Keith Johnson

In light of this strange falling-away of the church into nationalism we have experienced in Germany, I am sure you recoil and say: 'Thank God I am not a German Christian!' I reply: 'This is the end of your path. It begins with the “Christian life” and ends with heathenism. (3/5)

When one begins to take the pious person so seriously as you wish to do—when one refuses to be “one-sided”—then in the end one arrives where the German church stands today. (2/5)

My colleague Tim Larsen: "A day could come when the courage of Wheaton fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of Christian fellowship, but it is not this day. Wheaton College is still unabashedly standing for Christ and his kingdom." churchleaders.com/pastors/506295…

I have started writing a bit on Substack. I plan to use it as an outlet for thinking theologically about this moment in history. keithljohnson.substack.com

@alex_graham He was teaching in Bonn at the time, and he stayed in Germany until 1935 when he was removed from his position. But he did have escape hatch of his Swiss citizenship to fall back on, which many others who resisted did not.

@_kljohnson Written from the cozy confines of a neutral and protected Basel, Switzerland.

On November 20, 1933 Karl Barth wrote a long, strongly-worded letter to Dietrich Bonhoeffer about Bonhoeffer’s recent move from Berlin to London to assume a pastorate in a German-speaking congregation. 1/15

@collardsandwich I took it from *Briefe des Jahres 1933*, a collection of Barth's letters published by Theologischer Verlag Zürich in 2004. It's not translated as far as I know.

@BrianDijkema Hi Brian - I took it from the book *Briefe des Jahres 1933*, which is a collection of Barth's letters from that year published by Theologischer Verlag Zürich in 2004. It's not translated as far as I know.

@_kljohnson Sir, this is very profound. Can you share the source?

"You are a German, and the house of your church is burning. You know enough, and you know how to say it well enough, to help. You must return to your post on the next ship! You belong in Berlin and not in London.” 15/15

"...Be glad you're not here in person, because otherwise I would attack you in a completely different way, demanding that you now drop all your interesting intellectual pretenses and appeals to special considerations and focus on the one thing that matters: 14/15

"You know as well as I do that the Berlin opposition and the church opposition in Germany are on weak ground! And you should know that every honest man will have his hands full making this opposition sharp and clear and firm! . . .5/15

“You were right not to seek my advice about it, because I would have advised you against it unconditionally and with the biggest weapons. And now that you are speaking to me about it, I cannot do any thing other than to call out to you: Get back to your post in Berlin!...4/15

Barth’s response to Bonhoeffer was blunt and brutal. Some excerpts: 3/15

Bonhoeffer had written Barth to explain why he left. He told Barth that the demands of the church situation in Nazi Germany had drained him emotionally and spiritually. He needed to “go out into the desert for awhile and just do some parish work, as undemanding as possible.” 2/15