Customer Reviews

Life Together

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am reading 2 Timothy as I read this book and it really brings out some of the really important elements of Christian life and the church. Both Paul and Bonhoeffer are writing from the perspective of someone who is imprisoned, who is never sure when their life may end. If fact, both are probably sure that life will end very soon. So when they write, they are writing what is truly on their hearts, bringing to their reader exhortations that they hope to leave with them that will most strengthen their faith and respective communities.

This book talks about very simple things: singing together, living together, reading together. It touches little on how to overcome politics or proper forms of leadership. What he wants most is to make sure that, of all things, we learn how to be true brothers and sisters, which can ONLY be done through Christ. Without him and His will, we can do nothing. The Christocentric nature of his writing is alomost startling, yet, like Karl Barth, is essential to understanding Bonhoeffer.

I was most affected by the chapter about reading the Bible. He refers to booklets (writeen by the Moravians in his time) that focus only on a few verses. He challenges us to read whole chapters, whole books, of the entire Bible. This is so very true today. If we even take the time to read the Bible, we don't take part in the great narrative of God's grace, in Israel's crossing of the Red Sea, of thier crying out to God for help. When God rebukes them, he also rebukes us.

Perhaps some aspects of the book are somewhat anachronistic. The part about singing is a bit opinionated. I understand his desire for true unison singing - that it captures the symbol of all God's people joining as one in Christ. But singing also can reflect diversity, the diversity of the people in our congregation joined by the words but diverse in HOW it is sung. That is how I see it. And I find his rebuke of "unmusical" singers a little elitist. What would he think of current contemporary music with instruments, a leading band, and multiple melodies? On the one hand he DOES give us necessary pause for thought - we cannot succumb to the desire to be "current" while compromising the gospel; on the other hand I think he is a bit stuffy in his comments.

What makes this a classic is that it is not just a list of exhortations, but a THEOLOGICAL work, not a take on business models for the church, or sociological ana;yses. It is a book steeped in Scripture and that is very good.

Besides the Word of God (the bible), there are three other books every Christian should read, if he/she is serious about their faith.

Pilgrim's Progress, by John Bunyan; The Cost of Discipleship by D. Bonhoeffer, and this book, Life Together, by the same author. This book changed my perspective...totally, on how to live with 'my neighbour.' Think you really do love your neighbour? What about your brother and sister in the Lord? With so many church splits, arguments over trivial doctrinal issues, petty squabbles, and gossip justified as 'good ol' christian concern', this book is needed. It shows how we are REALLY to treat one another. Patterned after Christ, and based in scripture--this book is a must.

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.

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.

This is powerful exploration of the nature of biblical community. Written by Bonhoeffer who led an underground seminary in Nazi Germany, this book has the undertones of monastery - but it is still a penetrating analysis on the nature of true community. One thing I especially appreciated was the realism of this book. Bonhoeffer helps us get over the greener-pasture syndrome and actually embrace the believers that God has placed in our lives. As with Bonhoeffer's Cost of Discipleship, this is a modern classic worth the thoughtful reading and reflection of any growing Christian.

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.

My less than five star rating is simply because this work (like the other Bonhoffer books I've tried to finish) are written in a style that is hard to read. Maybe it is the loss in the translation or maybe it is because Bonhoffer gets to his points and leaves out anedote, personal information and doesn't quote other writers very much.
But these complaints notwithstanding this book is a very fine example of a modern writers words flowing from the very grace of God's Holy Spirit and if someone were to come along and add numbers to many of the sentences they'd be able to convince the unsuspecting that it was truly scripture.

Some examples;

Ministry of Bearing, page 101; "It is, first of all, the FREEDOM of the other person...that is the burden to the Christian. The other's freedom collides with his own autonomy, yet [the Christian] must recognize it. He could get rid of this burden by refusing the other person his freedom, by constraining him and thus doing violence to his personality, by stamping his own image upon him."

One of the ways that Peck defines an evil person in his great work, The People of the Lie, is a person that refuses to recognize the autonomy of others, the narcissistic attitude that "you exist to meet MY needs". Compare that with what Bonhoffer describes above and here:

Bonhoffer, pg 101, "It is the fellowship of the Cross to experience the burden of the other."

The opposite of evil.

More great quotes:

Fellowship of the Table, pg 69; "So long as we eat our bread together we shall have sufficient even with the least. Not until one person desires to keep his own bread for himself does hunger ensue. This is a strange divine law."

How about the "Ministry of Holding One's Tongue", "The Ministry of Meekness" and "The Ministry of Listening" for the subjects of short chapters?

On sinfulness: "If my sinfulness appears to me to be in any way smaller or less detestable in comparison with the sins of others, I am still not recognizing my sinfulness at all."

Bonhoffer's take on confession needs to be addressed by todays Protestant body. We seemed to have thrown the baby out with the bath water when it comes to confession of sins. I think we are so wary of the "priest" that we forget we Christains are all priests. And if priests, what then is our role?

Bonhoffer, pg 112; "When I go to my brother to confess, I am going to God." and "Sin demands to have a man by himself. It withdraws him..." , "Sin wants to remain unknown.", "In confession the light of the Gospel breaks into the darkness and seclusion of the heart."

While these may seem platitudes it is in the way Bonhoffer challenges the community to actually work out this confession business in a practical and real way. If these don't seem at all like platitudes, if we really believe the power and depth here, why aren't we practicing the confession more seriously? Are we afraid of being too "Catholic"?

And as far as that goes, what about all the factions, groups, denominations, and friction we see in the body today?

Bonhoffer, pg 37; "...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 sufferings and struggles and promise of the whole Church."

Read any group of reviews on a controversial Christian book and observe first hand how far, how very far, we are from this "sound and healthy" life together...

On the whole I'd highly recommend this work to any one that is going to be working in the church in any fashion, anyone that is part of small group leadership or any seeking Christian that isn't a "lazy" reader. Don't be lazy, read this book.

Bonhoeffer hits home! Life Together is especially for the Reformers of today. This book deals with issues that we keep hidden for the sake of piety. I rarely use the word "hero" but Bonhoeffer certainly fits that category. Any young (or for that matter old) theologian needs to get a hold of this book and not let go!

I read this book for the pre-membership class at my church and it was well worth reading, even as a non-Lutheran. Bonhoeffer's book shows us how community is a priviledge and a responsibility. It was good for me to read someone from a different era and denomination than myself to help me perceive things from a grander perspective. As C. S. Lewis so rightly pointed out, it is often the older books from different eras and cultures that have different assumptions than we do that prove to be most valuable. This book is a very worthwhile read; it goes beyond the shallow ecumenicism and the "unity" at the expense of truth so popular in our days.

If you read one book about Christian community, read this one.

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.