The Rise and Fall of the German Christians
Written by Rev. Dr. Scott Paczkowski
“Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”
My son-in-law is on my naughty list for making me read The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. I only agreed to do it if I could listen to it on Audible. I am seventeen hours into the book and still have another 37 hours to go. Uffdah! Or should I say, “Beeindruckend?!” William L. Shirer wrote this massive work shortly after World War II. Some have complained that more time should pass before one writes history, but Shirer was present for some German accounts. What is bothersome for me is Shirer’s disrespectful way of addressing the LGBTQ people in the book. In this regard, the book didn’t age well, but otherwise, there is much to learn from Shirer’s lengthy reflection.
Shirer provides a helpful description of how most Christian Churches turned a blind eye to the Nazi’s unethical and horrific behavior. Along with ignoring injustice, almost all Protestant and Roman Catholic churches in Germany acquiesced and became part of the Reich Church. Affirming the Reich Church meant removing the Christian cross and other symbols of faith and hanging the swastika instead. It meant denying the Old Testament entirely and affirming the New Testament as the embodiment of Nazi values of strength and racial purity. The Reich Church also required affirmation that Jesus was not Middle Eastern but Aryan.
A small number of priests and ministers formed the Confessing Church and spoke in opposition to the Reich. Even fewer lay people stood with the Confessing Church. Many of those who did were either executed for their integrity or were placed in Concentration Camps. A small number of warped clerics drank the cool-aid and were avid followers of the Reich. Nearly all the clergy and laity knew the prosecution of Jews, and other sinful unethical and theologically inappropriate beliefs by the Reich church were wrong. Still, they didn’t dare to speak up. This lack of courage led almost the entire German Christian population into idolatry and worse.
Rather than turn our noses up at the unfaithful response of the vast majority of Christians in Germany, try to empathize with their plight. Consider how much you would be willing to sacrifice for your faith with humble honesty. These priests, ministers, and laypeople knew they would not only sacrifice their own lives but those of their families. Unfortunately, the German people didn’t realize the sin of the Nazi regime until it was too late. The only alternative was sacrificing one’s life. Pray for God to give us the divine wisdom and courage to address political and religious corruption before it is so far along that God and the rest of the earth are denied. The more we can learn from the German people’s mistakes from this period, the better we can make sure it never happens again!
