The Church Refuses the Führer
German Pastors Gather to Resist a Church Captured by Nationalism, Race, and State Power
Gemarker Kirche in Wuppertal-Barmen, where the first Confessional Synod met in May 1934.
On May 29, 1934, the first Confessional Synod of the German Evangelical Church opened in Barmen, now part of Wuppertal. More than 200 delegates from Lutheran, Reformed, and United churches gathered as the Nazi-backed "German Christians" tried to remake the church around race, nationalism, and loyalty to Hitler.
The Confessing Church emerged in opposition. Its leaders insisted that the church's preaching and ministry could not be governed by Nazi ideology. The synod adopted the Theological Declaration of Barmen, drafted chiefly under Karl Barth's influence, whose six theses rejected any source of revelation besides Jesus Christ, the one Word of God.
Barmen gave the Confessing Church its theological backbone. Some members, including Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Niemöller, later suffered imprisonment or death. But the movement was uneven—often more focused on church independence than on the persecution of Jews. That limitation is part of the legacy as well.
Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-1985-0109-502 / CC-BY-SA 3.0 DE: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en
Why This Matters Today
The "German Christians" did not simply support Hitler politically; they tried to baptize Nazi racism into the church's teaching, worship, and identity. Barmen answered by insisting that the church has one Lord, and that no earthly loyalty—nation, race, party, or leader—can function as a rival revelation. But the Declaration's silence on the regime's violence against Jews has forced later Christians to ask what faithful confession requires: not only guarding church doctrine, but defending neighbors crushed by racist power.
Scripture for Reflection
"Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'" — John 14:6(NIV)
When you think about Barmen, what feels like the core issue?
- Whether the church’s preaching would be governed by the gospel or by Nazi ideology
- Whether Christians could treat the Führer or the German nation as a kind of rival “revelation”
- Whether the state could use church structures and pastors to baptize racism and nationalism
- Whether saying “Jesus is Lord” also means saying clear limits to any earthly power
Go Deeper
The Theological Declaration of Barmen by the Confessional Synod of the German Evangelical Church: The primary text—short, sharp, and still bracing. Read the six theses slowly, especially the rejections that follow each confession. (Read Here)
For the Soul of the People: Protestant Protest Against Hitler by Victoria Barnett: Barnett interviewed more than sixty Germans connected to the Confessing Church, giving readers firsthand memories of courage, compromise, fear, and moral reckoning. (Buy Here)
Twisted Cross: The German Christian Movement in the Third Reich by Doris L. Bergen: Studies the pro-Nazi "German Christians" directly, showing how racism, nationalism, and church ambition fused into a distorted version of Christianity. (Buy Here)
