I.
An Appeal to the Evangelical Congregations and Christians in Germany
8.01 The Confessional Synod of the German Evangelical Church met
in Barmen, May 29-31, 1934. Here representatives from all the German Confessional
Churches met with one accord in a confession of the one Lord of the one, holy,
apostolic Church. In fidelity to their Confession of Faith, members of Lutheran,
Reformed, and United Churches sought a common message for the need and temptation
of the Church in our day. With gratitude to God they are convinced that they have
been given a common word to utter. It was not their intention to found a new Church
or to form a union. For nothing was farther from their minds than the abolition
of the confessional status of our Churches. Their intention was, rather, to withstand
in faith and unanimity the destruction of the Confession of Faith, and thus of
the Evangelical Church in Germany. In opposition to attempts to establish the
unity of the German Evangelical Church by means of false doctrine, by the use
of force and insincere practices, the Confessional Synod insists that the unity
of the Evangelical Churches in Germany can come only from the Word of God in faith
through the Holy Spirit. Thus alone is the Church renewed. 8.02
Therefore the Confessional Synod calls upon the congregations to range themselves
behind it in prayer, and steadfastly to gather around those pastors and teachers
who are loyal to the Confessions. 8.03
Be not deceived by loose talk, as if we meant to oppose the unity of the German
nation! Do not listen to the seducers who pervert our intentions, as if we wanted
to break up the unity of the German Evangelical Church or to forsake the Confessions
of the Fathers! 8.04 Try the spirits
whether they are of God! Prove also the words of the Confessional Synod of the
German Evangelical Church to see whether they agree with Holy Scripture and with
the Confessions of the Fathers. If you find that we are speaking contrary to Scripture,
then do not listen to us! But if you find that we are taking our stand upon Scripture,
then let no fear or temptation keep you from treading with us the path of faith
and obedience to the Word of God, in order that God's people be of one mind upon
earth and that we in faith experience what he himself has said: "I will never
leave you, nor forsake you." Therefore, "Fear not, little flock, for
it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."
II. Theological
Declaration Concerning the Present Situation of the German Evangelical Church8.05
According to the opening words of its constitution of July 11, 1933, the German
Evangelical Church is a federation of Confessional Churches that grew our of the
Reformation and that enjoy equal rights. The theological basis for the unification
of these Churches is laid down in Article 1 and Article 2(1) of the constitution
of the German Evangelical Church that was recognized by the Reich Government on
July 14, 1933: - Article 1. The
inviolable foundation of the German Evangelical Church is the gospel of Jesus
Christ as it is attested for us in Holy Scripture and brought to light again in
the Confessions of the Reformation. The full powers that the Church needs for
its mission are hereby determined and limited.
-
Article 2 (1). The German Evangelical Church is divided into member Churches Landeskirchen).
8.06
We, the representatives of Lutheran, Reformed,
and United Churches, of free synods, Church assemblies, and parish organizations
united in the Confessional Synod of the German Evangelical Church, declare that
we stand together on the ground of the German Evangelical Church as a federation
of German Confessional Churches. We are bound together by the confession of the
one Lord of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. 8.07
We publicly declare before all evangelical Churches in Germany that what they
hold in common in this Confession is grievously imperiled, and with it the unity
of the German Evangelical Church. It is threatened by the teaching methods and
actions of the ruling Church party of the "German Christians" and of
the Church administration carried on by them. These have become more and more
apparent during the first year of the existence of the German Evangelical Church.
This threat consists in the fact that the theological basis, in which the German
Evangelical Church is united, has been continually and systematically thwarted
and rendered ineffective by alien principles, on the part of the leaders and spokesmen
of the "German Christians" as well as on the part of the Church administration.
When these principles are held to be valid, then, according to all the Confessions
in force among us, the Church ceases to be the Church and th German Evangelical
Church, as a federation of Confessional Churches, becomes intrinsically impossible.
8.08 As members of Lutheran, Reformed,
and United Churches we may and must speak with one voice in this matter today.
Precisely because we want to be and to remain faithful to our various Confessions,
we may not keep silent, since we believe that we have been given a common message
to utter in a time of common need and temptation. We commend to God what this
may mean for the intrrelations of the Confessional Churches. 8.09
In view of the errors of the "German Christians" of the present
Reich Church government which are devastating the Church and also therefore breaking
up the unity of the German Evangelical Church, we confess the following evangelical
truths: 8.10 -
1. "I am the way, and the truth, and the life;
no one comes to the Father, but by me." (John 14.6). "Truly, truly,
I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs in by
another way, that man is a thief and a robber. . . . I am the door; if anyone
enters by me, he will be saved." (John 10:1, 9.) 8.11
Jesus Christ, as he is attested for us in Holy Scripture, is the one Word of God
which we have to hear and which we have to trust and obey in life and in death.
8.12 We reiect the false doctrine, as
though the church could and would have to acknowledge as a source of its proclamation,
apart from and besides this one Word of God, still other events and powers, figures
and truths, as God's revelation. 8.13
- 2. "Christ Jesus, whom God has made
our wisdom, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption." (1 Cor.
1:30.) 8.14 As Jesus Christ is God's
assurance of the forgiveness of all our sins, so, in the same way and with the
same seriousness he is also God's mighty claim upon our whole life. Through him
befalls us a joyful deliverance from the godless fetters of this world for a free,
grateful service to his creatures. 8.15
We reiect the false doctrine, as though there were 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. 8.16
- 3. "Rather, speaking the truth in love,
we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom
the whole body [is] joined and knit together." (Eph. 4:15,16.) 8.17
The Christian Church is the congregation of the brethren in which Jesus Christ
acts presently as the Lord in Word and sacrament through the Holy Spirit. As the
Church of pardoned sinners, it has to testify in the midst of a sinful world,
with its faith as with its obedience, with its message as with its order, that
it is solely his property, and that it lives and wants to live solely from his
comfort and from his direction in the expectation of his appearance. 8.18
We reject the false doctrine, as though the Church were permitted to abandon the
form of its message and order to its own pleasure or to changes in prevailing
ideological and political convictions. 8.19
- 4. "You know that the rulers of the
Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men excercise authority over them.
It shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your
srvant." (Matt. 20:25,26.) 8.20
The various offices in the Church do not establish a dominion of some over the
others; on the contrary, they are for the excercise of the ministry entrusted
to and enjoined upon the whole congregation. 8.21
We reject the false doctrine, as though the Church, apart from this ministry,
could and were permitted to give itself, or allow to be given to it, special leaders
vested with ruling powers. 8.22
- 5. "Fear God. Honor the emperor."
(1 Peter 2:17.) Scripture tells us that, in the as yet unredeemed world in
which the Church also exists, the State has by divine appointment the task of
providing for justice and peace. [It fulfills this task] by means of the threat
and exercise of force, according to the measure of human judgment and human ability.
The Church acknowledges the benefit of this divine appointment in gratitude and
reverence before him. It calls to mind the Kingdom of God, God's commandment and
righteousness, and thereby the responsibility both of rulers and of the ruled.
It trusts and obeys the power of the Word by which God upholds all things.
8.23 We reject the false doctrine, as
though the State, over and beyond its special commision, should and could become
the single and totalitarian order of human life, thus fulfilling the Church's
vocation as well. 8.24 We reject
the false doctrine, as though the Church, over and beyond its special commission,
should and could appropriate the characteristics, the tasks, and the dignity of
the State, thus itself becoming an organ of the State. 8.25
- 6. "Lo, I am with you always, to the close
of the age." (Matt. 28:20.) "The word of God is not fettered."
(2 Tim. 2:9.) 8.26 The Church's
commission, upon which its freedom is founded, consists in delivering the message
of th free grace of God to all people in Christ's stead, and therefore in the
ministry of his own Word and work through sermon and sacrament. 8.27
We reject the false doctrine, as though the Church in human arrogance could place
the Word and work of the Lord in the service of any arbitrarily chosen desires,
purposes, and plans. 8.28 The Confessional
Synod of the German Evangelical Church declares that it sees in the acknowledgment
of these truths and in the rejection of these errors the indispensable theological
basis of the German Evangelical Church as a federation of Confessional Churches.
It invites all who are able to accept its declaration to be mindful of these theological
principles in their decisions in Church politics. It entreats all whom it concerns
to return to the unity of faith, love, and hope.
From: The Church's Confession Under Hitler by Arthur
C. Cochrane. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1962, pp. 237-242.
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