Barmen Declaration
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The Barmen Declaration or The Theological Declaration of Barmen 1934 is a statement of the Confessing Church opposing the Nazi-supported "German-Christian" movement. The "German Christians" who were hostile to the Confessing Church combined extreme nationalism with anti-Semitism. The Barmen Declaration specifically rejects the subordination of the church to the state. Rather, the Declaration states that the church "is solely Christ's property, and that it lives and wants to live solely from his comfort and from his direction in the expectation of his appearance."
The Declaration was mostly written by Reformed theologian Karl Barth, but was also crafted in part by other Confessing Church leaders, including Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Its ecumenical nature can be seen by its inclusion in the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) [1]
[edit] References
- Douglas, J. D. (1988). in Wright, David D.; Ferguson, Sinclair B.: New Dictionary of Theology. Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 76. ISBN 0-85110-636-6.
