Protestantism during Nazi
Confessing Germany that arose in
opposition to
government-sponsored efforts
Church to unify all Protestant churches
into a single pro-Nazi
Protestant Reich Church.
A
community/Church
Finkenwalde set up by
Bonhoeffer.
Costly Christians willing to
work with this grace
freely given, obeying
grace and suffering with
Jesus/
Cheap Christians who thought
they could be passive
and allow God to work
grace his grace in their lives
without their obedience.
, - Bonhoeffer was a German,
Dietrich Protestant Christian.
- He decided to become a pastor in
the Lutheran Church and began to
Bonhoeffer's train 1923. Wrote books on
Christian discipleship.
- He was executed by the German
life (part 1) authorities just before the end of the
Second World War.
-Bonhoeffer thought that he would
Dietrich eventually be released since the
initial charges against him were
fairly mild.
Bonhoeffer's - However, there was an attempted
assassination of Hitler and
Bonhoeffer was associated with
life (part 2) some of the people who were
involved.
"The authorities that exist have been established by God" -
Romans 13:1-2
The views of the - The understanding was that you had a duty to the state or
government (to obey its laws, for example), and you had to
obey the laws of God, but usually the two areas of life ‒
Lutheran Church Church and state ‒were considered as separate parts of
life. Your duty to God and Church involved only your home
life or private life. Your duty to the state, on the other hand,
was your public duty.
regarding Church - This is furthered by the fact that in Biblical times, the
equivalent of the State (Kings in Israel in Egypt) often had a
strong relationship with God. As a result, it seemed like God
and State had chosen them to rule, and Christians can interpret
through this and St Paul that this has continued in modern
society.
- Initially Bonhoeffer's views were similar to
others in the Lutheran Church. His attitude
Bonhoeffer's towards the authority of the state became much
more defiant when Hitler came to power, and
began to abolish all the democratic structures of
views regarding the state whilst his persecution of Jewish people
began. Hitler also demanded that all the
churches show complete obedience to his
authority as Führer.
the State - In 1933 Bonhoeffer published a paper for the
churches called ʻThe Church and the Jewish
Questionʼ.