BradTaylor

Bonhoeffer: Chapter 13

In the fall of 1933, Bonhoeffer and several others set about writing The Bethel Confession, hoping it would become a document the German Christians would have to answer to. The idea was to state precisely what it was a true follower of Christ should believe, and then have the German Christians either sign off or deny it. Of course, the Aryan Paragraph (which excluded Jews from being able to serve in ministry) was an enormous point of contention, and Bonhoeffer would fight hard to have it disallowed.

The Bethel Confession, however, became a huge “waste of words.” After all the different theologians had gotten their hands on it, Bonhoeffer felt it was so wishy-washy that he refused to sign it.

The news wasn’t all bad, though. In a letter addressed to the national synod that would take place in Wittenberg in October, Bonhoeffer and others set up four key points they believed strongly in: 1) The church would rededicate herself to the Scriptures; 2) The church would fight for the Scriptures to be protected from Nazi attacks; 3) The church would aid financially those being persecuted for their nationality or religion; and 4) The church would vehemently deny the Aryan Paragraph. Surprisingly, this document gained an enormous amount of traction, and would have over 6,000 signatures on it before long. These signers formed the Pastors’ Emergency League, which would become an important forerunner to the Confessing Church.

I was struck in this chapter by Bonhoeffer’s boldness. Before accepting an assignment to preach in London, Bonhoeffer demanded and was granted audience with Reich Bishop Muller. During their meeting, Bonhoeffer told Muller he had no intention of representing the German Reich in London, would not recant anything he had written or said, and would continue championing the cause against the German State Church. Bonhoeffer was loyal to Christ first and Germany second, but would have no allegiance to the church the state was trying to establish.