The Church and the War

Karl Barth, a key figure in the Confessing Church and the main author of the Barmen Declaration, was a leading critic of Nazism within the church. Throughout World War II, he wrote several letters addressed to various Christian audiences in response to unfolding events. This collection features Barth’s 1942 letter to American Christians, discussing the church’s appropriate role during the war and its responsibilities in post-war reconstruction. Additionally, it includes remarks specifically directed at American Christians, which, as Samuel McCrea Cavert highlights in the introduction, offer an overview of how Protestant churches in Europe responded to the challenges of National Socialism and the war up to late 1942. These reflections also provide insight into Barth’s evaluations of the strengths and weaknesses within European churches during that period.