Religionless Christianity by Eric Metaxas: Parallels Between the American Church Today and the German Church in the 1930s?
American history tells the story of a Christian nation persevering time and again. During its infancy, the United States triumphed with God’s help. Four score and seven years later, God’s providence was upon us again. In Metaxas’ sharp and insightful book, Religonless Christianity, he suggests we, the American people, are facing a third and final existential crisis.
The root of his analysis are the parallels between the American church and the German church in the 1930s.
What Crisis Do We Face?
Washington and Lincoln helped our nation prevail during the first two major crises, and God’s merciful hand guided our forebears through. But now we face an insidious threat more like the one the German church faced between the two world wars.
What exactly is this third crisis all about? Metaxas describes this crisis: “Evil forces aim to steal our freedoms and national sovereignty via a globalist world system dedicatedly at war with the God from Whom we drive our principles of ‘liberty and justice for all.’” In other words, much of the American church has adopted a secular posture, one that makes deals with evil people and too often denies the truth of the Gospels.
According to Metaxas, there are parallels between the German Church in the 1930s and the American Church today. “Religion” or spirituality or simply the ritual of attending Church has taken the place of the true faith, Metaxas contends.
Religion sets a moralistic code and rituals, but it’s not necessarily following the God of the Bible. This was the course the German Church followed leading up to the Second World War. “Religionless Christianity” is a term used by Dietrich Bonhoeffer to describe what he thought the German Church should do to combat evil. In Bonhoeffer’s view, the church needed to kick religion out of the Christian faith and focus on Jesus. He pushed to release Christianity from the tight confines of church buildings and catapult it into the public areas. Unfortunately, the German church coward and then fell under the spell of the Third Reich.
Metaxas’ point is that “’religion’ in God’s name – but actually divorced from God – is a satanic counterfeit.” This was the folly of the German church in the 1930s and it’s the path the American church is following today.
Who was Dietrich Bonhoeffer?
Throughout the book, German Priest Dietrich Bonhoeffer serves as an exemplar of Christian leadership. Bonhoeffer’s story, which Metaxas details in another book and briefly in this one, shows readers how to live with a Christian heart. Bonhoeffer’s story, from resistance against the Nazis to his participation in a plot to kill Hitler, is as instructional as it is thrilling.
In light of Bonhoeffer’s life, Metaxas challenges readers:
“Have you or your church become so secularized that you have believed the lie that your faith should be kept in a religious corner where it doesn’t bother anyone? Keep in mind that that view of the Christian faith is the one that prevails in the Communist Party in China today, where you may do as you like in a certain, officially sanctioned building on a Sunday morning – but when you leave that building, you must bow to the secular authority of the state. Keep in mind that that view of the Christian faith is the one shared by Adolf Hitler…” and Satan and others.
That is where Satan wants us, so he can claim the rest of the world.
The central theme of the books is this: “Purporting to worship the God of the Bible does not necessarily mean we are doing so. Jews before Jesus and Christians after Jesus have often been guilty of practicing ‘mere religion.’”
How Do We Restore the True Faith?
Behind Metaxas’ bold words is a palpable desire to steer Christians away from the mistakes of the German church. The German church made a deal with the devil, and the war was the consequence. If history repeats itself, we would be wise to heed the warnings.
In Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, he articulated his view that the war between the states was the sacrifice the nation had to make for making a deal with the devil – in that instance, the sin of slavery. There had to be an atonement for the sins of the American people, and specifically the church. The same was true of the Germans. Let that not be the fate of the American republic.
“What we face in America today presents as impossible a prospect as Washington or Lincoln faced, with ramifications every bit as dramatic for the whole world. We face forces from within and without that are devoutly dedicated to eradicating all Washington and Lincoln and every patriot in our history held dear and fought for.”
The Church, Metaxas concludes, has a responsibility to stand firm.
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