Life Together (1939 original; edició 2012)

Another classic by Bonhoeffer. Although there is some cultural influence shown based on his life time, the book nonetheless puts so much to consider into so few pages overall. Wonderful. ( )

Very dense, high economy of words, plus the fact that it's translated make it a tough read. That being said, it is worth the effort; a lot of practical advice and recommendations, backed by scripture.

"(Silence of the Christian) is a listening silence, humble stillness, that may be interrupted at any time for the sake of humility." ( )

Bonhoeffer, interested in what defines a Christian community, created one within his seminary in Finkenwalde, a suburb near pre-WWII Berlin, Germany. Although the seminary was closed by a pro-Nazi bishop, the content of Life Together is applicable for any Christian community. The structure of this book includes Bonhoeffer's reflections on the Christian community and what sets it apart from other communities, the need for a Christ-centered daily experience, meditative prayer, service to others, and the healing power of confession. This book is ideal for group discussion and ends with a series of questions for self-reflection or group discussion. ( )

This is a six-star book. Heck, call it eleven stars. Absolutely classic.

Life Together was young Dietrich Bonhoeffer's manifesto about the Christian community, written as he was leading an underground seminary for the confessing church under Nazi German rule. The members of the seminary knew that they would be executed if they were found; Bonhoeffer was martyred in the process.

Still, the book deals with the everyday nature of conflict and falling short between one person and another; it drives us into deeper relationship and forgiveness and community.

I'll teach from this book in academic and lay coursework around spiritual formation in communities and networks. It's a bit Lutheran and liturgical in some spots for some readers, but it's overwhelmingly powerful throughout. ( )

I found this meditation on Christian community deeply moving. Bonhoeffer talks about five different aspects of Christian fellowship: community, the day with others, the day alone, ministry, and confession and communion. In each chapter, he is unsparing in his account of what true Christianity demands, while also promoting practices of discipleship founded in love and compassion.

(One minor complaint. I don't know if it's a feature of German, but the English translation, which I think dates from the 1950s, uses "brother" exclusively along with only male pronouns. Standard practice at the time, but it feels restrictive and outdated now. Could perhaps use a new English translation?)

A few passages that really struck me:

"We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God. God will be constantly crossing our paths and canceling our plans by sending us people with claims and petitions. We may pass them by, preoccupied with our more important tasks, as the priest passed by the man who had fallen among thieves--perhaps reading the Bible. When we do that we pass by the visible sign of the Cross raised athwart our path to show us that, not our way, but God's way must be done. It is a strange fact that Christians and even ministers frequently consider their work so important and urgent that they will allow nothing to disturb them. They think they are doing God a service in this, but actually they are disdaining God's 'crooked yet straight path' (Gottfried Arnold). They do not want a life that is crossed and balked. But it is part of the discipline of humility that we must not spare our hand where it can perform a service and that we do not assume that our schedule is our own to manage, but allow it to be arranged by God."

"But God has put his Word into the mouth of men in order that it may be communicated to other men. When one person is struck by the Word, he speaks it to others. God has willed that we should seek and find His living Word in the witness of a brother, in the mouth of man. Therefore, the Christian needs another Christian who speaks God's Word to him. He needs him again and again when he becomes uncertain and discouraged, for by himself he cannot help himself without belying the truth. He needs his brother man as a bearer and proclaimer of the divine word of salvation. He needs his brother solely because of Jesus Christ. The Christ in his own heart is weaker than the Christ in the word of his brother; his own heart is uncertain, his brother's is sure."

"Because Christ stands between me and others, I dare not desire direct fellowship with them. As only Christ can speak to me in such a way that I may be saved, so others, too, can be saved only by Christ himself. This means that I must release the other person from every attempt of mine to regulate, coerce, and dominate him with my love. This other person needs to retain his independence of me; to be loved for what he is, as one from whom Christ became man, died, and rose again, for whom Christ bought forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Because Christ has long since acted decisively for my brother, before I could begin to act, I must leave him his freedom to be Christ's; I must meet him only as the person that he already is in Christ's eyes. This is the meaning of the proposition that we can meet others only through the mediation of Christ. Human love constructs its own image of the other person, of what he is and what he should become. It takes the life of the other person into its own hands. Spiritual love recognizes the true image of the other person which he has received from Jesus Christ; the image that Jesus Christ himself embodied and would stamp upon all men." ( )