To Talk Jesus Is to Talk Politics: The Protestant Church and Resistance in East Germany
, precis:, The events that led to the end of East Germany in late-1989 seemed to catch many observers in the West off guard as tens of thousands of people appeared on the streets of East Berlin and Leipzig in opposition to the country's ruling Socialist Union Party (SED). A closer analysis of t...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2024
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| In: |
Journal of ecumenical studies
Year: 2024, Volume: 59, Issue: 4, Pages: 453-473 |
| IxTheo Classification: | AF Geography of religion CB Christian life; spirituality CG Christianity and Politics CH Christianity and Society KAJ Church history 1914-; recent history KBB German language area KDD Protestant Church |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | , precis:, The events that led to the end of East Germany in late-1989 seemed to catch many observers in the West off guard as tens of thousands of people appeared on the streets of East Berlin and Leipzig in opposition to the country's ruling Socialist Union Party (SED). A closer analysis of the events of 1989 reveals what many would have thought to be an unlikely facilitator of resistance in a country founded on secular and Marxist-Leninist principles: the Protestant church. Decades of church persistence under socialism resulted in the SED's reluctantly granting the church a level of autonomy as a "church in socialism." This autonomy, coupled with the East German Protestant church's decentralized nature, enabled a small group of pastors practicing a Lutheran theology and inspired by the resistance of the Bekennede Kirche (Confessing Church) under the Nazi regime to provide a space for dissent that was out of reach of the state's pervasive security service, the Stasi. It was here, inside the churches' musty basements and crumbling walls, where a unique array of East German dissidents found refuge among pastors who provided sanctuary regardless of religious affiliation. Motivated by pacifist interpretations of scripture and reacting to what they saw as the increasing militarization of East German society, pastors and their churches provided the impetus for a nascent peace movement that would coalesce into the Peaceful Revolution of 1989. This investigation provides an inspiring example of ecumenical cooperation where religion and secularized society converged to bring an end to four decades of a divided Germany. |
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| ISSN: | 2162-3937 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of ecumenical studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1353/ecu.2024.a943889 |
