Life Together/the Classic Exploration of Faith in Community
by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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Read in June, 2008
I really enjoyed this book and hope to come back to it again. Although it's a pretty short book, it's packed with great insights into the nature of Christian community.
The first section which deals with some of the theology behind christian community is just amazing and Bonhoeffer really dispells some of the misconceptions/false expectations that we have of community. He draws it all back to Jesus and highlights the fact that He alone is the reason we can be united. I was really blown a...more
The first section which deals with some of the theology behind christian community is just amazing and Bonhoeffer really dispells some of the misconceptions/false expectations that we have of community. He draws it all back to Jesus and highlights the fact that He alone is the reason we can be united. I was really blown a...more
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Read in September, 2007
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...more
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...more
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Read in April, 2007
I re-read this book for the class I took on Bonhoeffer and found it even more enjoyable this time than the first couple of times. Bonhoeffer has some great practical advice about living in Christian community, as well as some challenging theological perspectives. It's easy to see the influences of Anglican monasticism on his view of communal life, which was particularly unique in protestant Germany at the time he wrote the book. The book is short and comprised of five chapters. Some of Bonho...more
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Read in October, 2007
Despite a heavily Germanic writing style, and frequent grammatically awkward sentences, Bonhoeffer’s classic is a delight to read. Better read in small chapters with plenty of time for reflection, Life Together is an exposition of life in Christian community. Bonhoeffer explores how to interact with others in the light of what Christ has done for us. He covers the topics of Community, The Day with Others, The Day Alone (reflections on prayer and meditation), Ministry (reflections on work, incl...more
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Read in January, 2006
I file this one under simple theology. Simple because there's never a point where you get done reading a paragraph and have to mull over the theological implications for the next week. It’s not as fluffy as Donald Miller’s Blue Like Jazz, but it’s not Systematic Theology either.
Bonhoeffer has crafted a succinct book on the true value and need for community. He continually points to the necessity God places on living life together and the need to go outside the people that we’re comfor...more
Bonhoeffer has crafted a succinct book on the true value and need for community. He continually points to the necessity God places on living life together and the need to go outside the people that we’re comfor...more
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Read in January, 2001
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 pers...more
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 pers...more
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Very typically Bonhoeffer, in my opinion. The beginning starts with grand, profound and very weighty truths. It gets progressively more... difficult, unnecessarily difficult, to read towards the end because it devolves into cliches and the exegesis becomes more and more tortured as well. I about threw the book away when he quoted a particular verse from Proverbs to support how God earnestly desires us to give him our heart. Inexcusable.
If the book was only 2 chapters long, it might've been w...more
If the book was only 2 chapters long, it might've been w...more
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Read in January, 2008
an amazing little book. i picked it up to inform an essay i was writing about community, but found myself marking so many passages that challenged my own life and attitudes. i should have expected that, as bonhoeffer is a hero of mine. i found it confusing to read without knowing the background on his life in community. at times i couldn't follow whether he was addressing an actual christian community, or churches, or families. i think he moved back and forth addressing all of these, and at...more
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Read in July, 2003
It is hard to live in relationship with others -- it requires "Christ who alone binds us together." Bonhoeffer's realistic analysis of how to live in community helped me a lot when I was in seminary, disillusioned because my fantasy of Christian community wasn't coming true. Much (all?)of what he says applies equally to the church or family life. This is practical theology -- being Christ's changes how we live, particularly in relationships (the hardest area!).
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Life Together stands as one of the best theologies of community in modern church history. Focusing on life and ministry in community, Bonhoeffer’s work served as a sort of handbook for the underground church in Nazi Germany. The joy of community and the centrality of Christ are especially emphasized here. Bonhoeffer offers a particularly acute analysis of spiritual life in community, especially in light of Nazi persecution. A
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Read in March, 1999
I read this while living with my entire theater company on tour in Seattle. I was home sick, everyone else was sightseeing, and this was the only book I brought. I figured that I wouldn't have time to read, but a fever and laryngitis changed my plans. A wonderful book on community, though my distant memory of the book recalls more best-case scenarios than typical reality. I'll have to re-read it.
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Read in November, 2007
A fantastic but weighty read. There were parts of this book that called me out in a huge way in how I approach relationships in my own life. It was a nice wake up call.
On the negative side: There were sections that got so specific and liturgical that I had a hard time relating or applying them.
Good read for someone looking for something a little theologically heavy.
On the negative side: There were sections that got so specific and liturgical that I had a hard time relating or applying them.
Good read for someone looking for something a little theologically heavy.
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Read in July, 2007
I loved it...and couldn't help but think that it would be a perfect required reading for those folks in the MAC internship...or anyone for that matter. I felt convicted at times and it made me want to be more disaplined in spending time with God...which hasn't happend yet even though I want it to...I hope I follow through with some of the stuff that I learned.
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Read in February, 2007
Excellent piece on how Christians are called to live in community with one another. Bonhoeffer really pulls together deep Biblical truths about living as a Body in the first few chapters. He then goes on to expand oh what that looks like in prayer, communion, etc. The beginning and end really caught my attention, and the middle was so-so.
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Other than chapter 2 (which was a little off the mark), this book was challenging and convicting. Bonhoeffer has some really sweet ideas about community. I don't often think of it as highly or as something precious, as the author does, and this reminded me of what a gift living in fellowship is. I highly recommend this.
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This was the first member of my trinity of books that form a contemporary constitution for Christian communities.
The first chapter alone makes this indispensable, but bear through the drier, more strict middle chapters until the succinct but profound conclusion if you want to take in Bonhoeffer's vision in entirety.
The first chapter alone makes this indispensable, but bear through the drier, more strict middle chapters until the succinct but profound conclusion if you want to take in Bonhoeffer's vision in entirety.
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Read in March, 2008
My first book by Bonhoeffer and I loved it! His words simultaneously carry great power and great simplicity - a wonderful combination. I read nothing new that I did not already know about Christianity, but felt as if I was hearing timeless ideas and themes for the first time and in a new and beautiful light.
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This German Christian theologian unpacks what it means to cultivate, participate, and strategize in the community for which we were created. His discussion of "community" is cross-generationally, cross-culturally translatable and relevant. Perhaps a strong statement...but this book changed my life.
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Read in May, 2008
So I don't like giving 5 stars to things...and in our discussion I gave it the equivalent of 4 but I have decided to give it 5! This book is excellent and really emphasizes how everything comes back to Christ and the way you interact with Him. Def. one of my favorites
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A little book that should be read slowly. Not all that Bonhoeffer says could be universally applied to every form of Christian community. But he is thoughtful and certain things he says makes you aware that he has walked with Christ in community into deep waters.
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