Theological Declaration of Barmen

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Jesus luminary of the last century. His faithfulness to Jesus Christ at a time the church in Germany was failing has stood the test of time. Author Gaylon Barker writing about this period of history suggests that Hitler did not want to just control Germany politically; he wanted to control the hearts and souls of the citizens. Assuming this is correct, Germany was in both a spiritual battle as well as a political battle at the same time. This would eventually lead to the darkest period of human history with the extermination of more than six million Jews.

Apathy allowed the take-over of the German Evangelical Church. Once Hitler gained control of the church by means of weak clergy they sought to modify the Bible by removing the Old Testament, revise the liturgies, and remove all non-believing ministers who did not support the Aryan movement.

In a 1934 Synod the Confessing Church was born. Bonhoeffer signed the Declaration of Barmen     – a manifesto that declared the church was to be loyal to Christ and not the State. This document was written by Karl Barth and Early Church Theologian. From this meager beginning an underground seminary was born to equip ministers and laity to stand against the power of Nazism. Seminary life would consist of prayer, Scripture study, Confession, and daily living together. This small beginning believed in the millennial reign of Christ, not the reign of the Reich.

A young historian named, Wilhelm Niesel heard about this seminary and left Berlin to see for himself what was going on in Finkenwalde, Germany. Questioning the intensity of such discipleship training Bonhoeffer took Niesel on a rowboat journey to Oder Sound. On top of a hill from the shoreline you could see and hear the German airfield with military flights leaving to destroy population centers. Bonhoeffer stated to his guest, “This must be stronger than that! The Reich is dead – the gospel of Christ and Bonhoeffer’s passion still lives.Knowing that whatever is measured is rewarded – the real question is what value are we willing to place upon discipleship in the face of our national pandemic?