What Is the Barmen Declaration? A Complete Introduction

In May 1934, as the Third Reich tightened its grip on German society, a group of Protestant pastors and theologians gathered in the city of Barmen to do something radical: confess their faith. The result was the Theological Declaration of Barmen — six theses grounded in Scripture, each affirming the lordship of Jesus Christ and rejecting the accommodation of the church to National Socialist ideology.

The Crisis That Demanded a Confession

When Hitler became chancellor in 1933, a movement called the 'German Christians' (Deutsche Christen) gained power within the Protestant church. They wanted to align Christianity with National Socialism — introducing racial purity requirements for clergy, replacing Old Testament readings with Nazi ideology, and subordinating the church's authority to the state. They saw Hitler as a new kind of revelation.

In response, a network of pastors, including Martin Niemöller, formed the Pastors' Emergency League, which eventually became the Confessing Church (Bekennende Kirche). They refused to accept the German Christians' takeover — and at Barmen, they put their refusal in writing.

Karl Barth's Pen

The declaration was drafted primarily by Karl Barth, the Swiss Reformed theologian who was then teaching at Bonn. Barth later recalled writing the document in one sitting, sleeping briefly, then revising. He was the right man for the moment — his theology of the Word of God, developed in his massive Church Dogmatics, had already established Christ as the sole ground of Christian knowledge. Barmen simply applied that conviction to the crisis at hand.

Six Theses, One Lord

Each of the six theses follows the same pattern: a Scripture passage, a positive affirmation of Christian truth, and a formal rejection of a false teaching. Thesis 1 declares that Jesus Christ is the one Word of God — no other voice, power, or historical figure may stand beside him as a source of revelation. Thesis 5 directly addresses the state, affirming its limited God-given role while rejecting totalitarianism. Thesis 6 insists the church exists only to proclaim free grace.

A Confession for All Time

Though born in a specific crisis, the Barmen Declaration has proven to have lasting relevance. The Presbyterian Church (USA) included it in its Book of Confessions in 1967. Churches in South Africa invoked it during apartheid. Theologians invoke it today whenever governments demand that churches bless their agendas. It is a model of what it looks like when the church remembers who its Lord is.