Public Criticism and Private Consent: Protestant Journalism between Theology and Nazism, 1920–1960

By retracing the history of the Protestant journal Eckart, this article examines a theological forum in which supporters and opponents of the Nazi movement came into direct contact. Specifically, the article evaluates political ambiguities among religious authors, who had openly rejected Nazism from the 1920s onward but would feel compelled by theological considerations to remain loyal to the regime after 1933. Analyzing contemporary discussions of the Protestant Two Kingdoms Doctrine, for example, puts historiographical distinctions between “resistance” and “collaboration” into question. This study shows that Protestant intellectuals were able to voice a limited degree of public criticism until World War II. Their criticism, however, was often so imbued with nationalism and ideals of loyalty that it effectively helped stabilize the Nazi regime. In Eckart, even critics engaged deeply with völkisch and anti-Semitic ideology. Finally, this article also shows how these authors perpetuated nationalist ideas in West Germany after 1945.

3. Culture

In the judgement of many Calvinists, culture is profoundly important. Calvinism speaks of God’s kingship or will in two distinct ways: God’s ‘will of decree’ and God’s ‘will of precept’. But what is God’s plan? ‘Culture’ outlines the two-kingdoms doctrine where Calvinists distinguish between God’s governing of the world and his governing of the church. Calvinists and Neo-Calvinists both affirm God’s lordship over every sphere of life, but their thoughts diverge on God’s plans for these spheres and particularly on whether the cultural sphere is a part of his redemptive plans. To understand their position we need to address Calvinist understandings of culture and common grace. Calvinism’s cultural legacy is also discussed.

Public Theology and Political Ethics

The article explains the fundamental features of the Lutheran two kingdoms doctrine and the Reformed doctrine of the Lordship of Christ and finds strong convergences of both in addressing political realities without leaving the Gospel perspective aside. Since Catholic concepts show a similar profile, an ecumenical public theology emerges. Six guidelines for a public church are presented to describe the consequences of a public theological approach to politics for the churches. Authentic faith witness is as much part of these guidelines as ‘bilinguality’, that is, the capability to talk the language of secular discourse and prophetic speech, which is put in relationship to the necessity of concrete daily political processes. Thus, in the end the article explains the profile of public theology in relation to liberation theology and political theology.