My Rant: Facing Lies, Facing the Church's Future

 

I’m at the moment working on another article about the suffering church looking back to the French-Indian wars and the following Revolutionary war to show the suffering of some Christian native Americans. But for a short time, I feel the need to stop and do some explanations and even rant about why I am doing what I am doing.

I have been thinking about this for a while and then I saw a small article posted by someone who used to be a friend and who is an expert on homosexuality from a biblical point of view and someone who I often defended on my blog. But I can’t defend the constant putdown of so many Christians who disagree with Trump and his administration. The insistence, in his posting, that the No King protests were funded by billionaire’s millions and that people were flown in to make crowds etc., is to use a good old-fashioned word, stupid. It was written by Ken Blackwell without any proof and posted by him. Then copied by my friend. But anyway, it caused me to write what I am going to write.

I have written before about the false prophet Julie Green and her insistence that many who disagree with Trump are enemies who well in the end be in jail or be hung, even picking on Chief Supreme Court Justice Roberts, insisting he will be jailed. She gets by with this by seemingly having God speak through her in prophecy, even calling Trump God’s beloved David. Green is an influencer and a friend with Eric Trump Jr. one of the President’s sons.  She is fairly well known by many who are involved in the Trump administration. None have ever, at least in writing to the public, denounced her insistence on the hurt to those who disagree with what is happening in our government.

At the moment I have and am terribly concerned about the actions of ICE and how they are intimidating American citizens and even refugees who have made a life in America. I am appalled at how the churches that minister to Mexican and other diverse groups are being treated. I am appalled by how many, who are followers of Jesus are ignoring that treatment.  But I am concerned for the church in the future, for their ability to withstand what is happening to our nation and our freedoms. If people like Julie Green and those who follow them have neither compassion for those, they consider enemies—they believe that those who disagree with Trump are enemies and must be jailed or even killed—where will the Church stand—will they be faithful? How will they be faithful?

That is why I am exploring the various ages and groups of Christians who have faced suffering.

To bring it back to the posting about the NO Kings, I believe we must look to all Scripture that confronts worldly sin, both those against life, against purity, those fostering lies, those slandering, those hurting the refugees, the poor and the needy. We must weep and advocate against the death of unborn babies, but also against the harm happening to the refugees. We must weep and advocate against the mutilated children because of their identity needs, but also for those who are being beaten, kidnapped and deported by ICE. How can we honor Christ when we ignore children being awakened in the middle of the night having their hands tied by masked men while they are separated from their parents?

My desire is to know how we can give comfort to the Church amid what is happening now and may happen in the future? We need the whole Scripture poured into our hearts and lives. We need to encourage each other with love. We need to let go of idolatry and cling to Jesus.

The Historical Suffering Church: Its Image, Its Faith Extending Over Our Tomorrows: The Huguenots of France 3

 

My husband and I used to haunt the bookstores of Berkeley. Many are gone now, but hopefully not Moe's. On one of our trips I found this wonderful old book on the Huguenots of France. The book is not the first printing but the one I own was published in 1877. The author of The Huguenots in France after the Revocation of Nantes, Samuel Smiles, was interested in both the region and the religious movement. I had said in my first posting about various Christian groups and the persecution they endured from mostly the state but also other religious groups that the Anabaptist were probably the most persecuted of the Reformation groups but at least the Huguenots are in competition.

While the Anabaptist were pacifist the Huguenots were not. Some of them, but not all, participated in the bloody religious wars that engulfed France as well as other European countries.

The Huguenots were part of the Reformed movement which began with Calvin. At the time of their movement the government was ruled by kings and Catholicism was the religion of the state. The Huguenots were prosperous farmers and businesspeople; they were also among the intellectuals of that time. Jumping ahead for just a bit, with persecution, France lost over 200, 000 of their most prosperous and industrious citizens as they fled to safer places such as Switzerland, England, and America. But in writing this I am interested in those who stayed in France and endured until freedom came.

There was often persecution of protestants in all of Europe and some controversy about a particular persecution, that is called the massacre of St. Bartholemew in Paris in 1572 where a royal wedding was used to trap some Huguenots in the city. Almost all were killed and much of the controversy is over how many were killed. Eventually some freedoms were given to the Huguenots by the Edict of Nantes but in 1685 King Louis the XIV rescinded the edict. The Revocation of Nantes made the Huguenot’s faith illegal. They could not meet for worship, nor sing the Psalms which was part of their worship. Many were forced to submit to Catholicism. And many fled, as I have written above.

At first this seemingly brought the worship, the meetings, the preaching of the Huguenots to an end. But two movements began. One was the bloody reprisals of the so called Camisards, groups of Huguenot men who went to war against the state and the catholic bishops. The groups and leaders of the Camisards in their outrage and radicalism listened to and followed those they called prophets. At first, they won many of their battles but in the end they either submitted to authorities or were tortured and killed.

The other movement consisted of pastors and preachers who yearned to bring the church members together in worship and to teach the word of God. Some of these preachers and pastors were those who had slipped out of the country but hearing how the Huguenot people had no one to shepherd them slipped back into the country. They were not without methods. Their worship was referred to as “the church in the desert.” Word would go out to a neighborhood of the meeting and one by one, in the evening, they would travel to the place of worship. Too often authorities would find out and attack the worshipers. The men would be sent to work in the galleys where they would set in the same place, rowing, eating and sleeping, as well as being whipped until they died. The women and children were sent to nunneries but often to the dungeon of a castle. And the pastor would be sometimes racked but always hung.

The churches were in such desperate conditions spiritually that their development needed to be restored. Because of the lack of Bibles both boys and girls were given chapters to memorize for their meetings. Training for pastors was usually outside. As one pastor put it:

“I have often pitched my professor’s chair,” said Court, “in a torrent underneath a rock. The sky was our roof, and the leafy branches thrown out from the crevices in the rock overhead were our canopy. There I and my student would remain for about eight days; it was our hall, our lecture room, and our study. To make the most of our time, and to practice the students properly, I gave them a text of Scripture to discuss before me—say the first eleven verses of the fifth chapter of Luke. I would afterwards propose to them some point of doctrine, some passage of Scripture, some moral precept, or sometimes I gave them some difficult passages to reconcile. After the whole had stated their views upon the question under discussion, I asked the youngest if he had anything to state against the arguments advanced; then the others were asked in turn; and after they had finished, I stated the views which I considered the most just and correct. When the more advanced students were required to preach, they mounted a particular place, where a pole had been set across some rocks in the ravine, and which for the time served for a pulpit. And when they had delivered themselves, the others were requested by turns to express themselves freely upon the subject of the sermon witch they had heard.” [i]

Eventually a seminary was founded at Lausanne. It was funded by many refugees in various countries. Even the king of England gave five-hundred guinens yearly. [ii]

The preachers traveled by night sometimes across pasture and often disguised. Eventually the worship gatherings grew even by thousands.  This led to greater persecutions since not only was there a greater awareness of the meetings but also a greater vengefulness toward leaders and the persistent faithful. One later pastor. Paul Rabaut, had to counter a desire of some to return to the time of the Camisards, those who wished to fight against their enemies. Smiles writes:

“Besides being zealous, studious, and pious, Rabaut was firm, active, shrewd, and gentle. He stood strongly upon moral force. Once, when the Huguenots had become more than usually provoked by the persecutions practiced on them, they determined to appear armed at the assembles. Rabaut peremptorily forbade it. If they persevered, he would forsake their meetings. He prevailed and they came armed with only their Bibles.”

In the end this was their usual stance against the horrific persecution they faced. Eventually the persecutions came to an end because of the work of a man who was a surprising gift to the Huguenots, Voltaire. In case you do not know who he was; he was an important philosopher and activist at the time and more importantly an atheist. Voltaire hated both the Catholic and Protestant religions. He did care a great deal about justice.

A father, Calas whose son had committed suicide was convicted of murder by Catholic leaders. It was not unusual at the time for Catholic officials to blame Protestant parents for the death of their children, insisting they had killed them to keep them from converting to Catholicism. Calas was convicted and hung. His wife and family fled to Switzerland where they met Voltaire. He became obsessed with the case; writing and speaking about Calas’ trial and death. Although already dead French officials retried him and acquitted him. The same event occurred with the last person to be sentenced to the galleys. A young man who, purposely taking his fathers place, suffering for six years was helped by Voltaire’s writing and speeches.  

While the Declaration of Rights in 1789 gave greater freedom to the Huguenots much was lost with the reign of terror. With the rise of Napolean Buonaparte Catholicism was once again established as the state religion but he also protected Protestantism. On a visit to a church in Paris, I don’t remember the name, we were given brochures and information including, information that Napolean had also given the Jews freedom of worship. [iii]

As I have been writing about various persecuted Christian groups I have searched to see if there was among them any reaction to the rise of Nazism in Europe. At first I found no information for the Huguenots but then I remembered stories about a town in France where all the citizens protected the Jews from the authorities. Concerning Le Chambon-sur-Lignon in an article on the Jewish site Forward I found an article which included this:

“Ever since the Louis XIV’s revocation in 1685 of the Edict of Nantes, which had imposed a century of religious tolerance, the low and sturdy stone houses had been a haven for the Huguenots, or French Protestants. Hunted by royal troops and hounded by Catholic inquisitors, the Huguenots nevertheless held fast to their faith. Their ministers led Sunday services in the craggy folds of the Cévennes, and their military leaders led a guerrilla war against the Bourbon battalions. As a result, even after the Revolution of 1789, which emancipated and enfranchised both them and French Jews, the Huguenots remained deeply marked by the so-called “years of the desert.”

The author,  Robert Zaretsky,  writes of a pastor, André Trocmé, a pacifist who led the area and town in saving thousands of Jews. He writes:

“Well before most of France, Trocmé and his flock in Chambon were acutely aware of the future that Vichy was preparing for the Jews. In 1940, an utterly dispirited nation had embraced Marshal Philippe Pétain, head of Vichy. Yet Trocmé kept his distance, refusing in 1940 to sign the oath of allegiance to Pétain or to sound the church bells in 1941 to mark his birthday. In these and similar cases, Trocmé avoided confronting the authorities directly: holding fast to his beliefs, but not endangering his church.

All this changed, though, when a mounting stream of Jews — in 1941 they were ordered to wear the yellow star on their outer garments — quit the Occupied Zone and began to find their way to Chambon by train.”

The article Protestant French Village That Resisted Vichy is a wonderfully  written article I leave it to the reader to read. In another article on the same site, Q & A: Why The Citizens Of A French Plateau Saved Hundreds During The Holocaust, author PJ Grisar writes:

“For centuries, its residents have taken in refugees. In the 16th century, the largely Protestant plateau sheltered its coreligionists during religious wars. Two centuries later, the population hid Catholic priests during the French Revolution’s anti-clerical Reign of Terror. In the 1930s, they accepted mothers and children fleeing the Spanish Civil War.

The community continues the tradition today with a welcome program aiding asylum-seekers from African and Eastern European countries and, recently, Syria. But the region’s most conspicuous act of sanctuary came in the 1940s, when, in the midst of Nazi deportations, the plateau’s residents provided hundreds of refugees, most of them Jewish children, with shelter, clothing, food and education.”

So, one understands that those who were so badly persecuted sheltered those who in the past had persecuted them. The persecuted Huguenots sheltered the persecuted Catholic priests. This is faithful Christianity.

But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne

And He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left.

Then the King will say to those on His right, "Come, you who are blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited me in; 

naked, and you clothed Me, I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to me

Then the righteous will answer Him, "Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thristy, and give You something to drink? 

And when did we see You a stranger and invite You end, or naked and clothe You?

When did we see You sick, or in prison and come to You?

The King will answer and say to them, "Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to the one of these brothers of mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me." Matthew 25: 31, 33-40) 

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[i] Samuel Smiles, The Huguenots in France: After the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, (London: Daldy, Isbister 1877) 222.E

[ii] Ibid. 223.

[iii] To read a good book about this time of the Revolution, the reign of terror and Napolean see, Mike Duncan, Hero of Two Worlds: The Marquis da Lafayette in the Age of Revolution, (New York: Public Affairs 2021)

Stephen Miller and that Dragon...Again!

After writing about Stephen Miller’s speech at the memorial service for Charlie Kirk I have been pondering the idea, the metaphors and the reality of dragons or a dragon. Originally, I wrote about Miller’s words and their pagan-like essence when he insisted that the killing of Kirk had, “awakened a dragon in those who cared about Kirk and his mission. He spoke “You have no idea the dragon you have awakened,” Miller goes on to speak of how that will cause him and Kirk’s followers to fight for the West and save the Republic. 

A commenter on my blog took exception to my words “The book of Revelation filled with metaphors speaks of a dragon. His war isn’t good, he attempts to kill Jesus, he lives in rage and gives his power to a despotic being—he ends in hell.” 

And yes, that is both the biblical and often Western understanding of the dragon—a vile creature, greedy and seeking the death of others. Think of Saint George killing the dragon, of the boy Eustace in C. S. Lewis’ book, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader who falls asleep on a pile of gold belonging to a dead dragon and becomes a dragon. Only the Lion, Aslan, can wash him clean of the horrific skin and scales of a dragon. The first battle of a man with a dragon occurs in Beowulf, an early mythic western story. 

But the commenter is right. There are other versions of dragons, ones that might be more familiar to Miller who is Jewish. At least, probably, the New Testament image of a dragon might be new to Miller, and yet Jewish people often read the N.T. Still, even the Hebrew Bible has images of dragons which biblically simply mean serpent and/or monster. 

But yes, the dragons of the East, of Asia, are not considered evil, but wise and/or strong warriors—a creature to absorb or emulate. And there is another image that belongs to both the East and West through paganism, some “New Age,” mostly what is called tantric and the supposed kundalini (serpent) which is thought by eastern religious adherents to lie at the base of the spine and must be awakened. It is generally awakened by different technics, usually sex, directed away from fulfillment toward opening one to a deeper consciousness. But now, supposedly, more expansive than just Kundalini is “dragon kundalini” which is supposed to lead to a more universal consciousness. So yes, there is supposedly a dragon within. 

But there are several truths that go beyond any of this. There, biblically speaking, is only one dragon, serpent/monster who also goes by the moniker lucifer or Satan. (All other dragons are fairy tales, untruthful fairy tales—I am thinking of Tolkien’s On Fairy Stories, where he calls the story of Jesus a true fairy story.) The image of Lucifer in Genesis is as a serpent, a deceiver. And while in Revelation he is pictured as a great dragon ready to devour the God-man Jesus; he is also pictured as one who brings other ugly, terrifying monsters on the scene giving them his power. He is also pictured as defeated. Defeated by a cross as Jesus brings many children to glory. 

 Lucifer is defeated by the death and resurrection of Jesus. And he is defeated by the martyrs (witnesses) of Jesus. 

After these things I looked and behold a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues standing before the throne and before the lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb. Rev 7”9-10 

Perhaps no one can save the West, particularly not someone who is metaphorically or otherwise counting on an awakened dragon. If we are overcome by a man who longs to rule and brings us down beneath a democracy—whose only desire is toward himself. If we are overcome by those whose desires bend towards power and false religion that ignores the way of the cross there is still that kingdom that is forever—not of this world but eternal—full of God’s love and forgiveness.

The Historical Suffering Church: Its Image, Its Faith Extending Over Our Tomorrows: 2- Paul Schneider & Stephen Miller

 

I did not intend for this to be a part of my new small series on the persecuted church but as I began to write I realized it would be.

Sometime after Hitler came to power, in 1934, pastor Paul Schneider, the first Confessing Church martyr officiated at a funeral for a young man of the Hitler Youth. It was supposed to be a Christian funeral. During the rite a deputy of the Hitler Youth spoke of fate gathering him to his fathers and said the young man, “had now crossed over into the storm of Horst Wessel.” This was said twice and Schneider protested because this was a Christian ceremony. In a letter to his superintendent he wrote, “I protest. This is a church ceremony, and as a Protestant pastor I am responsible for the pure teaching of the Holy Scriptures.”[i]

This led to Schneider’s first arrest. He would be arrested several times, lose his churches, be beaten in prison and finally poisoned to death.

But what is the storm of Horst Wessel. And who is he.

He was a soldier in the German army who was shot and became a mythical creation of the paganized Nazis. They used his death to unite their rallies and turn their followers as much as possible away from their Christian faith. Goebbels speaks of Wessel’s immortalization.  The storm of Horst Wessel was meant to evoke a pagan eternity earned by Germanic patriotism. Goebbels, Hitler’s chief propagandist, used this idea in at least two of his speeches. He began the myth with a speech, Raise High the Flag, the first part of a poem written by Wessel.

The author of Paul Schneider writes:

National Socialism wanted to introduce its worldview to the German people openly but it did so surreptitiously because it knew it was incompatible with a biblically based faith. Its “national” faith was not permitted to know anything about the “full reality of sin so deeply rooted in the heart and life of man” because it alone felt chosen to set the standard and did not tolerate any critical discussion.

This can be seen in many of Goebbels’ and other Nazi speeches and writings. There was always the righteous, (the Nazis) and the despicable (all others who rejected Nazism). It is constantly there as here in an early Nazi speech; The Storm is Coming:

You, men, women, and comrades, are the bearers, witnesses, builders, and finishers of this unique people’s uprising. Our policies have not been popular. We have served the truth, and only the truth. For twelve years, they have insulted and outlawed and slandered and persecuted us. Now that we are standing at the doorway to power, Marxist lies have joined with bourgeois weakness to fight us. Were we only a party like all the rest, we would collapse under the offensive of our opponents. But we are a people’s movement. That is our good fortune. Here and everywhere else in the land, the red shining Swastika flag flies over people of all camps, parties, classes, occupations, and religious confessions. Our opponents laughed at us in the past, but they laugh no longer.

You men and women standing before me, a hundred or two hundred thousand in number, with heads high, upright, proud, and brave, the carriers of Germany’s future, in your eyes it is written:

We think no longer in terms of class. We are not workers or middle class. We are not first of all Protestants or Catholics. We do not ask about ancestry or class. Together we share the words of the poet:

“People, rise up, and storm, break loose!” …

So our dead comrade Horst Wessel wrote, and we are fulfilling his prophesy. The others may lie, slander, and pour their scorn on us — their political days are numbered.

Adolf Hitler is knocking at the gates of power, and in his fist are joined the fists of millions of workers and farmers. The time of shame and disgrace is nearly over.

You are the witnesses, the builders, the will-bearers of our idea and our worldview.

So this is the pattern; (1)a great need, (2)a hero to lift up, (3) enemies who are worthless, (4)the righteous who are the builders. This is the Fascist’s method of propaganda. But it came up against biblical truth which declares all humanity sinners and only one solution the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ who gifts humanity with mercy, forgiveness and rather than immortalization, eternal life and bodily resurrection.

As I have placed the suffering church in contrast to a despotic government in my last posting, The Historical Suffering Church: Its Image, Its Faith Extending Over Our Tomorrows:, I will place this image of a suffering pastor and a despotic government beside a government official who now pushes the same propaganda. Stephen Miller, President Trump’s deputy chief, speaking at the memorial service for Charlie Kirk, uses, often the same words and concepts as Goebbels.

The image of storm is often used in Nazi speeches—Miller—"The storm whispers to the warrior that you cannot withstand my strength and the warrior whispers back I am the storm.” He then calls Erika Kirk the storm, but hardly; she is the forgiving Christian. The praise of the hero; Miller’s speech, “You thought you could kill Charlie Kirk. You have made him an immortal.”

The praise of the Nazi followers is often wrapped up in the title builders, “You are the witnesses, the builders, the will-bearers of our idea and our worldview.” Miller, “We are the ones who build, we are the ones who create, we are the ones who lift up humanity.”

There is always the enemy in the Nazi propaganda, for Miller that is also true:

You have nothing, you are nothing, you are wickedness, you are jealousy, you are envy. You are hatred, you are nothing, you can build nothing, you can produce nothing, you can create nothing.

Here is the anti-Christian attack on Christianity too often used by Miller. Taking MAGA’s supposed Lineage all the way back to Athens and Rome he places their humanity and goodness in a racial context which eliminates the other. He adds righteousness to them because of their supposed lack of sinfulness. He glorifies what is sinful and so shuts them out of the Kingdom of God for the sake of the kingdom of man. At this funeral he shuts the door on Christian faith never mentioning it—yes, he mentions angels whose tears put fire into the hearts of the supposed righteous ones. That is unbiblical but also borders on the edge of paganism as does his words of awaking a dragon in them—in MAGA—in those who follow Trump. “you have no idea of the dragon you have awakened, you have no idea how determined we will be to save this civilization, to save the west, to save this republic …”

The book of Revelation filled with metaphors speaks of a dragon. His war isn’t good, he attempts to kill Jesus, he lives in rage and gives his power to a despotic being—he ends in hell.

The Christian, those who pray to always put Jesus above any worldly ruler, needs no propaganda in its cruder form, they have the Holy Scriptures—the Word of God, the promises of God.

Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where is Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life is revealed then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. (Colossians 3: 1-4.)

 

 

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[i] Rudolf Wentorf, Paul Schneider: Witness of Buchenwald, (Vancouver: Regent College Publishing 2008) 152-153.

The Historical Suffering Church: Its Image, Its Faith Extending Over Our Tomorrows:

I am beginning a small series looking at the various forms of the historical Church and their experiences of persecution as it is fomented by its relation to the secular culture and governments of their time. This may include a rising unfaithfulness in the midst of persecution. I will not put these events necessarily in a historical sequence because I am more interested in the interplay of Christianity, state, and culture rather than the rise and fall of nations. And I am also interested in how the faithfulness of the Church produces in the end, sadly, the antagonism of state and culture. I am starting with the Anabaptists simply because I was thinking about some of their music when I felt this would be an exploration that would be helpful in these days. 

The Anabaptist were mostly in Switzerland and Germany and were undoubtedly the most persecuted members of the Reformation. As, William R. Estep, author of The Anabaptist Story, writes “Martyrdom became an Anabaptist hallmark.” It was such a hallmark that they have a hymnbook covering most of their sufferings. This was printed in 1564 but also there is the Martyrs Mirror published in 1660 which is still used by the Amish and Mennonites. I will place one of their hymns at the end of this post. 

The persecution of the Anabaptist came about for several reasons. It was of course a time when religious freedom was not generally considered. And the Anabaptist had no king, ruler or pope to protect them. All of the state churches as well as governments persecuted them. One of the reasons is something that has happened too often in church history; true Christians being accused of the crimes of other religious groups. One of the more radical groups, a militant group, took over a town, took power and instituted polygyny. They were eventually overcome by military forces and destroyed but too often the Anabaptist were thought to adhere to the teachings of the militant group. 

The Anabaptist had several distinctive beliefs that rankled other Christians of their day. They did not believe in infant baptism or that communion consisted of the true body and blood of Jesus. (Reformed theology did accept infant baptism.) Beyond this and probably more importantly the Anabaptist were pacifist and believed in living in community. This did not necessarily mean that they lived as a commune all owning the same property. But they did share a great deal and attempted to live separately from others. While they attempted to live as law abiders their preaching was too often considered against the law. And much like in Islamic countries and autocratic countries like China, Russia and North Korea today, even in secret meetings they were sought out and arrested.

 Estep gives an account of the fate of one of the preachers Michael Sattler: 

Michael Sattler shall be committed to the executioner. The later shall take him to the square and first cut off his tongue, and there forge him fast to a wagon and there with glowing iron tongs twice tear pieces from his body, then on the way to the site of execution five times more as above and then burn his body to powder as an arch-heretic. 

 Different Anabaptist groups would form mainly the Amish, the Mennonites and the Hutterites. They would spread to many countries including Russia and North and South America. It was in Germany during the Nazi years that some of their past Christian endurance would be tested. In Germany where their concerns about social evil and pacifism, their sense of Christian community, came in deep conflict with the Nazi officials. 

 It was the Hutterites in particular who came into conflict with the Nazis. Some of the other groups of Anabaptist like other German citizens felt that Hitler was bringing morality to Germany and did not oppose him. Pastor Martin Niemöller at first also thought Hitler was bringing morality to Germany since he had promised to protect Christianity—of course a lie. But Niemöller became Hitler’s adversary and was his personal prisoner for eight years. 

The Hutterites, under the leadership of Aberhard Arnold used all of there distinctive beliefs to continue as citizens of Germany but would eventually fail. They schooled their children in their own community, they tried to avoid military service for the young men, they took in strangers, farmed and sold much of their produce to their surrounding community. At first, they attempted to continue this by appealing to German officials, trying to convert them to what they called the way of love. When at one point they were raided they baked their oppressors a cake. Another time, differently, behind a closed door, they threw documents into a stove so there would be no proof that they had ever spoken against the Nazis.

 The important point here is that they never gave away their own principles nor their Lord who they served rather than worldly leaders. But one by one, as it too often happens in totalitarian regimes, the Hutterites’ lives and principles were attacked and their property destroyed. They needed Hutterite teachers and had to tell outsiders to no longer send strangers to their door. As they began to lose their property and looked, quietly, for property in Switzerland and then eventually, carefully, stealthily, began to move across the border. They did not go all at once and two men spent some time in prison but not for long. Their community in Germany was gone but they would eventually emigrate to the UK and then to South America. 

Much of what I have been writing comes from a history on the Aberhard Arnold, Burderdhof site. There is a series of articles there dealing with their history in that time. It begins: 

“It is inherent in imitatio, in being Christlike, that we are ready for imprisonment and death,” Eberhard Arnold told members of the Rhön Bruderhof in March 1933. It was two days after Adolf Hitler’s address to the Reichstag and granting himself complete power, the moment Germany passed the point of no return to become a Nazi dictatorship. Eberhard spoke to his community about the challenges National Socialism would create for them as a result of their commitment to Jesus’ way of peace. Indeed, the fate of the entire Bruderhof in the years 1933–1937 serves as an example of Christian resistance and witness in this era of state violence. 

The pacifism of the early Anabaptist movement was a core principle of the Bruderhof's identity. This meant that from the very beginning they distanced themselves from the regime, which quickly revealed its brutal, violent nature. The community members were also firmly opposed to the National Socialist racial principles. The Bruderhof thus stood in decisive opposition to National Socialist ideologies and expressed this antagonism in clear terms.” 

 Some of the experiences of the Hutterites can be acknowledged as helpful for Christians in any totalitarian setting. While the Hutterites did not suffer all that the Confessing Church, the White Rose, Corrie Ten Boon and others suffered they did lose much yet faithfully stood their ground in the faith. As scenarios changed, they keep on finding ways to stay together and hold to their faith. As so many experienced in that time they experienced communities and individuals who took no real notice of the evil happening around them leading to a sense of isolation but still they clung to each other and to the Lord—the best that history can write about anyone they were faithful to each other and to Christ.  

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hymnal I don’t usually use Wikipedia for endnotes but this one is so interesting that others may want to read it.

[1] Estep gives three references for this quote far to long to add to a blog post, but the quote is well referenced—it is historical.

[1] Eberhard Arnold and National Socialism, Part One

Following Jesus Rather than the Lies of Conspiracy and Unbiblical Teaching

Recently I had a friend comment on one of my Facebook postings eventually using heavy conspiracy loaded language. Something about busloads of Chinese men crossing the border. babies being beheaded, nails in people, and “an evil, globalist, agenda that’s marching forward.” I have been deeply troubled by this, partly for the well-being of the friend and partly because this kind of fear-laden worldview based on other’s lies can lead to real awful consequences. 

 People who live in a world of dark fearful unreality invented by liars may eventually become part of great evil. Here I am thinking of a diminishing QAnon or even a large segment of MAGA. If refugees who are not criminals can be torn away from family, sometimes beaten, held in terrible conditions and members of these two groups, QAnon and MAGA, can find excuses or even applaud, they have lost at least a part of their humanity. 

 The same can be said of Christian Nationalism whose unreality is the loss of the biblical understanding of living under the cross rather than seeking worldly power. I read a statement by a member of X who had begun to form this question about those who were yielding to untruthful concepts.

 Pastor Darrell Stetler states and asks: 

“My opposition to Christian nationalism in the form in which it is promoted by some circles is NOT a resistance to Christian principles in public spheres, or to the Kingdom of Christ coming to earth. It is because of the persons who would be implementing it. This week, I was called "Anti-Christ" by one of its proponents for my view. Imagine, if you will, what would be done by that person to people like me if they had the authority to implement their views. Then imagine what would happen to you when you (inevitably) disagreed.” 

Those are questions rattling around in my heart and mind lately. I was once, when in the PC (USA) writing about their antisemitism and the LGBT community’s insistence on changing the denomination’s adherence to biblical standards on marriage, accused of hatred. I never hated and still do not. Now I am being accused of hateful speech because I am writing and posting about the mistreatment of refugees. And I feel somewhat like Stetler; the question needs to be asked- if all of these people living in their unrealities become the leaders, and many of them are already, what will finally be their treatment toward those who disagree. 

 I have already written a great deal about MAGA people who consider themselves prophets and supposedly with God speaking through them are

prophesying prison and death for many who disagree with both Trump and his followers. 

 But here is my greatest concern, that those who have followed Jesus for so long and have been faithful are being seduced by the lies and that this is changing them pulling them away from their faithfulness. Pulling them away from truthfulness and I am concerned, too soon from the One who is Truth. The many leaders, including religious leaders, who are telling lies to God’s people, either political lies or religious lies, are hurting God’s people, hurting the sheep of His pasture. 

To keep walking amid darkness is soul deadening. Some have already found imaginary enemies to hate and desire their death or imprisonment. Some are imagining enemies who control the world and are forgetting the real enemy of their soul that goes about seeking the destruction of their soul and the destruction of the Church. God has a command in His word about the conspiracies circulating in Isaiah’s day: 

“You are not to say it is a conspiracy! In regard to all that this people call a conspiracy. And you are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it. It is the Lord of Hosts whom you should regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, and He shall be your dread. And He shall become a sanctuary.” (Isaiah 8:12-a14)

 Isaiah goes on to speak of God’s judgement on Israel but finally in verse 9:2 is the promise of light—the true light. “The people that walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.” This is the light that we need now and our walk in that light does not include harassing and hurting strangers. It does include speaking the truth, both of His gospel of salvation and its effect on our love and care for others.

 

The Church in the Presence of Evil

This is a slight rewrite of a post I wrote in 2008 while still in the Presbyterian Church USA. My thoughts are now mostly refocused on a different idolatry in the Church- that is the worship of nation, power and ethnicity. But mainly I am concerned for the comfort, joy and faithfulness of those seeking purpose and courage in the midst of a frightful time. My favorite book by C.S. Lewis is the last one in his sci-fi trilogy, That Hideous Strength. It pictures perfectly, I think a society moving toward authoritarianism and the church gathered together with both weakness and faithfulness within that society.  

 In the book That Hideous Strength, C. S. Lewis describes a group of people who, in one way or another, have become refugees from their own homes. They are taken under the wings of the Director whose name is Ransom. They are living in the presence of evil as they watch a group of diabolical utopians tear apart their familiar world, a small but ancient college town.

The beauty of this story is that the gathered people live as a family expecting to do great things in the presence of great evil. But the most important thing they do is follow the directions of the Director whether that is doing kitchen or garden duty or running risky errands for Ransom. In the end it is the wizard, Merlin and all the powers of heaven that confront and destroy the evil as those in Ransom’s house simply watch with some wonder.

The Church in the world, the ancient city of God, those gathered under the care of Jesus often face evil and faithlessness. But it is faithfulness and obedience that is required. The words of Holy Scripture are His directions.

“But you, beloved ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they were saying to you, ‘In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.’ These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. And have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 17-25)

Adding to this, idolatry in the Church, I understand that there is some division among Christians in the United States over ICE's (really the Trump administration's) treatment of refugees. Many catholic and protestants protest, but too many charismatic and evangelical Christians are either aloof to or are in agreement with ICE's treatment. And it should be pointed out that in some cases the charismatics such as Paula White are prosperity Christians and have moved either to the outer ring of mere Christianity or have moved far beyond the fold of Christ proclaiming that they will become little Christs. 

The division has begun to grow where some evangelicals are more concerned with faithfulness to President Trump than to the Lord of the Church. It isn't that they are not concerned with faithfulness it is just that they have become so concerned with political power (for some good causes of course) that Jesus has been overshadowed. They have forgotten the Kingdom and the Power is His.  

Karl Barth in his day certainly saw the Church bow down to a leader and wrote:

"Along with the external oppression of the Church she can be summoned to consider that God is at liberty to take away the light of the Gospel, if we do not want to have it otherwise. Even as He once removed the 'candlestick' from the North African Church, which was as much the Church of St. Augustine as the German Church is that of Luther. It would then be fruitless and a silly thing to fight, by means of the instruments of Church-politics, against the sign given us in maybe one last moment in which all that mattered would be to cry aloud unto God, in the presence of this certainly fearful signal, that He might not be altogether weary of His rule amidst the great disloyalty of modern German Christianity [American Christianity] and 'Churchianity,' and that He might be disposed to make us more loyal to His Word, by means of His Word, than we and our fathers [and mothers] have been."

Of course, the American Church is mostly oppressed where the Hispanic is fearful of going to church or mass because of ICE kidnappings--being delivered to detention centers and countries beyond the reach of family or lawyers. She is also oppressed where individual members are defamed for rejecting the idea that God is using Trump to save America. (God has His purposes and he may be using Trump to judge America.)  

Nonetheless there is joy, comfort, and peace in faithfulness and obedience to only one Lord, love for one another, care for those misused, the needy, the refugee, the troubled, even the rebel. 

Praise the Lord from the earth,

sea monsters and all deeps;

fire and hail, snow and clouds;

stormy wind, fulfilling His 

word;

mountains and all hills;

fruit trees and all cedars;

beasts and all cattle;

creeping things and winged

fowl;

kings of the earth and all

people;

princes and all judges of the

earth;

both young men and virgins

old men and children;

let them praise the name of the 

Lord,

for his name alone is exalted;

His glory is above the earth and

heaven (Psalm 148: 7-13)