith may encounter with other believers. When we understand that we have all entered into the community of Christian faith through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, regardless of the diversity of our backgrounds or educational levels or any number of things that may separate us and cause division, we know that his command to "love one another" is...more

like · see review

Mar 20, 2012 Eric Chappell rated it 5 of 5 stars

Most likely this will be my favorite book of 2012. So rich.

Chapter 1: Community
the Word of God, the gospel, grounds community and creates it. The gospel takes us out of ourselves and points us to the other in Jesus Christ.

Chapter 2: the Day with Others
How to do, lead, participate, and enjoy family/community worship in the AM and PM. It should consist of reading, singing, praying.

Chapter 3: the Day Alone
The importance of silence and solitude, as well as private meditation.

Chapter 4: Ministry
O...more

like · see review

Jan 10, 2013 Annemarie Metcalf rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was inspired by this take on Christian Community, and love the way it always focuses us back to our place and identity in Jesus Christ, both now and forevermore.

"Whether it be a brief, single encounter or the daily fellowship of years, Christian community is only this. We belong to one another only through and in Jesus Christ."

It's encouraging to hear his views through the time period in which he wrote! And to hear his reasoning and ability to disagree with some of the common responses of th...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (16)

More editions...

Genres

Religion > Theology

142 users

Christian

72 users

Religion > Christianity

54 users

Non Fiction

41 users

Religion

29 users

Religion > Faith

28 users

Spirituality

26 users

Religion > Church

22 users

Classics

12 users

Philosophy

10 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor and theologian. He was also a participant in the German Resistance movement against Nazism, a founding member of the Confessing Church. His involvement in plans by members of the Abwehr (the German Military Intelligence Office) to assassinate Adolf Hitler resulted in his arrest in April 1943 and his subsequent execution by hanging in April 1945, sho...more

More about Dietrich Bonhoeffer...

Books by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Ethics (Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, Vol. 6)

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Life Together: Th...

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

Quotes from Life Together: The Cla...

“Jesus Christ lived in the midst of his enemies. At the end all his disciples deserted him. On the Cross he was utterly alone, surrounded by evildoers and mockers. For this cause he had come, to bring peace to the enemies of God. So the Christian, too, belongs not in the seclusion of a cloistered life but in the thick of foes. There is his commission, his work. 'The kingdom is to be in the midst of your enemies. And he who will not suffer this does not want to be of the Kingdom of Christ; he wants to be among friends, to sit among roses and lilies, not with the bad people but the devout people. O you blasphemers and betrayers of Christ! If Christ had done what you are doing who would ever have been spared' (Luther).” — 95 people liked it

“We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small (and yet really not small) gifts.” — 56 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community
avg rating	preview: Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community Goodreads rating: 4.31 (4712 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/174845.Life_Together?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348872732l/174845.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/174845.Life_Together?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community by Dietrich Bonhoeffer[/url]

Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website