Bonhoeffer and Barmen

"The old kind of ethics doesn't work anymore, that the rules have changed so radically under Nazisim that the only thing someone can do is really throw themselves on the mercy of God and do what they think is right and follow it through." Victoria J. Barnett, cited in Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Pacifist, Nazi Resister

• Quote
• Note
• Scripture
• Question

1. Preview
2. Gleichschaltung & Kirchenkampf
3. Who Is Deitrich Bonhoeffer?
4. Pull-Quotes from The Cost of Discipleship
5. What is the Barmen Declaration?
6. Rosenberg's 30-Point Plan to De-Chrisitianize Germany
7. Totalitarian Governments: Imperial Rome and Nazi Germany
8. Review
9. Sources

[1 ⇑ ↝ ] Biography - Most information from the documentary Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Pacifist, Nazi Resister

1. 1906 - Born the oldest twin, his sister was named Sabine
2. German Churches were all in for WW I. German churches disgraced and discredited afterwards by Germany's humiliating defeat. The tribal "God is on our side" myth was trumpeted by all sides in WWI.
3. Dietrich's older brother Walter was killed in WW I
4. The Bonhoeffers were a very close, but very secular family
5. This secular family was very surprised by Deitrich's choice to study Theology
6. Deitrich greatly influenced by Karl Barth's writing about how WW I nations all claimed God as a tribal God fighting on their side
7. Completes doctoral thesis at 21, Sactorum Communico--a new vision of the Church
8. 1930, Bonhoeffer visits America on a teaching fellowship
   • Studied under Reinhold Niebuhr at Union Theological Seminary
   • Initially rejected Neihbuhr's teaching
   • At the invitation of a black fellow student, Frank Fisher, Dietrich has a life-changing experience at Abyssian Baptist Church. He discover s poor people, disenfranchised people involved In enthusiastic worship of God
   • He also becomes friends with and is influenced by a French pacifist, Jean Lessarce
9. 1931, Summer - Returns to Germany
10. 1933, Feb 1 - Delivers radio speech critical of Hitler two days after Hitler became Chancellor of Germany: "The Younger Generation's Changed View of the Concept of Fueher." The broadcast was cut off in the middle.
11. The Church's support for Hitler brings it back into the mainstream
12. Regional churches band together to establish the First United Reich Church of Germany
13. Bonhoeefer teaches Theology in Berlin
14. Anit-Jewish Sentinment, dating back to Martin Luther, including his The Jews and their Lies, blazes through Germany and Austra
15. Defending Luther: Is there really a difference between Anti-Judaism and Anti-Semitism?
16. At his Bishop's request, refuses to speak at the funeral of his Jewish brother-in-law's family. His guilt over this act of submission and cowardice haunted him the rest of his life.
17. Dietrich's new view on an increasing resistance to the state
    1. Question the state's actions
    2. Minister to the victims of the state's injustice
    3. Jam a spoke in the wheel of the state
18. 1933, The Catholic Church originally opposed Nazism, but eventually signed a concordant with them.
    1. The Bishops believed Hitler was a Catholic, and that his Catholicism would restrain him; that they might even exert a positive influence on him over time.
    2. They saw Nazism has a barrier against Communism, which was overtly atheistic and anti-church.
19. The Aryan Paragraph
    1. Forbid any one with Jewish ancestry to hold public office or a government job. This affected pastors and priests because they were government employees paid from the Church Tax.
    2. Joachin Hossenfelder was a Church leader who actually outperformed the Nazis in pushing this policy.
    3. Those in the Church who resisted the Aryan Paragraph claimed it negated Baptism. Baptized Jews were Christians, not Jews. (Most German Protestants viewed Baptism in the way many American Evangelicals view the Sinner's Prayer, i.e., salvation and the adoption into God's family.)
    4. Pastor Karl Themer, an enthusiastic Nazi collaborator, goes through thousands of Baptismal certificates in order to identify those indicating Jewish ancestry. 2600 of these baptized Christians wind up in concentration camps.
20. Martin Niemoller, a WW I hero and prominent Berlin pastor formed a protest against Nazism. Rebelling against the Reich Church, he and others founded the Confessing Church.
    1. About 7k out of 20k German pastors become part of this resistance.
    2. For many of these pastors, it was an intra-church squabble more than a direct confrontation with the Nazi state.
    3. Within 2 years, most of these pastors had pledged alleigance to the Nazi state.
    4. The continued resitors were jailed or drafted into the German Army and sent to the Russian front.
21. Dietrich goes to London to pastor a German Church
22. 1934, Karl Barth and 100+ pastors draft the Barmen Declaration, a return to Biblical principles
23. Dissident pastors are harassed and jailed
24. 1935, Confessing Church starts its own seminaries; Dietrich becomes director of Finkenwalde seminary
25. 1936, Dietrich becomes increasingly convinced of the need for the Church to stand up to the victims of the state
26. Introduces Negro spirituals into Confessing Church worship. His experience with American negroes leads him into supporting the Jews
27. While at Finkenwalde, finishes The Cost of Discipleship
28. Also at Finkenwalde, he is befriended by an elderly woman financial supporter, Ruth von Kleist-Retzow.
29. 1937, the Gestapo closes Finkenwalde Seminary
30. 1937, March, Pope Pius XI’s releases anti-Nazi papal encyclical Mit Brennender Sorge ("With Burning Anxiety"). This results in the Nazis ramping up their war against Catholicism and the Catholic resistance to the government pressure.
31. 1938, Krystallnacht: hundreds of Jewish shops and synagogues are destroyed all over Germany. Otto Dudzes, a former seminary student of Dietrich's, says Bonhoeffer viewed this as an "attack on the God of the Old and New Testament and the Christian Church."
32. Bonhoeffer's entire family becomes deeply involved in the Resistance. Dietrich's brother-in-law worked with the Abwehr (German military intelligence), and provided theBonhoeffer family with the complete picture of those Nazi atrocities that were hidden from the general public.
33. 1939, Karl Barth expelled from Germany; Martin Neimolloer put in a concentration camp; hundreds of dissident pastors jailed.
34. 1940 Walter Brundmann et al (also enthusiastic Nazi collaborators) publish The Message of God, a De-Judaized New Testament. German hymnbooks were also De-Judaized. German Theologians had been speculating since around 1900 (long before Hitler) that Jesus was from an Aryan family living in Israel.
35. American friends offered Bonhoeffer sanctuary at Union Theological Seminary. Before leaving, Otto Dudzes reports Dietrich asking, "Would you grant absolution to the murderer of a tyrant."
36. Shortly after arriving in America, Deitrich realizes"I have made a mistake in coming to America. I will have no right to participate in the reconstruction of Christian life in Germany after the war if I do not share the trials of this time with my people. He boards the last ship back to Germany before the war begins.
37. Beomes "The moral backbone of the German resistance...They looked to him for moral guidance, to help them overcome some of the scruples that they had, because in most instances, they had to violate their military oath, they had to lie, they had to be duplicitous, they had to plan murder, they had to kill the head of state."
38. Becoming a member of the Abwehr, he acts as a double agent.
39. 1943, While visiting his wealthy patron from Finkenwalde, Ruth von Kleist-Retzow, the 37-year old Bonhoeffer becomes engaged to her 17-year old grandaughter. Maria was a beautiful, devoted, and intelligent young woman who had lost her father and brother in the war.
40. 1943, April 15, Dietrich is arrested by the Gestapo, Maria's sister reports that Maria has a premonition that something bad was going to happen to Deitrich that day and recorded that pemonition in her diary. It is 3 months before Maria is allowed her first prison visit.
41. Deitrich begins reading the Bible cover to cover, as well as continuing his daily reading of the Psalmss.
42. At first, he is being held for suspicion of corruption, that he was making money from the Jews he was rescuing through the Abwehr. It is then discovered that he was a key figure in multiple assassination attempts on the Fuehrer.
43. 1945, April 8, Moved to Flossenberg Concentration Camp.
44. 1945, April 9, Deitrich Bonhoeffer is stripped naked and hung
    1. Hans Von Dohnanyi, his brother-in-law, , was hung with piano wire on the preceding (or same day, a records dispute) as Dietrich
    2. Klaus Bonhoeffer, Deitrich's brother, was shot in the neck by order of the Gestapo on April 22, 1945
    3. Rüdiger Schleicher, another brother-in-law, was shot in the neck by order of the Gestapo on April 22, 1945

[2 ↜ ⇑ ↝] Cheap Grace Vs Costly Grace

CHEAP GRACE

COSTLY GRACE

"Cheap grace means grace as a doctrine, a principle, a system. It means forgiveness of sins proclaimed as a general truth, the love of God taught as the Christian 'conception' of God. An intellectual assent to that idea is held to be of itself sufficient to secure remission of sins. The Church which holds the correct doctrine of grace has, it is supposed, ipso facto a part in that grace. In such a Church the world finds a cheap covering for its sins; no contrition is required, still less any real desire to be delivered from sin. Cheap grace therefore amounts to a denial of the living Word of God, in fact, a denial of the Incarnation of the Word of God

Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will gladly go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: “ye were bought at a price,” and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.

[3 ↜ ⇑ ↝]A Soul Destroying Doctrine

The word of cheap grace has been the ruin of more Christians than any commandment of works. (55)

[4 ↜ ⇑ ↝] The Monastic Arc - Good Love Gone Bad

It is highly significant that the Church was astute enough to find room for the monastic movement, and to prevent it from lapsing into schism. Here on the outer fringe of the Church was a place where the older vision was kept alive. Here men still remembered that grace costs, that grace means following Christ. Here they left all they had for Christ’s sake, and endeavoured daily to practise his rigorous commands. Thus monasticism became a living protest against the secularization of Christianity and the cheapening of grace.(46)

Luther’s return from the cloister to the world was the worst blow the world had suffered since the days of early Christianity. The renunciation he made when he became a monk was child’s play compared with that which he had to make when he returned to the world. Now came the frontal assault. The only way to follow Jesus was by living in the world. Hitherto the Christian life had been the achievement of a few choice spirits under the exceptionally favourable conditions of monasticism; now it is a duty laid on every Christian living in the world. The commandment of Jesus must be accorded perfect obedience in one’s daily vocation of life. The conflict between the life of the Christian and the life of the world was thus thrown into the sharpest possible relief. It was a hand-to-hand conflict between the Christian and the world. (48)

Graph by Mike Neville showing the difference between projectile and trajectory that I borrowed for my own purposes.

[5 ↜ ⇑ ↝] Fellowship Means Followship

The disciple is dragged out of his relative security into a life of absolute insecurity (that is, in truth, into the absolute security and safety of the fellowship of Jesus), from a life which is observable and calculable (it is, in fact, quite incalculable) into a life where everything is unobservable and fortuitous (that is, into one which is necessary and calculable), out of the realm of finite (which is in truth the infinite) into the realm of infinite possibilities (which is the one liberating reality). (58)...[Christ says] 'Discipleship is not limited to what you can comprehend—it must transcend all comprehension. Plunge into the deep waters beyond your own comprehension, and I will help you to comprehend even as I do. Bewilderment is the true comprehension. Not to know where you are going is the true knowledge.' (93)

[6 ↜ ⇑ ↝] The Cross Begins Our Journey

[T]he cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise godfearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ. When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die. (89)

[7 ↜ ⇑ ↝] Faith Follows Obedience

It is now time to take the bull by the horns, and say: “Only those who obey believe.” Thus the flow of the conversation is interrupted, and the pastor can continue: “You are disobedient, you are trying to keep some part of your life under your own control. That is what is preventing you from listening to Christ and believing in his grace. You cannot hear Christ because you are wilfully disobedient. Somewhere in your heart you are refusing to listen to his call. Your difficulty is your sins.” (69)

[9 ↜ ⇑ ↝] What Was the "Confessing Church"?

"Bonhoeffer was a leading figure in the Confessing Church, which stood in open conflict with the German Reich Church. The leaders of this Reich Church supported the Nazi government and accused the opposition churches of being disloyal citizens. The Barmen and Dahlem Synods of the Confessing Church had already issued declarations of faith and church policy that set Bonhoeffer’s Confessing Church in open hostility to the regnant Nazi ideology. Subsequent state regulations had squeezed this opposition church into narrow enclaves tarred with ecclesiastical illegality. Acts of brutality and psychological coercion followed, as well as imprisonment of dissident pastors, as the Nazi government tightened its control over the ecclesiastical sphere and thus impeded any putative church opposition.[2] Beatings, arrests, police terror, and rampant injustice were commonplace in the years in which the Nazi government reinforced its grip on every aspect of life in Germany. It was not lost on Bonhoeffer that these developments and the sluggish reaction of many church leaders were in sharp contrast to those daring, even shocking, sayings of Jesus, the Beatitudes. For Bonhoeffer, Jesus’ words seemed to be addressed as much to persecuted Jews and Christians in Germany as to Jesus’ closest followers during his public life." Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Discipleship DBW Vol 4 (Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works) (pp. 2-3). Fortress Press. Kindle Edition.

[10 ↜ ⇑ ↝] The Barmen Declaration

In view of the errors of the "German Christians" and of the present Reich Church Administration, which are ravaging the Church and at the same time also shattering the unity of the German Evangelical Church, we confess the following evangelical truths:

1. "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6
   
   "Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold through the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved." John 10:1,9
   
   Jesus Christ, as he is attested to us in Holy Scripture, is the one Word of God whom we have to hear, and whom we have to trust and obey in life and in death.
   
   We reject the false doctrine that the Church could and should recognize as a source of its proclamation, beyond and besides this one Word of God, yet other events, powers, historic figures and truths as God's revelation.
   
   
2. "Jesus Christ has been made wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption for us by God." 1 Cor. 1:30
   
   As Jesus Christ is God's comforting pronouncement of the forgiveness of all our sins, so, with equal seriousness, he is also God's vigorous announcement of his claim upon our whole life. Through him there comes to us joyful liberation from the godless ties of this world for free, grateful service to his creatures.
   
   We reject the false doctrine that there could be areas of our life in which we would not belong to Jesus Christ but to other lords, areas in which we would not need justification and sanctification through him.
   
   
3. 3. "Let us, however, speak the truth in love, and in every respect grow into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body is joined together." Eph. 4:15-16
   
   The Christian Church is the community of brethren in which, in Word and Sacrament, through the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ acts in the present as Lord. With both its faith and its obedience, with both its message and its order, it has to testify in the midst of the sinful world, as the Church of pardoned sinners, that it belongs to him alone and lives and may live by his comfort and under his direction alone, in expectation of his appearing.
   
   We reject the false doctrine that the Church could have permission to hand over the form of its message and of its order to whatever it itself might wish or to the vicissitudes of the prevailing ideological and political convictions of the day.
   
   
4. "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to have authority over you must be your servant." Matt. 20:25-26
   
   The various offices in the Church do not provide a basis for some to exercise authority over others but for the ministry [lit., "service"] with which the whole community has been entrusted and charged to be carried out.
   
   We reject the false doctrine that, apart from this ministry, the Church could, and could have permission to, give itself or allow itself to be given special leaders [Führer] vested with ruling authority.
   
   
5. "Fear God. Honor the Emperor." 1 Pet. 2:17
   
   Scripture tells us that by divine appointment the State, in this still unredeemed world in which also the Church is situated, has the task of maintaining justice and peace, so far as human discernment and human ability make this possible, by means of the threat and use of force. The Church acknowledges with gratitude and reverence toward God the benefit of this, his appointment. It draws attention to God's Dominion [Reich], God's commandment and justice, and with these the responsibility of those who rule and those who are ruled. It trusts and obeys the power of the Word, by which God upholds all things.
   
   We reject the false doctrine that beyond its special commission the State should and could become the sole and total order of human life and so fulfil the vocation of the Church as well. We reject the false doctrine that beyond its special commission the Church should and could take on the nature, tasks and dignity which belong to the State and thus become itself an organ of the State.
   
   
6. "See, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Matt. 28:20
   
   "God's Word is not fettered." 2 Tim. 2:9
   
   The Church's commission, which is the foundation of its freedom, consists in this: in Christ's stead, and so in the service of his own Word and work, to deliver all people, through preaching and sacrament, the message of the free grace of God.
   
   We reject the false doctrine that with human vainglory the Church could place the Word and work of the Lord in the service of self-chosen desires, purposes and plans.
   
   

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Totalitarian Governments: Rome and Nazi Germany

What differences between Imperial Rome and Nazi Germany existed that would justify Bonhoeffer, a Christian pastor, participating in a plot to assassinate the elected leader of his nation?

ROME	NAZI GERMANY
SIMILARITIES
Expansionist	Expansionist
Divinely Appointed Leader, Emperor	Divinely Appointed Leader, Fuerhuer
DIFFERENCES
Localized: Like the Greeks, the Romans let you keep your gods, your customs, and local government structures	Highly Centralized: The Goal was to Nazify everyone under their control
Inclusionist: You Could Become a Roman Citizen	Exclusionist: Some People Groups Were Genetically Forbidden to Ever Become Germans
Conquest, The Goal Was Control for Profit, Prospertiy, and Stability	Conquest, The Goal Was Control AND Extermination
The Romans brought many good things to their conquered people: clean water, public sanitation, public order, safe and easy travel.	The Nazis brought slavery and repression
Accomodationist Approach: You burn incense to the Emperor and we're copasetic with your Christianity	The Nazis sought to REPLACE Christianity with Rosenberg's 30 Point Prorgam to replace the Christan faith with Nazism.

• Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Pacifist, Nazi Resister - Documentary
• Bonhoeffer: Agent of Grace
• Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Discipleship DBW Vol 4 (Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works). Fortress Press. Kindle Edition.
• Bunson, Matthew E. "Catholic Martyrs of the Holocaust." Catholic Answers. 11/1/2008. https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/catholic-martyrs-of-the-holocaust. Retrieved Jan 12, 2020
• Geraty, Luke. "The Nazi German Concept of a 'National Reich Church.'" May 11, 2011. http://thinktheology.org/2011/05/11/the-nazi-german-concept-of-a-national-reich-church/ . Retrieved Oct 15, 2020.
• Trueman, C. N. "The Church In Nazi Germany" historylearningsite.co.uk. The History Learning Site, 9 Mar 2015. https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/nazi-germany/the-church-in-nazi-germany/ Retrieved Jan 12, 2021.
• TylerR. "The Nazi State Church." Aug 01, 2019. https://sharperiron.org/article/nazi-state-church . Retrieved Oct 15, 2020.