“A Christian needs others because of Jesus Christ… a Christian comes to others only through Jesus Christ… in Jesus Christ we have been chosen from eternity, accepted in ti… New York: Harper & Row, 1954. He recommends families read daily from the Old and New Testament, follow a consecutive reading plan, and take turns reading. Solitude is to be accompanied with silence and meditation. (January 2014) Life Together is a book by the German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, written while Bonhoeffer taught at an underground seminary. In Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, renowned Christian minister, professor, and author of The Cost of Discipleship recounts his unique fellowship in an underground seminary during the Nazi years in Germany. He then gives several examples of times when we are to come together through praise. Especially in the case of pastors, thankfulness is important. The chapter on ministry warns members of the community against the sin of pride. In the subsequent two chapters, he describes a typical day both in community with others and in solitude. Overflowing with wisdom, you will run your highlighter dry if you are given to marking up books. Christ "stands between me and others". The Gestapo arrested him and just before the end of WWII Bonhoeffer was executed by the Nazi henchmen. Without thankfulness for the daily gifts God has given, the greater gifts of God will not come our way. In short span, Bonhoeffer covers a wealth of material. Bonhoeffer distinguishes the two saying, “Human love cannot tolerate the dissolution of a fellowship that has become false for the sake of genuine fellowship, and human love cannot love an enemy, that is, one who seriously and stubbornly resists it… Life or death of a Christian community is determined by whether it achieves sober wisdom on this point as soon as possible.”. When Christians are reconciled to God and people they desire to receive the body and blood of Jesus. Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together is a brief but rich treatise on Christian community. Throughout Life Together, Bonhoeffer defines the Church as the meeting grounds of Christianity. Writing from Nazi Germany, in a time when the church was compromising and under attack, Bonhoeffer gives us a prophetic message. Parents Guide. In the work, he detailed the necessity of the church functioning as a living and vibrant organism, what he called a "community of love". Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community - Chapter 3, The Day Alone Summary & Analysis Dietrich Bonhoeffer This Study Guide consists of approximately 39 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of Life Together. Bonhoeffer defines listening as an art committed to Christians. Life Together, perhaps his most accessible work, was written out of his experience of living in community with pastors and those training for gospel ministry in 1930s Germany, and is rightly viewed as a Christian classic. Synopsis In Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, renowned Christian minister, professor, and author of The Cost of Discipleship recounts his unique fellowship in an underground seminary during the Nazi years in Germany. They cost us a weary pursuit, and if we gain our desire—it is destroyed in the grasping of it! Summary. He then moves on to discuss how the community is to fellowship at various points of the day. The final chapter discusses confession and communion. He is very systematic and prescriptive in this book. Bonhoeffer's convictions fit with the Biblical teachings that every human is related in a family relationship. He expresses his sincere joy at this truth by exclaiming, “how inexhaustible are the riches that open up for those who by God’s will are privileged to live in the daily fellowship of life with other Christians!” (p. 20). He shares the wise words that “only as we are within the fellowship can we be alone, and only he that is alone can love in the fellowship” (p. 77). Create a website or blog at WordPress.com. “As children catch at butterflies—the gaudy wings melt away in their fingers, and there remains nothing but an ugly worm!” Such is the end of all earthly ambitions! The Introduction to Life Together makes this clear in a brief summary of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s life and work. File Name: life together bonhoeffer chapter 1 summary.zip. Bonhoeffer stresses the importance of intercession by comparing it to the “pulsing heart of all Christian life in unison” (p. 86). The first service that one owes to others in fellowship is listening, the second is active helpfulness, and the third is bearing others. As we consider the One Anothers in our weekly sermons, I would encourage you to pick up a copy. Reading scripture is of critical importance in family devotions. In it Dietrich Bonhoeffer gives you “a number of directions and precepts that the Scriptures provide us for life together under the word.”. Life Together. [2] In other words, Christians should not wait for a revelation from God before they do something, but because they are continuously and prayerfully considering what is right, it is possible that God has already revealed His will to them and they need to summon up the courage to take the appropriate actions. He believed that God bestows brotherhood upon us because we are in fact our brother's keeper. This work, along with Cost of Discipleship, encompasses Bonhoeffer’s theological understanding of what it means to live as a Christian community in the body of Christ. I went to church on Sundays but I never invested in the community provided. That is why all singing in the church is a spiritual performance…where the singing is not to the Lord, it is singing to the honor of the self or the music, and the new song becomes a song to idols.”, The third chapter is on a time of silent worship to God on a daily basis for the Christian, which Bonhoeffer suggests should include a time of meditation, prayer, and intercessions. Bonhoeffer writes that when a person strays from Christianity it is the problem of the entire group - and their responsibility - to get him on the right track again. Life Together, perhaps his most accessible work, was written out of his experience of living in community with pastors and those training for gospel ministry in 1930s Germany, and is rightly viewed as a Christian classic. Your email address will not be published. “The Word,” he writes, “comes not to the chatterer but to him who holds his tongue.”, The Fourth Chapter is on Ministry, specifically the ministry of holding the tongue, meekness, listening, helpfulness, bearing, and proclaiming. He writes that community is not something to be taken for granted. There are those that believe that Christian community is a right; however, Bonhoeffer points out, the Scriptures clearly state that we are to be scattered among our enemies. "Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." Christian love, spiritual love, comes from Christ and goes out to the other person, not directly, but through Christ. In a world where community has become a buzzword this is a classic and refreshing book on what it means to live with others in genuine Christian community. The fellowship of the human community is composed of devout souls and works along the lines of the magnetic persuasion of a leader. Life Together, Inc., a 501 (c)(3) organization was established in 1992 by Bishop David Allen Hall, pastor of the historic Temple Church Of God In Christ. If the Church is not an ideal, it is also not a human reality. All Rights Reserved. | In his writing he expounds upon his premise, "Without Christ there is discord between God and man and between man and man . It looks like we don't have a Synopsis for this title yet. In it Dietrich Bonhoeffer gives you “a number of directions and precepts that the Scriptures provide us for life together under the word.” He seeks to present practical suggestions for how you can live in Christian community with others. Christian fellowship is not created by us, but accomplished by God and thus is different from other communities. Christian ministry, as Bonhoeffer portrays it, is largely an attitude of the heart. Book Summary: Life Together. This was life together, the life of the Christian community which is described and documented in Life Together (1938). A pastor has no right to accuse his congregation before God. . Read this summary together. Source: Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The fellowship of Christ is ruled by God's Word. He insists that, “common life under the Word begins with the common worship at the beginning of the day” (p. 42). He also shares his insight on common prayer and giving thanks for food, showing all the implications of the prayer and the theology of receiving food together from God.