Theologian says Barmen relevant for today’s Confessing Churches By John H. Adams The Layman Volume 35, Number 2 Posted April 8, 2002 ATLANTA – While some critics, including one of his faculty colleagues at Princeton Theological Seminary, have argued that the Confessing Church Movement within the Presbyterian Church (USA) has little in common with the Confessing Church in Nazi Germany, Professor Ulrich Mauser said there are theological links. Mauser, who was born in Germany and was seven years old when Adolf Hitler came to power, said today’s Confessing Church Movement faces expressions of neo-paganism in the PCUSA that are not unlike those of the German Christians under Hitler’s rule. And, he added in his speech Feb. 25 to the opening plenary of the National Celebration of Confessing Churches, the Barmen Declaration – the evangelical response to the German Christians – rings with relevancy for today. Barmen link disdained One of Mauser’s colleagues, William Stacy Johnson, in commentaries written for The Presbyterian Outlook, frequently has criticized the Confessing Church Movement because some of its ministers and elders have cited parallels between Barmen and today’s movement. Mauser did not mention Johnson, who is a member of the denomination’s Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity and Purity, but his presentation showed that Mauser clearly, albeit politely, disagreed with his colleague. He asked rhetorically whether today’s Confessing Church Movement is dissimilar because the evangelicals in Germany “had to struggle against a neo-pagan movement [and] we don’t deal with neo-paganism?” Evidence of neo-paganism There was a roar of laughter before he could begin to cite evidence. He mentioned the Re-Imagining God conference, that was supported financially by the denomination and attended by some denominational staff. The conference in 1993 “bordered at any rate on the claim that Sophia was a name for God” and endorsed the Trinity only because some re-imaginers believed that it allowed the worship of three gods rather than one, he said. “Have we not had prayers to Isis and to a pantheon of divinities?” he asked. “If that is not neo-paganism, I don’t know what to call it.” He argued against those who believe restricting the name of God to one name is “narrow-minded, destructive, hurtful, since God has many names.” Jesus – the one Word of God Echoing the opening words of the Barmen Declaration, Mauser declared, “Jesus Christ as he is attested to us in Holy Scripture is the one Word of God which we have to hear and which we have to trust in life and in death.” “If our movement of Confessing Churches wants to remain true to the impulses of the 16th century [Reformation], it will confess that Jesus Christ alone is the name of God.” Mauser called the Confessing Church Movement “a truly astounding spectacle. It has been endorsed and encouraged by practically all renewal groups; there is a real stirring going on ... this is amazing.” He sees the Confessing Churches as part of an emerging new reformation. “The Presbyterian Coalition adopted a confessional declaration called Union in Christ. In answer to a request by this year’s General Assembly, the Office of Theology and Worship has given us a very helpful declaration which is titled ‘Hope in the Lord Jesus Christ.’ “A large number of churches have joined the Confessing Church Movement and they have added slight variations. The Korean congregations have recently published a wide-ranging declaration which supports the aims of what we are seeking together. Very many sermons have been preached over the country and have spoken against the Babylonian captivity of our denomination,” Mauser said. He cited one sermon specifically: “Who Will Draw the Line,” which was preached by Parker T. Williamson at First Presbyterian Church in Orlando, Fla.

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