Theological
Declaration of BarmenTheological
Declaration of Barmen8.01 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."
8.05 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:
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 interrelations 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
reject 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 reject 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 exercise
authority over them. It shall not be so among you; but whoever
would be great among you must be your servant." (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 exercise 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 commission, 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 the 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.