What about Hitler? Merritt asks Zahnd

From RNS:

RNS: You say that Jesus told us to love our enemies, but what would Jesus tell us to do when terrorists kill our fellow citizens? What would Jesus have advised us to do in the face of the Third Reich?

BZ: The initial problem with this question is the pronoun “us.” Are you speaking of a Christian “us” or an American “us”? They are not the same. I don’t presume to advise the United States on national defense and foreign policy. I belong to another kingdom. But for Christians, martyrdom is always on the table. What is Jesus’ call to “take up your cross” if it’s not a call to be willing to die in faithfulness?

Hitler is a big question and I don’t have a simple answer other than to say that nonviolence is not non-action. To resist the Hitlers of this world in a way faithful to Christ will involve suffering. But perhaps a better question is, “How was it possible for Hitler to wage his blitzkrieg with baptized soldiers?” If the German church had been faithful to the pre-Constantine way of opposing participation in war, there would have been no Hitler to oppose.