It was just eighty-eight years ago that Adolph Hitler was named Chancellor of Germany and the Reichstag adopted the Enabling Act of 1933 giving him expanded authority, as “Fuerer” - leader of the “Fatherland.” It also enabled the Nazi party to rise to near absolute authority, carryout brutal ethnic cleansing in the nation & launch Germany into the Second World War.
Hitler’s considerable oratory skills, passion and tendency to bully his opponents led to his rise in recognition and power in the Workers Socialist Party known as the Nazis.
The German nation had been slowly emerging from its defeat and devastation following the First World War without assistance from the victorious Western Powers including the USA. The German economy was failing and unemployment was widespread.
Still, the German people had always seen themselves as the leader in world culture; -in language, music, art, literature and religion. Hitler promised to lead the German nation to be great again – “Deutschland Uber Alles.”.
What American’Christians need to be aware of is the support that the German evangelical Christian church gave to the rise of German nationalism under Hitler. The German evangelical (Pietist) Church – heir to Martin Luther’s Protestant Reformation – with it’s own evangelical zeal, was giving full sanction to this super-nationalist political effort of Hitler & the Nazis. And it was turning a blind eye to the resulting disregard for truth-telling and the human rights atrocities that would ensue.
During this period, a group of more thoughtful & progressive Christians broke from the national German evangelical church to form the ”Confessing Church” of Germany, which opposed the racism and ultra nationalism of the Nazis. Most well known among its leaders was Dietrich Bonhoeffer, later executed by the Nazis.
Christians have always been involved in politics since the days of our Lord Jesus Christ, who was murdered by the state for treason. The question facing Christians today, as always, is what kind of political leaders do we want to grant social, economic and military power over us? And can we remain vigilant and raise a prophetic voice when Christian & Human values, such as truth-telling, genuine care for the poor, humility, and human & political rights for all, are trampled in the name of power & “Greatness?”
Hitler’s considerable oratory skills, passion and tendency to bully his opponents led to his rise in recognition and power in the Workers Socialist Party known as the Nazis.
The German nation had been slowly emerging from its defeat and devastation following the First World War without assistance from the victorious Western Powers including the USA. The German economy was failing and unemployment was widespread.
Still, the German people had always seen themselves as the leader in world culture; -in language, music, art, literature and religion. Hitler promised to lead the German nation to be great again – “Deutschland Uber Alles.”.
What American’Christians need to be aware of is the support that the German evangelical Christian church gave to the rise of German nationalism under Hitler. The German evangelical (Pietist) Church – heir to Martin Luther’s Protestant Reformation – with it’s own evangelical zeal, was giving full sanction to this super-nationalist political effort of Hitler & the Nazis. And it was turning a blind eye to the resulting disregard for truth-telling and the human rights atrocities that would ensue.
During this period, a group of more thoughtful & progressive Christians broke from the national German evangelical church to form the ”Confessing Church” of Germany, which opposed the racism and ultra nationalism of the Nazis. Most well known among its leaders was Dietrich Bonhoeffer, later executed by the Nazis.
Christians have always been involved in politics since the days of our Lord Jesus Christ, who was murdered by the state for treason. The question facing Christians today, as always, is what kind of political leaders do we want to grant social, economic and military power over us? And can we remain vigilant and raise a prophetic voice when Christian & Human values, such as truth-telling, genuine care for the poor, humility, and human & political rights for all, are trampled in the name of power & “Greatness?”