Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Week 1: Introduction — The Context and the Gift
Read the Preface and introductory framing of Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Primary Scripture: Psalm 133:1; John 17:20-23.
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Before diving into Bonhoeffer's argument, take a moment to consider what you already believe — and perhaps secretly demand — about Christian community.
Discussion Questions
6 questions1.Bonhoeffer wrote *Life Together* from first-hand experience of an intensely close, and ultimately threatened, Christian community at Finkenwalde. How does knowing this background change the way you approach a book about Christian fellowship? Does it raise or lower your expectations?
2.Many people come to a Christian community — a church, a small group, a seminary — carrying an image of what it *should* be like. What is your own 'wish-dream' of ideal Christian community? Be as honest and specific as you can.
a.Where do you think that image came from — a past community, a book, a sermon, an idealized picture of the early church?
b.How has reality ever collided painfully with that image?
3.Bonhoeffer opens the book by noting that not every Christian has the privilege of living among other Christians — some are scattered, isolated, or imprisoned. How does recognizing Christian community as a *privilege* rather than a given change the posture with which you enter it?
4.The book's key anchor text is Psalm 133:1 — 'How good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity!' What does this verse assume that community already *is*, before we do anything to build it?
5.Bonhoeffer was writing in a context of political crisis, clandestine ministry, and imminent danger. How does that historical pressure serve as a kind of stress-test for his theology of community? What can communities under pressure teach comfortable communities?
6.What do you hope to gain personally from studying this book — and what might you be afraid to find in it?
Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus, you prayed that your people would be one as you and the Father are one — and yet we come to this book carrying our disappointments, our wish-dreams, and our private demands about what community should give us. Teach us, before we go further, to receive rather than to demand. Thank you for the privilege of gathering at all. For the many brothers and sisters throughout history who have known only isolation and imprisonment, grant courage; for us who have so much, grant gratitude. Begin, even now, to expose whatever in us makes true fellowship impossible. We ask it in your name. Amen.
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