40 Ducere Est Servire: THE LEADERSHIP JOURNAL OF DALLAS BAPTIST UNIVERSITY The PEL played a crucial role in sparking a Confessional movement that spread throughout Germany and ultimately led to the formal establishment of the Bekennende Kirche (Confessing Church).24 In May 1934, Niemöller attended the first national gathering of the new Confessing Church movement, which declared itself the legitimate Protestant Church. The greatest achievement of the national synod was the approval of a theological statement known as the Barmen Declaration. The synod also added Niemöller to the national council for the Confessing Church. The Confessing Church’s theological opposition throughout the Third Reich encouraged Protestant Pastors to protect the Church from government intervention. The Confessing Church’s theological stand was not trivial within German Church history, yet its lack of formal resistance to Hitler greatly overshadowed its significance.25 Beginning in the summer of 1936, Niemöller became very open and aggressive in his criticism of the state and his mocking of Nazi officials, garnering much international press coverage and public admiration. Niemöller proposed a fight to preserve the freedom of the Church, not a coup against the state. On June 19, 1937, Niemöller recalled Hitler’s promise in 1933 to protect the freedom of the Church and asked his congregation to consider, “Does the Führer’s word still hold good?” Niemöller concluded it did not.26 On July 1, 1937, Niemöller was taken from his home by the Gestapo for a routine interrogation, but unbeknownst to Niemöller, this routine meeting was a ruse for his arrest. Niemöller’s Imprisonment From July 1, 1937, until March 3, 1938, Niemöller was kept in solitary confinement at Moabit Prison in Berlin. The prison would become “a symbol of the political oppression, torture and murder” of the Nazis.27 Though his church and world leaders sought to influence his release, Hitler would not approve it. Christians in the press praised Niemöller as a great Protestant martyr in the Third Reich and described him as the most important among the hundreds arrested.28 Niemöller’s solid biblical perspective on suffering inspired many other German pastors, such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Paul Schneider, to persevere through their suffering. Choosing to view his suffering as having benefits for himself and others is an admirable and mature perspective. Niemöller maintained high spirits during the first few months of his imprisonment and sought to remain productive by reading and maintaining daily correspondence through letters. But when his trial was delayed, the months of solitary confinement gradually wore on him. On March 3, 1938, the court gave Niemöller a festungshaft sentence, meaning he was technically found guilty but would be released because the
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