The book Life Together, written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, is about his proclamation of his theology and philosophy on the essential principles of Christian fellowship. A little background on Bonheoffer will be helpful to fully understand his book in more depth. Dietrich Bonhoeffer began his life journey at the age seventeen in Tubingen, Germany. At the age of twenty-one he received his doctorates in theology and by the age of twenty four he became a teacher at the University of Berlin. In Germany during Hitler’s reign, Bonhoeffer signed a declaration called the Barmen Declaration where the creation of the independent “confessing church” began. In 1935, Bonhoeffer was a director for a clandestine seminary in Finkenwald where he trained young pastors …show more content…
According to Bonhoeffer, he believes that scripture tells us that our first word of the day and our first thoughts of the day belong to God. “ Morning does not belong to the individual, it belongs to the church of the triune God, to the church family, to the brotherhood.” (Bonhoeffer p 42) Stressors of every days work should not oppress the beginning of the day. Bonhoeffer believes that the psalter should be used every morning just as it was used in the ancient days. “Even if a verse or a psalm is not one’s own prayer, it is nevertheless the prayer of another member of the fellowship; so it is quite certainly the prayer of the true Man Jesus Christ and his Body on earth.” (Bonhoeffer p 46-47) The psalter is where we learn what prayer means, we learn from the prayer of the psalm what we should pray, and teaches us how to pray as a fellowship. After the prayer of the psalm reading scripture should be followed. The Holy Scripture is Gods revealed Word for men. “In family devotions it is best that the various members thereof undertake the consecutive reading in turn.” (Bonhoeffer p55) This is meaning that the more one reads on their own they will be able to discover the whole story and enter into it as its own. When reading the Holy Scripture we will be able to learn to understand reality correctly. Through scripture we see the full reality. Singing together a hymn is the voice of the church. “ The singing of the congregation, especially of the family congregation, is essentially singing in unison.” (Bonhoeffer p 59) Bonhoeffer says that the more sings one incorporates in their daily lives the more they will benefit from it. It will be richer in blessings that come upon them to their whole life of the fellowship from singing together. Common prayer involves praying together in our own words. The common prayer should reflect the community’s