Black Community News News and Commentary for Christians
About two years ago, after reading the biography about Dietrich Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas, I wrote an article titled, “Cheap Grace, Nazi Germany and the Future of America.” In the piece, we learned how the spiritual condition of the church in 1930s Germany created the conditions that gave rise to Adolf Hitler.
It’s impossible to understand . . . without becoming acquainted with the shocking capitulation of the German church to Hitler in the 1930s. How could the “church of Luther” . . . ever come to such a place? The answer is that the true gospel, summed up by Bonhoeffer as “costly grace,” had been lost. On the one hand, the church had become marked by formalism. That meant going to church and hearing that God just loves and forgives everyone, so it doesn’t really matter much how you live. Bonhoeffer called this “cheap grace.” On the other hand, there was legalism, or salvation by law and good works. Legalism meant that God loves you because you have pulled yourself together and are trying to live a good, disciplined life.
Both of these impulses made it possible for Hitler to come to power. (emphasis mine)
It was my contention at the time that the spiritual condition of the 21st century church closely resembles that of 1930s Germany, and how we could see our great nation fall into the hands of a Hitler-like leader.
In light of the current reasoning employed by the so-called spiritual leaders today for supporting Donald Trump, along with the campaign’s announcement about forming a “Religious Advisory Board“–which sounds more like an attempt to buy evangelical votes–I felt it was a good time to revisit the article. In hindsight I wish I hadn’t, because the parallels between 1930s Germany and today are even more stark that they were two years ago.
The church in Germany had become a house divided, with one side preaching an “anything goes” abuse of God’s grace, and the other side preaching that salvation was based on the law and good works. And it was their embrace of these false gospels that created the vacuum filled by Adolf Hitler. The leaders of these two extremes may have seen some things in Hitler that bothered them, but nothing bothered them enough to risk their comfortable existence.
In today’s church, the “cheap grace” spiritual leaders are supporting Donald Trump much like the 1930s church supported Hitler, and as a reward for the servitude, some of them will have a seat on the Religious Advisory Board. These Pharisaical leaders often mention that they have a problem with Trump’s behavior and policies, but just as it was in 1930, they apparently aren’t bothered enough to risk the comfy, cozy existence of their “ministries.”
I’m not saying that The Donald is Adolf Hitler, at least not yet. But I am saying that the religious leaders who support Trump, along with the ones who will have a seat at his table, are acting a lot like the church that enabled Hitler’s rise to power.
David Leach is the owner of The Strident Conservative, your source for opinion that’s politically-incorrect and always “right.” His articles can also be found on RedState.com. His daily radio commentary is nationally syndicated with Salem Radio Network and can be heard on stations across America.
The views expressed in opinion articles are solely those of the author and are not necessarily either shared or endorsed by Black Community News.
The rise of a Hitler like leader will not come from a President that stand up for the 2nd Amendment, jobs, fair trade deals and free markets……
The rise of a Hitler like leader will come from the far left who advocate free stuff….i.e. free education, free health care and anything else they can think of…….remember, it was the voters that gave Hitler the power to changed their constitution in the name of helping the poor…….power corrupts and absolute power corrupt absolutely.
Anytime you have to give up yours rights for help from the government……..BEWARE AND LOOKOUT.
If Donald Trump can get control of America’s National Debt problem……..he will set the path for freedom for a very long time.
Thank you!!! The left always gets it exactly wrong. I hope the writer reads your post.
You are correct this article and it’s writer is way off base and probably supports all the free hand outs and giving up our freedoms.
And what of those that support Hillary? Leach has no solution other than his dispise fo rTrump.
Look up Hillary’s hero…Margaret Sanger …. She stated that the colored people are
Iike weeds that need to be exterminated !!! She also pushed abortion for BLACKS ONLY! Also remember Hillary’s great friend, ex grand wizard of the KKK senator!!!!!
As a prayerful sinner and a believer in Jesus Christ as Savior, I will cast my vote in November for Donald Trump. I will not stay home because that disrespects all those in uniform and out who have sacrificed through all the years of this Republic to secure and preserve the right to vote. To stay home is to ignore the reality that all the rights we enjoy carry the responsibility to use them wisely, the right to vote being no exception.
Which brings me to the question of Hillary Clinton. Her entire public life has been a history of shady and unethical behavior, one scandal following upon another. How anyone concerned about the character of our nation and its highest office can cast a vote for her, or contemplate not voting at all at such time as this, beggars the imagination. I give Mr. Leach the benefit of believing his sincere concern with the character of Mr. Trump. But I think he needs to give a great deal of prayerful thought to the alternative.
My father grew up in Nazi Germany and went to the Lutheran Church he didn’t speak much of the church except that it was beautiful and the whole neighborhood had great pride in taking care of it. My father came here legally and was one of the hardest working people I ever met. He believed in Regan whole heartedly, capitalism is what made this country grow so great so fast. My father saw first hand what happens to a country when you give the government to much power and you give up all your freedom. If we keep going down the road we are on it will happen to us. The fact that Bernie Sanders got as close as he did to being the democratic nominee should keep people up at night with fear. People honestly don’t think fascism could happen here, I’m sure they once said that in Germany. Trump is not the fascists, Hilary’s Alinsky tactics are more closely related to Hitler.
It is a perennial temptation to see Nazism in strident populists like Trump. But Trump is no Nazi. He does not want to expand the power of the State or put anyone in gas-chambers. He is not perfect by any means but he should be treated fairly and accurately.
David,
I think you have hit the nail on the head with this article. Many people cannot discern truth from error, and continue to think that they are picking the lessor of two evils. Charles Spurgeon pinned many years ago, “Of two evils-choose neither.” Donald Trump is not the lessor evil-evil is still evil. These ministers are fanatical to think they can influence a man like The Donald, who has plenty of money and now wants ultimate power. And those that think he is going to make America great again, are just as delusional as those who fell for the “hope and change.” Donald Trump is not worthy of public trust-look at his business dealings. I will not vote for Trump, not because he is an opportunist, faux Christian, but because lacks any core principles and any discernible ideological moorings. These people in the media and these clergy who have sold their souls (a list that keeps getting longer by the day) are documented in my mind, and in the minds of many like me, to never trust these peoples judgment again…people we believed had good judgment and values, and faith that could move mountains-sold out to mammon. Both Hillary and Donald Trump are the wrong-candidates-why can’t we just scrap them both and start over? I know why, because many trust in man, not God. I can’t even believe we have come down to these two individuals. We have sunk to a new low in this country when the best we can come up with for candidates to run for the highest office in the land-is these two people. And to add insult to injury, we now have people who profess to be representatives of God compromising with evil because that’s all we got! Unbelievable. Your article is sobering to those of us who can’t vote for either of these people, and consider that history can very well repeat itself with the wrong Democrat or Republican and the help of these credulous church leaders.