In Part 2 of this “Silence is Agreement” series entitled “Pulpits Aflame,” we looked at a few past Christian pastors who preached biblical truths that impacted America’s founding. I stated that the small sampling of pre-America pastors referenced in Part 2 taught principles found in Scripture that were subsequently used by our Forefathers as they drafted the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution in 1776 and 1787, respectively. During the late 17th century and throughout most of the 18th century, American pulpits were ablaze with biblical messages about self-government, liberty, and godly morality to the inhabitants living in the “new” world. Listeners were taught the fundamentals of creating and administrating a self-governing nation as well as establishing liberty and equal justice for all.
In this third installment of “Silence is Agreement,” I wish to take a difficult look at a time in history when the Church consciously decided to become detached from cultural issues and to allow government to operate outside of moral or religious constraint. I say “difficult look” because this is a story entailing a complete and massive failure of God’s people to uphold the biblical principles of justice and loving others, and following God’s immutable moral law. This failure resulted in the loss of approximately 60 million precious lives across the globe.
The Beginnings of “The Final Solution”
First, we need to lay some groundwork for this tragedy. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, after years of political struggle and social upheaval, the Nazi Party in Germany gained control of that nation’s governing body, the Reichstag, during the March 1933 national elections. This Nazi party’s political success mushroomed on January 30, 1933, with the ascendancy of Adolph Hitler to the position of Chancellor of Germany. In this position, Hitler placed his many supporters in positions of power and together they pressured and manipulated the people through corruption and deceit. The German media became the propaganda tool of the Nazis and dissenters were threatened, marginalized, or murdered. Hitler focused his efforts on “fundamentally” changing Germany into what he envisioned was best for the nation. Having achieved full control over the legislative and executive branches of government, he and his allies actively and openly suppressed any remaining political opposition. Without including a full and lengthy history lesson here, suffice it to note that events in 1933 and 1934 created a complete societal change in German hearts and minds. The corrupt and immoral beliefs of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party influenced and degraded the German people to levels of moral ruin symptomatic of nothing less than satanic subjugation. The Nazi regime introduced the phrase “The Jewish Question” to German society, which opened the door to more diabolical scheming with German society’s support leading to the Holocaust.
Employing their all-consuming drive for power and world domination, Hitler and the Nazis exploited the Jewish people living in Germany and most of Europe making them the scapegoat to advance their drive to move German society toward total war. World War II began in 1939 with the Nazi onslaught on Poland and shortly after, as history tells us, nearly the entire globe was engulfed in a devastating war. Moving forward to January 1942, a time when the war was not going well for the Nazis, the Germans believed they had the answer to “The Jewish Question.” Even with dwindling funding and resources to continue waging war, Hitler decided the Nazis must dip into the remaining capital they held to kill as many Jews as possible. Hitler and his supporters developed a plan called “the final solution,” which signified elimination of the Jewish population in Germany and with sights set on total annihilation of the Jewish people worldwide.
Second, we must define the term “Church.” What does the term mean? Who does it include? Many believe it is the building where people congregate each week and then leave again for home. To many, it is something they do on Sunday and then live the way they want the rest of the week. There is a church building, but the term Church goes way beyond the brick and mortar. The Church with a capital “C” referenced in this writing means the total collection of people who claim to know Jesus Christ as their Savior. They are one body serving one Savior. It is the people God calls out to live their faith in Him in every sphere of life so that all of society is blessed. When they do not live out their purpose for being, one must ask if they are truly being the Church. Unfortunately for the world, it looks like the Church in Germany left their first love behind them. (Revelation 2:4) But we have no right to judge the German church. Sadly, today’s American Church is following the same path.
The Devastating Silence of German Pastors and the German Church
There were true believers in Germany who recognized that the direction German leadership was taking the country was wicked. Some pastors, Deitrich Bonhoeffer being the most prominent, stood up to Hitler’s regime and spoke against the acts of violence against the Jewish population, but too few of Germany’s pastors supported them. In fact, Bonhoeffer started to deliver a speech on German radio on February 1, 1933, to warn the German people of what was coming if they did not stand up to the festering tyranny. However, before finishing his message, the radio address turned into dead air. The government cancelled Bonhoeffer before he could finish. Does this sound familiar?
In April 1933, Bonhoeffer presented an essay called “The Church and the Jewish Question” to a group of heroic pastors at a gathering of the Emergency Pastors League. In this essay, Bonhoeffer pointed out the Church’s biblical responsibility to stand up and push back against the oppression and murdering of the Jewish people. Bonhoeffer’s prompting of the Church to be political and to stand up to the government immorality shocked many of the pastors attending the conference and they walked out. Most of them felt that things would get better if they just waited it out. They did not grasp the truth that following Jesus might require “radical” obedience to Him.
As 1933 moved into 1934, a schism developed in the German Church. One faction was called the Deutsche Christen, a body that supported a national German Reich Church tied to the Hitler Regime. A second bloc, called the Bekennende Kirch or “The Confessing Church,” stood radically against the Nazis. They could not condone the evil grip the Nazis had on the German culture, and they refused to collaborate in the destruction mercilessly being inflicted on their Jewish citizens. In 1934, The Confessing Church issued the Barmen Declaration, which stated the German state could not co-opt the Church and reinforced the tenet that the Church is separate from state control. The Barmen Declaration proclaimed to the Nazis and Adolf Hitler that the true German Church answered to God alone.
The Barmen Declaration Repudiated
Tragically, historical records document that few German pastors were willing to sign the Barmen Declaration. The opportunity to stand together and fight the state’s evil plans and actions passed them by. In 1934, there were approximately 18,000 pastors in Germany. By joining ranks and standing together relying on the power of God, they could have stopped the Nazis in their tracks. Adolf Hitler would have been removed from power. World history would have a vastly different story to tell had they stepped up, but they totally rejected the idea of involvement. 3,000 of the 18,000 did sign. 3,000 of the group supported the Deutsche Christen movement and Hitler. However, the majority, approximately 12,000 pastors, remained silent. Why? Was it fear of man over fear of God? Was it fear of losing church members or the loss of funds because they became too political? It is possible they cowered and felt it was more convenient for those 3,000 pastors to suffer the punishment of the Nazi regime. It is inexplicable why 12,000 men, called by God to shepherd a church, laid down their biblical responsibility to represent God in the affairs of their nation to benefit their flock. Their silence rained unimaginable destruction, agony, and death to millions of people. Simply put, only one third of all the pastors in Germany dared to stand for liberty, justice, and truth.
Tragically, silence is agreement. Every pastor in that group of 12,000 who thought he was staying neutral made the choice, whether he realized it or not, to agree with Adolf Hitler with silence. They had great power, the power of Almighty God Himself, to do the right thing and they abdicated their responsibility. God’s Word is clear that when innocent blood cries out for justice (Cain and Able- Genesis 4), God is the judge. Choosing to stay quiet, watch from the sidelines as innocent Jews and others were murdered, play-acting like it would all pass over, and refusing to “get political” resulted in God’s judgment on the German nation. History records that the destruction of the German country and German society was horrifying.
The Spiral of Silence
Before becoming hypercritical and shaking our heads at the feckless German Church, we should stop for a moment of reflection and consider the Church in America. In 1970, a political scientist named Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann coined the term Spiral of Silence. She was German and she grew up under the shadow of the Nazi regime. She explained the Spiral of Silence as a condition of silence where the cost of speaking grows over time. In other words, when we, as Christians, fail to speak truth into the American culture and fight for biblical principles thereby allowing the culture to slip deeper into immorality and deception, the price for speaking increases. The farther we fall, the harder it becomes to speak up. Consequently, fewer, and fewer people speak out and, over time, the cost for speaking truth becomes so “expensive” or “costly” that the entire nation becomes silent. This is what happened in Nazi Germany, and I believe this is happening in America. Too many Christians are sitting on the sidelines, remaining silent, and hoping the problem blows over. Folks, it is not blowing over. The more we are silent, the more ground the enemy gains. When Christians fear men more than God, Satan wins and people suffer. One of the founding principles written in our Declaration of Independence is the inalienable right to life, liberty, and happiness. Inalienable means it came from God. It is His gift to us, and no government can take it away. Are we willing to let it slip through our fingers because we are afraid of negative consequences we may encounter? Believe me, if we allow those who are trying to drag America down and destroy her win, we will see extreme negative consequences we never would imagine. Do not take my word for it. Look at what transpired in Germany. The lies and deception we see now are child’s play compared to what we would see under governmental tyranny. If we buy into the lie that Christians should not be involved in politics, we accept a lie that comes straight from the pit of Hell.
As believers, should we not stand in the gap to help those around us experience freedom, liberty, and peace? If we are not salt and light to our culture, what profit are we to those Jesus loves? If you have been silent in the face of immorality in our culture, afraid to get political, I ask you to reconsider your position. Yes, sharing the Gospel is primary, but coincident with sharing the Gospel comes living Gospel truth in every aspect of life. That includes politics and government. In Jeremiah 29:7 God instructs us to “seek the welfare of the city.” (ESV) To me, that sounds like getting involved. We cannot seek the welfare of our city, state, or country by sitting on the sidelines hoping the problems go away. They will only get worse until Jesus returns unless we stand in the gap. In Luke 19:13, Jesus told us to “do business until I return.” (ESV) In other words, while we remain on earth, we are to fully engage in life as representatives of Christ. He calls us to be salt and light to those searching for truth as they are buffeted by storms of life. Yes, we are citizens of heaven, but until we get there, we are citizens in this world.
Although I wrote much in this article about the Holocaust during World War II, the continued hatred of the Jews worldwide is not the sole focus of this article. Granted, it is a huge moral and biblical issue, but there are numerous destructive issues shattering our current culture, negatively impacting us daily. These include transgenderism lies, race baiting, illegal border crossings, medical tyranny, lawfare under a two-tiered justice system, spiritual deception within and without churches, and unchecked lawlessness. The ungodly anti-American Marxist generated rhetoric permeating our nation is destroying the belief in and support of America’s biblical foundations in the minds and hearts of our citizens. In 2nd Corinthians 10:6 Paul wrote, “being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.” The meaning behind this verse is that if we, as believers, follow Christ in obedience to His Word, our obedience indicts the unsaved of their immoral, ungodly behaviors. Our obedience to Christ sheds light on the world signifying there we acclaim to a better way of living. I submit there is no biblical basis for anyone who claims to be a believer in Jesus Christ to sit and watch while America goes to hell. If the Church does not act now, I have no doubt America will suffer a replay of 20th century Germany. The spiral of silence will trap us all. God forbid it!
In the next and final article in this series, my goal is to speak directly to Christians, the true Church composed of born-again believers, concerning the actions we must take to nurture a godly, biblical worldview commitment in our hearts, our culture, and our nation.
Much of the historical information used in this article was taken from Letter to the American Church by Eric Metaxas (Salem Books, 2022). If you have not read Mr. Metaxas’ book, I highly recommend purchasing a copy and reading the entire text.
What a well-researched article! If only more citizens would look back and see our mistakes.
Thanks, Craig, for sharing truth and not being silent!