Confessing Church
The Confessing Church, known as Bekennende Kirche in German, was a significant resistance movement within the German Evangelical Church during the 1930s that opposed Nazi control over church affairs. This movement arose in response to the growing influence of the pro-Nazi German Christians, who sought to align the church with state ideology. Founded by concerned clergy members, including Pastor Martin Niemöller and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the Confessing Church emphasized that the church's allegiance should be to God rather than a national leader.
The church formally established itself in 1934 with the Barmen Confession, which rejected the authority of the Nazi regime and reaffirmed the church's commitment to biblical teachings. Despite facing intense government crackdowns, including the imprisonment and execution of its leaders, the Confessing Church remained an internal dissenting faction and did not separate from the broader German Evangelical Church.
While some members initially hesitated to confront the regime's racial policies, attitudes shifted as the realities of Nazi atrocities became undeniable, leading to increased efforts to resist and protect persecuted individuals. Ultimately, the Confessing Church dissolved after World War II, but its legacy influenced the post-war reconstruction of the Evangelical Church in Germany and its relationships with other European churches.
Confessing Church
The Confessing Church was a resistance movement within the German Evangelical Church that opposed Nazi efforts to exert control over the church in 1930s Germany. The Confessing Church, or Bekennende Kirche in German, did not splinter into a separate denomination but consisted of German Protestants who felt the church owed its devotion to God and not a national leader.
The religious landscape of Germany at the time was overwhelmingly Christian, primarily Protestant. According to a 1933 census, there were about forty million Protestants, twenty million Roman Catholics, and five hundred thousand Jews in the country. The largest religious organization was the German Evangelical Church, a unified collection of twenty-eight regional Protestant churches. The majority of Germany's Protestants were members of this church.
As Adolf Hitler began his rise to power in the early 1930s, a pro-Nazi movement called the German Christians gained influence in the German Evangelical Church. Soon after Hitler was named chancellor of Germany, the Nazi-backed German Christians took control of the church. Some clergy members, upset with what they saw as government interference in church matters, formed a dissenting faction that would become the Confessing Church. By the end of 1933, about six thousand clergy members had joined the movement.
History
Germany's defeat in World War I was humiliating for the nation. The terms of the peace treaty ending the war were particularly harsh, and the government formed in its wake was distrusted by the German people. This atmosphere led to the rise of extreme ideologies, such as Adolf Hitler's National Socialist German Workers' Party, or Nazi Party. The nationalist ideals and resentment of foreign influences espoused by the Nazis were very popular among the average citizens and were embraced by Germany's churches, including the German Evangelical Church. When Hitler and the Nazis assumed power in January 1933, they were welcomed across the nation.
Hitler was a Roman Catholic, but he was not religious. His philosophy viewed the German state, or Reich, as the ultimate authority, not the church. Hitler wanted to ensure the church remained in line with Nazi ideology, and he began to coordinate the churches under government control, leading to the 1933 takeover of the German Evangelical Church by German Christians. Regional churches were placed under the jurisdiction of a federal bishop, restrictions were imposed on speech, and non-Aryans were expelled from the church.
In response, a clergyman from Berlin, Pastor Martin Niemöller, formed the Pastors' Emergency League and called for the church to reject the state-imposed edicts. About six thousand members, a third of the German clergy, joined the movement. In May 1934, a group of delegates met in Barmen, Germany, to officially state their resistance and form the Confessing Church. The group issued the Barmen confession of faith, which declared the Confessing Church as the true German Evangelical Church and reaffirmed that true authority came from God and the Bible, not from Adolf Hitler. The church held a number of similar "confessing synods" in the next few years to strengthen and establish its doctrine throughout Germany.
Initially, the government was hesitant to get involved in the dispute, but that did not last. It began a crackdown on the dissenting clergy, monitoring their movements, banning their leaders from speaking publicly, establishing committees to dictate church law, and restricting their right to collect donations. Since most leaders of the Confessing Church saw their movement as an internal battle concerned with protesting the state's influence in church matters and not the regime itself, some decided to seek a compromise with the government, damaging unity within the church. The cooperation did little to slow Nazi intimidation. As World War II approached, Confessing Church institutions were dissolved by the state, and many clergy members were arrested, including Niemöller. At the onset of World War II, the Nazi persecution increased, and many church members were forced to go underground and mount a resistance in secret.
Despite their resistance to state authority, many church members did not take a stand against Nazi policies of racial hatred. Some voices within the church, such as theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, spoke out against the increasingly violent treatment of Jews, but most leaders shared the anti-Semitic attitudes prevalent in Germany at the time. Church leaders did protest Hitler's policy of euthanasia against the people with mental health issues, older individuals, and those with disabilities. However, officially, they remained silent on the issue of the Jews. As the war progressed and the horrors of the genocide became too great to ignore, that attitude shifted. Some clergy began to mount a more active resistance against the Nazis, harboring Jews and helping them escape the country. Many clergy were imprisoned, executed, or died in concentration camps. Niemöller spent seven years in a concentration camp and survived the war. Bonhoeffer was hanged in 1945. After the war, the Confessing Church dissolved, although some of its members were instrumental in repairing the Evangelical Church's relationship with other European churches.
Beliefs and Organization
The Confessing Church remained a dissenting faction within the German Evangelical Church and never split from the denomination. The church stayed true to the fundamental tenet of Protestantism, the belief in Jesus Christ as the Messiah, and that the Bible is the ultimate authority in matters of faith and church practice. At the same time, the Confessing Church was a German institution and shared a nationalistic ideology of German destiny with the Nazi government. This conflict kept the church from truly uniting against the regime until what resistance it did muster was ineffectual.
Without backing from the state-run German Evangelical Church, the Confessing Church was supported at the local level by its congregations. Clergy members organized councils and pastors' synods, preached from member churches, and trained seminarians. When the government increased its crackdowns on the church, many of these methods were outlawed or disbanded, severely damaging the church's ability to organize.
Bibliography
Begbie, Jeremy. "The Confessing Church and the Nazis: A Struggle for Theological Truth." Biblical Studies.org.uk, 1985, biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/anvil/02-2‗117.pdf. Accessed 25 Nov. 2024.
Bergen, Doris L. Twisted Cross: The German Christian Movement in the Third Reich. University of North Carolina Press, 1996.
“The Birth of the Confessing Church.” 1517, www.1517.org/articles/the-birth-of-the-confessing-church. Accessed 25 Nov. 2024.
“The German Churches and the Nazi State.” Holocaust Encyclopedia, encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-german-churches-and-the-nazi-state. Accessed 25 Nov. 2024.
Siegele-Wenschkewitz, Leonore. “Christians against Nazis: the German Confessing Church.” Christianity Today, www.christianitytoday.com/1986/01/christians-against-nazis-german-confessing-church. Accessed 25 Nov. 2024.