Publication Date
5-2026
School
College of Arts and Sciences; Helms School of Government
Major
Government: Pre-Law; History
Keywords
Nazi Germany, German Protestant Church, Church-state relations, Martin Niemoller, Karl Barth, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Confessing Church, German Christian Movement, Holocaust, dissent, persecution
Disciplines
Christianity | European History | History of Christianity | History of Religion | Holocaust and Genocide Studies | Legal | Military History | Political History | Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion
Recommended Citation
Cassady, Katie, "Faith Under the Führer: Protestant Pastors in Nazi Germany" (2026). Senior Honors Theses. 1587.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/honors/1587
Abstract
This research examines Protestant churches in Nazi Germany and their varied reactions to Hitler’s Third Reich, tracing the Nazi rise to power, the Kirchenkampf (Church Struggle), the Confessing Church’s resistance, and figures like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Niemoller, and Karl Barth. Hitler campaigned on a platform purporting to support religious freedom, but the state-sponsored persecution of Christian churches later revealed such promises as a facade. The Kirchenkampf exemplifies the reactions of Protestant German churches to Hitler’s rule: The German Christian Movement (GCM) endorsed Hitler’s radical racial theories, while the Confessing Church confronted the unbiblical rhetoric used by the GCM.
Included in
Christianity Commons, European History Commons, History of Christianity Commons, History of Religion Commons, Holocaust and Genocide Studies Commons, Legal Commons, Military History Commons, Political History Commons, Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons
