Faith in the Face of Tyranny: An Examination of the Bethel Confession Proposed by Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Hermann Sasse in August 1933

By Torbjörn Johannson and Bror Erickson

In 1933 a group of theological students in Berlin asked Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Hermann Sasse to work together with other theologians to come up with a confession that could be used to challenge nazi ideology and its inroads into the church bodies of Germany through the so-called "German Christians" who wanted to reshape Christianity into a worship of German ethnicity. The result was the August Bethel Confession named after the town in which Sasse and Bonhoeffer worked together. Unfortunately, church bureaucrats got a hold of it and watered it down, and then it was forgotten for the Barmen Declaration what was much more heavily influenced by Reformed theology and concerns and failed to even take up the question of what place Jews had in the church.This was a huge disappointment to both Bonhoeffer and Sasse who are largely regarded as two of the greatest Lutheran theologians of that era. In Faith in the Face of Tyranny, Torbj rn Johannson takes a look at the work that both these men brought to the forgotten Bethel Confession to show just what a confessional response to national socialism and racism looks like. Today there are often calls for new confessions and declarations addressing different political ideologies and issues and well as cultural movements. This book shows what such a confession should look like and why as well as what considerations should be taken into account when looking at such a project.

• Language: English
• Publisher: 1517 Publishing
• Release date: Aug 29, 2023
• ISBN: 9781956658675

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Cover pictureTitle page: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Hermann Sasse, Faith in the Face of Tyranny, 1517 Publishing

Faith in the Face of Tyranny: An Examination of the Bethel Confession Proposed by Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Hermann Sasse in August 1933

© 2023 New Reformation Publications

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher at the address below.

Published by:

1517 Publishing

PO Box 54032

Irvine, CA 92619-4032

Publisher’s Cataloging-In-Publication Data

(Prepared by The Donohue Group, Inc.)

Names: Johansson, Torbjörn, 1967- author. | Erickson, Bror, translator. | Bonhoeffer, Dietrich, 1906-1945—Betheler Bekentniss. English.

Title: Faith in the face of tyranny : an examination of the Bethel Confession proposed by Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Hermann Sasse in August 1933 / Torbjörn Johansson ; translated by Bror Erickson.

Other titles: Bethelbekännelsen 1933. English

Description: Irvine, CA : 1517 Publishing, [2023] | Translation of: Bethelbekännelsen 1933. Göteborg : Församlingsförlaget, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: ISBN: 978-1-956658-66-8 (paperback) | 978-1-956658-67-5 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Bonhoeffer, Dietrich, 1906-1945—Betheler Bekentniss. | Sasse, Hermann, 1895-1976—Betheler Bekentniss. | Lutheran Church—Doctrines. | Lutheran Church—Controversial literature. | Political theology—Germany. | Church and state—Germany. | Germany—Church history—1933-1945.

Classification: LCC: BX8065.3 .J64 2023 | DDC: 230.41—dc23

Printed in the United States of America.

Cover art by Zachariah James Stuef.

This work initially appeared in the Swedish language as Bethelbekännelsen 1933 Ett Lutherskt Försök (Göteborg: Församlingsförlaget, 2021). The translation of the Bethel Confession draws from the original German work published in 1933.

This digital document has been produced by Nord Compo.

CONTENTS

Title Page

Copyright

Abbreviations

Foreword

Historical Introduction to the Bethel Confession

National Socialism and Church Politics

Resistance

The Bethel Confession 1933, The August Version

From the August Version to November Version

The Authors: Hermann Sasse and Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The Bible and Confession

Different Paths in the Church Struggle

Bethel Confession

Theological Commentary on The Bethel Confession

Confession and Life in the Church

The Confession as a Form of Resistance

The Lutheran Confessional Tradition

Status confessionis

Background: The German Christians and the Folk Law (Volknomos)

Theological Structure in the Bethel Confession

The Jewish Question

Conclusion: An Operative Theological Center

Bibliography

Abbreviations

Foreword

The confession that is analyzed here has a remarkable history. It was written in the summer of 1933 with the idea that it should be used in the church conflict that was raging just then. This application never took place; instead, it was first published in 1951, almost 20 years after it was written. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was one of the main authors, and his friend and biographer, Eberhard Bethge, published the confession. Bethge describes it as a one-off work and without echo. The discovery of this confession has since awakened much interest. In his great work concerning the churches and the Third Reich, Klaus Scholder writes that this confession is a shining, sharp and impressive witness to what theological work could still be accomplished in the summer of 1933. ¹ The importance of the confession then is not for the impact it had on church history, but for the insight it gives concerning the spiritual life and theology of the German Church struggle.

The Bethel Confession is of further interest for understanding two theologians: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Hermann Sasse. In time they would both become known far outside the borders of Germany. Bonhoeffer has long been well known due to translations of his Letters and Papers from Prison and The Cost of Discipleship. Hermann Sasse is less well-known. He migrated to Australia in 1949 and was active there until his death in 1976. In many confessional Lutheran circles, he is regarded as one of the most important theologians of the 20th century. In time, these churchmen came to occupy different points of view within the church struggle, but in working on the Bethel Confession, they were united in their opposition to those theologians influenced by the national socialists. However, cooperation was not only based on having a common enemy. As we shall see, a lot unified them, not least because they saw themselves as Lutheran theologians. The Bethel Confession results from their joint work and provides an important resource for understanding their subsequent developments.

From a theologically systematic perspective, the Bethel Confession is interesting because it exemplifies how the Reformation era confessional writings could be used creatively as theological instruments to address new issues and questions. The Christian faith is formulated in a new way. At the same time, the new confession follows the content and example of the older confessions.

I would like to extend many thanks to pastor Bror Erickson for his work on the translation. I also thank Director Steve Byrnes and Managing Editor Sam Leanza Ortiz for their excellent work and cooperation in preparing this study for publication in English.

May the book serve the purpose, that God’s truth be confessed.

Gothenburg, May 10th 2023

Torbjörn Johansson

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1. Klaus Scholder, Die Kirchen und das Dritte Reich, Band 1: Vorgeschichte und Zeit der Illusions 1918-1934, (München: Propzläen Taschenbuch, 2000), 647.

Historical Introduction to the Bethel Confession

National Socialism and Church Politics

During a pause in the Wagner-Fest in Bayreuth in 1933, Hitler took to the radio waves to address the German people. He encouraged them to vote for the national socialist Deutsche Christen (German Christians) in church elections the following day, July 23rd. Hitler appealed for support for his political agenda, meaning that this party stood firm on the foundation of national socialist ideology. When the election results were gradually shared, around seventy percent of the voters had selected the Deutsche Christen. ¹

The German church’s struggle deals with opposition to national socialism’s attempt to subordinate the church to itself. After the crushing defeat, the opposition sought various ways to act. Many pastors and theologians want to focus on the confession and the question of truth to, as some expressed it, put the German Christians before the question of confession. ² The catastrophic result in the church election, and this desire for clarity in the confession, provide the background for the so-called Bethel Confession. In the history of the church, the confession was unsuccessful and was replaced by the Barmen Declaration (1934), which became a big tent confession for the churches’ opposition. However, the Bethel Confession still has lasting worth as a theological document. As mentioned above in the foreword, it is called a shining, sharp and impressive witness in a standard work on the churches and the Third Reich. Later it is said: Despite the difficult application of this form which is heavy with numerous passages from the Bible, Luther, and above all the confessional documents, in many points, this confession was still more precise both theologically and politically than the famous Barmen Declaration of May 1934. ³

The work of confession shall be seen against the background of the common political situation in Germany during this period. Hitler came to power on January 30th, 1933, and quickly began to change society in a totalitarian direction. The totalitarian trait meant that the state wanted to put as much of society and human life under its power and influence as possible. From womb to tomb, a person should be enveloped by the national socialistic ideology and different organizations and institutions established for this purpose. It was particularly important to shape youth, and for this task, Hitler’s Youth was created. Neither was religion exempted from the all-encompassing ambition of the Nazis. The idea was to transform the faith of the people so that it conformed with the state’s values. The express goal of the Nazis was Gleichshaltung, that is, to alter the entire society according to its ideology. ⁴ A central theme in the ideology was its Führerprinzip, meaning that all should