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The Church and the War

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"The Church and the War" contains two short pieces by Karl Barth: "A Review of Protestant Reactions to National Socialism" and "A Letter to American Christians", both written in the 1940s.
The first selection offers Barth's analysis of the "wholly destructive and anti-spiritual nihilism" of National Socialism embodied in the Nazi Party, as well as the role of the Church in the face of this evil--a role of resisting this neo-paganism and, of course, of preaching the Gospel to a 20th century Europe that has forgotten it.
The second, "A Letter to American Christians" is the longer of the two and the heart of this little book. In it, Barth answers a series of questions posed to him by an American on behalf of the Church in the United States, dealing with loyalty to Church and state, a proper theology of war, the role of the Church during war time, and other issues. These responses are fascinating and, to the 21st century reader, often surprising. Barth--contra many Barthians of today, like Stanley Hauerwas--calls for an unrelenting war against the evil of National Socialism. Following a traditional reading of Romans 13 and the authority of the state, Barth nevertheless argues for a distinctiveness about the Church which, no matter what forms this might take by way of supporting the war effort, is always ever to only "to preach the word of God to the mankind of today, according to Holy writ."

Unlike much Barth, these texts are very accessible, and for those interested in theological-political theory, the Christian stance towards war, or just Barth himself, this is not a bad book. His positions are not especially surprising, especially given the writings of other important Christian thinkers during WWII, but there are still some distinctive and important moves being made.