A Church Undone: Documents from the German Christian Faith Movement, 1932–1940

by Mary M. Solberg

Publisher:

Fortress Press

, 2015

Overview

Decades after the Holocaust, many assume that the churches in Germany resisted the Nazi regime. In fact, resistance was exceptional. The Deutsche Christen, or “German Christians,” a movement within German Protestantism, integrated Nazi ideology, nationalism, and Christian faith. Marrying religious anti-Judaism to the Nazis’ racial anti-Semitism, they aimed to remove everything Jewish from Christianity.

For the first time in English, Mary M. Solberg presents a selection of “German Christian” documents. Her introduction sets the historical context. She also includes responses critical of the German Christians by Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. This is an important piece of the puzzle for any student of the history of Christianity.

With Logos Bible Software, this volume is enhanced with cutting-edge research tools. Scripture citations appear on mouseover in your preferred English translation. Important terms link to dictionaries, encyclopedias, and a wealth of other resources in your digital library. Powerful topical searches help you find exactly what you’re looking for. Tablet and mobile apps let you take the discussion with you. With Logos Bible Software, the most efficient and comprehensive research tools are in one place, so you get the most out of your study.

Key Features

• Provides English translations of documents published by the Deutsche Christen
• Includes introductions to the documents with insight into historical context
• Illuminates how the German Christian Faith movement attempted to integrate Nazism and Christianity

Contents

• Introduction by Mary M. Solberg
• The Original Guidelines of the German Christian Faith Movement by Joachim Hossenfelder
• The Aryan Paragraph in the Church and Responses by various authors
• Theological Existence Today! by Karl Barth
• What the German Christians Want for the Church by Emanuel Hirsch
• The History of the “German Christian” Faith Movement by Arnold Dannenmann
• The Handbook of the German Christians (1933) by the German Christian National Church Union
• The Jewish Question by Gerhard Kittel
• Our Struggle by Joachim Hossenfelder
• Speech at the Sports Palace in Berlin by Reinhold Krause
• Declaration of the National Bishop Regarding the Events in the Sports Palace by Ludwig Müller
• Outline of German Theology by Friedrich Wieneke
• German Christians: A People’s Book: A Guide to Today’s Faith Movement by Constantin Grossmann
• The German Community of Christ: The Path to the German National Church by Julius Leutheuser
• Christ in Germany’s Third Reich: The Nature, the Path, and the Goal of the German Christian Church Movement by Siegfried Leffler
• Political Christianity: On the Thuringian “German Christians” by Paul Althaus
• God’s Word in German: The Sermon on the Mount, Germanized by Ludwig Müller
• What Do the German Christians Want? 118 Questions and Answers by Otto Brökelschen
• Freedom of Conscience by Wolf Meyer-Erlach
• Jesus and the Jews! by the Organization for German Christianity
• The Godesberg Declaration and Responses by various authors
• Who Is Jesus of Nazareth? by Walter Grundmann

Contributors

• Mary M. Solberg
• Joachim Hossenfelder
• Karl Barth
• Emanuel Hirsch
• Arnold Dannenmann
• Gerhard Kittel
• Reinhold Krause
• Ludwig Müller
• Friedrich Wieneke
• Constantin Grossmann
• Julius Leutheuser
• Siegfried Leffler
• Paul Althaus
• Otto Brökelschen
• Wolf Meyer-Erlach
• Walter Grundmann

Praise for the Print Edition

A Church Undone includes a variety of German Christian documents, from major theological statements to obscure pamphlets. By giving a clearer picture of this movement and its followers, this volume offers important insights into the ideological debates that divided the German Protestant churches under Nazism.

—Victoria J. Barnett, general editor, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works

Mary Solberg, in A Church Undone, provides previously untranslated documents for close-in contact with the German Christian Faith Movement. Until religious perversion of truth and humanity are ended, the cautionary tale of this volume remains relevant. I highly commend careful attention to it and thank Fortress Press for making it available.

—Larry Rasmussen, Reinhold Niebuhr Professor Emeritus of Social Ethics, Union Theological Seminary

Our temptation for seven decades has been to seek out and describe Christians in Germany who opposed the Nazi regime. The publication of these documents provides a very welcome corrective. It is not just that Christians in Nazi Germany lacked the courage to oppose Hitler. Too many also misconstrued what we would like to consider the appropriate Christian stance.

—Robert P. Ericksen, Kurt Mayer Chair in Holocaust Studies and professor of history, Pacific Lutheran University

Solberg’s book is a tremendous contribution both to scholars of German Christian church life and to all who care about the uses and misuses of Christian theology. These previously untranslated primary documents provide clear-eyed, chilling witness to the development of Nazi-inflected thinking among theologians and pastors. A remarkable and indispensable volume.

—Lisa E. Dahill, associate professor of worship and Christian spirituality, Trinity Lutheran Seminary

Product Details

• Title: A Church Undone: Documents from the German Christian Faith Movement, 1932–1940
• Author: Mary M. Solberg
• Publisher: Fortress Press
• Print Publication Date: 2015
• Logos Release Date: 2015
• Pages: 486
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: German-Christian movement › History--Sources; Protestant Churches › Germany--History--20th century--Sources
• ISBNs: 9781451464726, 9781451496666, 145146472X, 1451496664
• Resource ID: LLS:CHURCHUNDONE
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-29T22:44:50Z

About Mary M. Solberg

Mary M. Solberg is associate professor of religion at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota. She is the author of Compelling Knowledge: A Feminist Proposal for an Epistemology of the Cross. She teaches on the life and work of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the conduct of the churches in Hitler’s Germany, and the Holocaust, as well as contemporary theologies and health care ethics.