Faith in the Face of Tyranny

Faith in the Face of Tyranny: An Examination of the Bethel Confession Proposed by Dietrich Bonhoeffer & Hermann Sasse in August 1933 is a most welcome addition to the body of scholarship on the history of the church under the Third Reich; but its value is not limited to academic researchers. This book is worthy of careful reading and reflection by pastors and lay people who struggle with questions of how the church bears witness with integrity before the powers of this age.

John T. Pless

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, IN

Lesser known than the Barmen Declaration, the Bethel Confession, authored by Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Hermann Sasse, witnesses to Christian resistance against Nazi anti-Semitism and its infiltration into the church. Indeed, more than Barmen, the Bethel Confession powerfully called out Protestant compromise with Nazism because of its forthright loyalty to the Lutheran Confessions. Johansson provides a superb introduction to the Bethel Confession and commends it as a model for countering contemporary idolatries.

Mark Mattes

Lutheran Bible Institute Chair in Theology

Grand View University

Des Moines, Iowa

This discerning, insightful analysis of this confession of the faith demonstrates how Sasse and Bonhoeffer constructed it aptly for their context a century ago. At the same time Johansson astutely makes clear how their words continue to fit into our time and place, speaking most clearly to a time such as ours.

Robert Kolb

Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology

Concordia Seminary, Saint Louis USA

Dr. Johansson has done the church a service with this slender book. It is as accessible as it is relevant. As Christians today navigate life in a world of increasing cultural anxiety, political extremism, and religious confusion, Bonhoeffer and Sasse prove useful guides. Carefully situating the Bethel Confession within its historical and theological context, Johansson unpacks its significance and demonstrates its enduring weight, giving the confession and the steadfast labor that went into it well-deserved promotion.

Wade Johnston

Wisconsin Lutheran College, Milwaukee, WI

Associate Professor of History and Theology