We belong, not to ourselves, but to Christ 2

Responding to "A Theological Declaration in North America 2025"

Mar 24, 2025

Does 2025 mark a kairos moment in America? Should theologians stand up like the heroes at Barmen in 1934 to take a stand for Christ over against Caesar? Yes, according to a conclave of the Old Professors Association (OPA) connected to the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC). Their Barmen redivivus is titled, We Belong, Not to Ourselves, but to Christ: A Theological Declaration in North America, 2025. For the LSTC version of the document, click here. Don’t confuse the OPA statement with the much shorter LSTC faculty statement (click here).

Duane Larson and Kurt Hendel are principally responsible for the current OPA statement draft. Their title, “We belong, Not to Ourselves, but to Christ,” echoes 2 Corinthians 10-11 as well as the Heidelberg Catchism (1563) Q.1.A.1. As an ol’ professor myself, I’d like to engage the discussion.

What defines the moment? Answer: White House aggression.

"The election of [the current president] and [the current vice president] presents grave challenges to North American ecumenical and progressive Christians. The challenges are not unlike that faced the Protestant and Roman Catholic communities with the rise of Nazism."

What is the main concern? Answer: Religious freedom in the United States.

"Christian Nationalism and its alliance with the MAGA movement are particularly disconcerting….An existential threat to our religious freedom and democracy has now formally installed itself in all three federal sectors of the United States government. The threat is religious and political."

Who poses this threat? Answer: Christian nationalism, also named Christian Fascism.

"The threat comes in the collective voice of authorities who advocate an exclusivistic religiously-colored ideology allied with a fascist agenda."

What does it mean to say, "we belong, not to ourselves, but to Christ"?

"We believe that our alligiance to Christ demands that we stand with and for all people, no matter their religious or non-religious identities, who suffer persecution, disrespect, and devalutaion simply because they are of a color, gender orientation, economic class, or partisan political persuasion other than the ruling regime....The Churches must educate their membership on how pronounced the difference is between Christian social teaching and the Project 2025 document which clearly will provide the bedrock of policy decisions for the Trump-Vance administration."

Are there any signs of public theology at work here? Yes. The statement affirms religious responsibility for the common good beyond faith communities themselves.

"Religious faith and the political common good are not and cannot be wholly separate. Two Governances [Martin Luther's doctrine of the Two Kingdoms] recognizes that they do have common values that all people can appreciate....the traces of God pervade all the universe."

Does the "We Belong, Not to Ourselves, But to Christ" statement prompt a prophetic voice? Yes.

"God chooses prophets to be God's spokespeople within their own communities and beyond. As God's voices, they share words of judgment and punishment and words of promise and grace."

Two Other Barmens?

The formulation of the first Barmen Declaration on September 9, 1934 was led by theological sockdolager Karl Barth. The declaration anathemitized treating Caesar in the form of Hitler as an idol.

“We reject the false doctrine, as though the church, apart from this ministry, could and were permitted to give to itself, or allow to be given to it, special leaders [Der Führer] vested with ruling powers.”

As I observed in a previous Patheos post, Barmen on Christian Nationalism, this simple biblical language reaffirmed that faithful Christians have one and only one lord. That Lord is Jesus Christ. That lord both transcends and judges all human lords, leaders, and powers. If the leadership of Der Oval Office Führer conflicts at any point with the Christian duty to love one’s neighbor, then the Christian is bound to obey God and not the earthly ruler.

Ninety years after the first Barmen, on September 9, 2024, American evangelicals posted their own Barmen, Our Confession of Evangelical Conviction. This statement makes it clear that Jesus Christ is king of kings. And this means no political leader should usurp that office. The 45th and now 47th president of the United States was not named. But, whispers of Caesar and Hitler wafted between the lines.

"We reject the false teaching that anyone other than Jesus Christ has been anointed by God as our Savior, or that a Christian's loyalty should belong to any political party. We reject any message that promotes devotion to a human leader or that wraps divine worship around partisanship."

There is some evidence that Neo-Machiavellians within the presidential circle actually do plan on replacing American democracy with a monarchy headed by a CEO-king. This is far more threatening than Christian nationalism.

Ted's Take on "We Belong, Not to Ourselves, But to Christ."

It is Ted's take that OPA’s "We Belong, Not to Ourselves, But to Christ" is unnecessarily burdend by a small flaw. There is a flaw in selecting the target for its prophetic judement. Instead of targeting Caeser in the form of Der Oval Office Führer, this statement directly targets Christian nationalism and indirectly targets America's evangelicals.

The stated target is 'Christian nationalism' or 'Christian Fascism', to be sure. But I have noticed for a couple years now how anti-Christian nationalism frequently becomes a smoke screen for progressive's anti-evangelicalism. Might that be at work here?

Here is my take: the defiling of America's moral fabric is not due to spillage from either evangelicalism or Christian nationalism. Rather, it comes from the rapacious greed driving the MAGA-Moscow wing of the Republican Party.

Look what's happening. American society has lost its moral compass, to be sure. Without shame, nepotism and conflict of interest along with bribes and favoritism expanded by governement contracts and tax cuts are distributed to the MAGA-Moscow wing of the Republican Party by those ensconced in power. Heartlessness and cruelty are exacted upon fired government employees, undocumented immigrants, poor people seeking health care, LGBTQ persons, victims of Gaza bombing, and the starving Sudanese. With no remorse, America has turned its back on Ukraine in the middle of war. And America now threatens to sacrifice the soverignty of Panama, Greenland, and even Canada. A proposal is now before the White House to create a $25 billion domestic mercinery army led by the Prince of Black Water that could mimic the Nazi Brown Shirts. In the midst of a thunderstorm of tyranny, the "We Belong, Not to Ourselves, But to Christ" theologians squirt their garden hose at the Christian nationalist candle instead of aiming a fire hose at the orange flame of the Anti-Christ.

In previous Patheos posts I have made a number of claims that I still maintain. First, Christian nationalism exists. Second, Christian nationalism is small, amost marginal in size and influence. Third, the MAGA-Moscow wing of the Republican Party -- as demonstrated by the 2024 Republican National Convention and Project 2025 -- takes a stand on behalf of Religious Liberty, not Christian nationalism. Fourth, the animus expressed by progressives is actually aimed at evangelicals. Why? Because 80% voted for MAGA Republicans. Whereas overt Christian nationalism is tiny, Evangelicalism is big. It’s easier to hit a big target. Fifth, the "Our Confession of Evangelical Conviction" statement -- from the other 20% of Evangelicals -- should dissuade everyone from assuming evangelical Christianity is exhaustively swallowed up by MAGA tyranny. Some evangelicals share the same values and zeal as we progressives.

In sum, OPA’s "We Belong, Not to Ourselves, But to Christ" statement unnecessarily spreads a caliginous fog that obscures the profile of the actual menace.

Conclusion

By no means do I wish to flatten a tire on OPA’s "We belong, not to oursevles, but to Christ." Do not touch the brake pedal! Full speed ahead!

The crisis in Washington is dire. Democracy is threatened. Crash is imminent. No one among shameless Republicans or spineless Democrats has yet been elected by God to play the role of Deborah or Barak and deliver us from Sisera’s army.

It is my hope that we will see an alliance between Barmen-inspired evangelicals and Barmen-inspired progressives within Christianity along with others of good will to resist the current tide of corruption, dam up the flow of political piracy, and right the moral course of America's ship of state.

PT 3257. We belong, not to ourselves, but to Christ

For Sustack, Ted Peters posts articles and notices in the field of Public Theology. He is a Lutheran pastor and emeritus professor at the Graduate Theological Union. He co-edits the journal, Theology and Science, with Robert John Russell on behalf of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, in Berkeley, California, USA. His single volume systematic theology, God—The World’s Future, is now in the 3^rd edition. He has also authored God as Trinity plus Sin: Radical Evil in Soul and Society as well as Sin Boldly: Justifying Faith for Fragile and Broken Souls. More recently, The Voice of Public Theology, has been published by ATF Press. See his website: TedsTimelyTake.com.