Life Together

After his martyrdom at the hands of the Gestapo in 1945, Dietrich Bonhoeffer continued his witness in the hearts of Christians around the world. His Letters and Papers from Prison became a prized guide to Christian faith, living, and courage in a secular age, read by millions. In Life Together we have Pastor Bonhoeffer's experience of Christian community. This story of a unique fellowship in an underground seminary during the Nazi years reads like one of Paul's letters. It gives practical advice on how life together in Christ can be sustained in families and groups. The role of personal prayer, worship in common, everyday work, and Christian service is treated in simple, almost biblical, words. Life Together is bread for all who are hungry for the real life of Christian fellowship.

This remains the most influential and modern book on the nature and spirit of authentic Christian community. And it has growing influence on Christian communities of various kinds today. It reveals the communal Christian spirit that inspired Bonhoeffer and his Christian associates to conspire to assassinate Hitler as an act of true Christian love and courage. He died a martyr, convinced he had done the right thing, the only thing he could do, even though the Christian coup failed.