This section traces the course of the war and reaction to it.

A.C., 1931, p. 213.

      That this Conference of Churches of Christ in Victoria wishes success to the forthcoming Disarmament Conference, and believes that limitation of armaments is a step towards the abolition of war.

A.C., 1931, p. 388.

      That we affirm our belief that war as a method of settling international disputes is incompatible with the teaching and practice of our divine Lord, and we believe that permanent peace can only be achieved when international relations are governed by religious and ethical standards, and would call upon Christian people everywhere to give their support to the effort to promote the ideals of peace, brotherhood and justice; with the view of creating a universal atmosphere in which international disputes may be adjusted without recourse to war.

A. R. Main, A.C., 1933, pp. 721.

      Armistice Day--the day of peace--has just been celebrated under world conditions which give cause for great concern if not serious alarm. Widespread unrest exists. Economic conditions have not yet become settled. While there are signs of returning prosperity, yet there is much poverty and distress. Particularly the failure of the disarmament conference increased anxiety. Our Empire and our own Commonwealth are being urged to take more adequate measures of defence. So we have again the old menace of a race in armaments and preparations for war, together with that ever-present economic warfare which is perhaps the chief breeder of international strife.

      The Christian has a double interest in the welfare of his country and the world. As a citizen he must seek the highest and best for his nation. As a follower of Christ, the Prince of peace, he must endeavor to promote peace in the earth, to bring together parties and factions in a country which are acting as if the good of one could not possibly be the good of all, and to cultivate a spirit of international goodwill. The Christian must live in accord with the teaching of the Master who pronounced a blessing upon the peacemakers.

A plea for international friendship

      Sir Thomas Henley, in reply to the appeal for increased armaments, has published a pamphlet entitled "Defence or Defiance:" In this he pleads for friendship amongst the nations. He says that "while every country should be prepared to assume to the defensive, none should adopt an attitude of defiance, isolation, and aggression." Particularly, he thinks, this should be the case with Australia, with her vast, empty spaces and sparse class-conscious population. He quotes Dr. Earle Page as saying that the best defence of Australia is to make friends, not foes, and that it is hopeless to usher in a new era of international understanding with war-time minds; and he agrees with Professor Walter Murdoch's suggestion for our spending a few thousand pounds in the purchase of our surplus wheat to send as a free gift to famine-stricken areas in Russia. Surely such a position is far more in accordance with the mind of Christ than is any programme based on the view that men of different nations are natural enemies and that national interests are above or separate from world relationships and welfare.

A. R. Main, A.C., 1934, pp. 609-610.

      The newspapers continue to give much space to the extraordinary religious situation which has arisen in Germany owing to the supremacy of Hitler and the attempt to force Germans into a Nazi church and the pastors to swear allegiance to Hitler. It is one of the most extraordinary things in history that Hitler, who is an Austrian Roman Catholic, should by a law passed by the National Synod virtually become head of the German Evangelical Church.

The oath of obedience

      Laws were passed requiring officials of the public service and soldiers of the defence forces to be true and obedient to the Leader of the German Reich and people, Adolf Hitler. But in addition about eighteen thousand German pastors were required to take publicly an oath, including the following:--

      "I swear to God !he All Knowing and All Holy that in my present office as preacher of the Gospel or in any other spiritual office to which I may be called I shall be faithful and obedient to the Leader of the German people and State, Adolf Hitler, and as befits a German Evangelical will render service to the German people no matter what the cause may be."

      Thousands of pastors, it is announced, have resolved to resist the demand.

      The Nazi Reichsbishop Mueller, who is described as "Hitler's man of confidence and dictator of German Protestantism," has been forcing his will upon the recalcitrant Protestants. He was recently reported to have suspended Dr. Wurm, Bishop of Wurtemberg, bidding him take indefinite compulsory leave because he rejected Mueller's plan to incorporate the churches in a German Christian church movement.

Protestants and Catholics must unite!

      Perhaps the most extraordinary thing yet reported is the avowed aim of Mueller to create one Nazi church including Protestants and Roman Catholics and his grim threat to crash opposition.

      Reichsbishop Mueller also bitterly attacked those declaring that Christ was a Jew, saying, "It is the first time in history that a man has dared to declare war on the Jews. We Christians must stand together in this war."

      One newspaper writer says that this threat to fuse the Protestants and Roman Catholics in a single Nazi church reads like the outburst of a megalomaniac, and adds that if Herr Hitler is so foolish as to endorse the tormented Reichsbishop's mad endeavor he will make a present of Catholic Bavaria to Austria. It seems impossible to think that Roman Catholics will be overawed by Hitler and Mueller. The reference in "a church free from Rome" will certainly alienate the Vatican authorities. As for the Protestants, the spirit of Luther is not dead. Thousands of German pastors may confidently be expected to resist the attempt at coercion.

Rights of conscience

      In 1529 the evangelical minority in Germany protested against the attempt of a majority in a, German Diet to override their consciences.

      At best, very difficult days seem to lie ahead for the Christians of Germany; who will have the sympathy and prayers of their fellow-Christians in their time of sore trial.

A.C., 1934, p. 635.

      That this conference records its conviction that the use of armed force by any nation outside its own borders in the furtherance of national policy is contrary to the teaching of Christ, futile as a measure of security, irrational as a means of settling disputes, and devoid of any commensurable good. We therefore urge the Government of Australia to make a declaration of its willingness to submit all international disputes to arbitration through the instrumentality of the League of Nations, and to set the example of peaceful intentions by progressively reducing rather than increasing our armed forces.

Churches of Christ in Australia, Seventeenth Federal Conference, Melbourne, Sept. 25-

      "That this Federal Conference of Churches of Christ declares that it views with alarm the prospect of the reintroduction into Australia of compulsory military training and will wholeheartedly support any of its members who as conscientious objectors refuse to prepare for or take part in any war as a combatant."

A.C., 1937, p. 212.

      8. This conference is of opinion--(a) That the universal preparations for war are unethical and contrary to the teachings of Christ; (b) That all Christians should teach and practice good will as between individuals and nations; (c) That war should be outlawed; (d) That all movements for the non-recognition of the gains of aggressor nations, and collective action of persuasion be supported.

A.C., 1937, p. 564.

      The Christian sees distinctions of race as part of God's purpose to enrich mankind with a diversity of gifts. Against racial pride or race antagonism the church must set its face implacably as rebellion against God. Especially in its own life and worship there can be no place for barriers because of race or color. Similarly, the Christian accepts national communities as part of God's purpose to enrich and diversify human life. Every man is called of God to serve his fellows in the community to which he belongs. But national egotism tending to the suppression of other nationalities or of minorities is, no less than individual egotism, a sin against the Creator of all peoples and races. The deification of nation, race or class, or of political or cultural ideals, is idolatry, and can only lead to increasing division and disaster.

      To condemn war is not enough. Many situations conceal the fact of conflict under the guise of outward peace. Christians must do all in their power to promote among the nations justice and peaceful co-operation, and the means of peaceful adjustment to altering conditions. Especially should Christians in more fortunate; countries press the demand for justice on behalf of the less fortunate. The insistence upon justice must express itself in a demand for such mitigation of the sovereignty of national states as is involved in the abandonment by each of the claim to be judge in its own cause.

A Message to Suffering German Christians

      Delegates at the Oxford Conference also adopted the following message:--

      The Brethren in the Christian Churches Assembled at Oxford to their Brethren in the Evangelical Church in Germany:--

      The representatives of the Christian churches, assembled at Oxford from all parts of the world, mourn the absence of their brethren in the German Evangelical Church, with whom they have been closely bound both in the preparations for this Conference and in the great tasks which are set before the Universal Church.

      i. We welcome the fact that an agreement had been reached that a common delegation of the German Evangelical Church should be sent to Oxford; we therefore miss the more the great help which its members would have given in the treatment of the fundamental questions of our time. But though your delegates are absent, the very circumstances of their absence have created a stronger sense of fellowship than before.

      ii. We are greatly moved by the afflictions of many pastors and laymen who have stood firm from the first in the Confessional Church for the sovereignty of Christ, and for the freedom of the Church of Christ to preach his gospel.

      iii. We note the gravity of the struggle in which not your church alone but the Roman Catholic Church as well is engaged, against distortion and suppression of Christian witness and for the training of the young in a living faith in Jesus Christ as Son of God, and King of kings and Lord of lords.

      iv. We remember the words of the Scriptures, "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as you axe called in one hope of your calling;" "If one member suffer all the members suffer with sit, or one member is honored all the members rejoice with it." So we, your brethren in other churches, are one with our suffering brethren in prayer. Your Lord is our Lord, your faith our faith, your baptism our baptism. We, are moved to a more living trust ourselves by your steadfast witness to Christ, and we pray that we may be given grace in all our churches to bear the same clear witness to the Lord.

      v. We pray God to bless you, and to guide and comfort you in your afflictions; and we call upon the churches throughout the world to make intercession for you with our father in heaven, and to rejoice that once again it has been proved that a faith born of sacrifice is counted worthy of sacrifice.

A. R. Main, A.C., 1939, pp. 561-562.

      With the commencement by Germany of hostilities against Poland the world was brought to the verge of war. Britain and France then informed Hen Hitler that unless these were suspended and the forces withdrawn they must fulfil their obligations to assist Poland.

      The communication sent by Mr. Chamberlain to the German Fuhrer contained these solemn and unambiguous words; "I have accordingly to inform Your Excellency that unless the German Government is prepared to give His Majesty's Government assurances that the German Government has suspended aggressive action against Poland, and is prepared promptly to withdraw its forces from Polish territory, His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom will, without hesitation, fulfil its obligations to Poland."

      On Sunday the British Prime minister in a broadcast message to the nation announced that no undertaking had been received and that consequently Britain was at war with Germany. Late in the evening a proclamation from Canberra announced the fact that a state of war now exists, and the Prime Minister (Mr. Menzies) in a broadcast address said: "It is my melancholy duty to inform you officially that, in consequence of a persistence by Germany in her invasion of Poland, Great Britain has declared war upon her, and that, as a result, Australia is also at war."

      In a former statement at the week-end Mr. Menzies said: "We do not yet realise what this may mean; what price may be exacted in terms of human lives and human happiness. But we do know that the British nations all over the world are at one. Great Britain has no interests in this matter which will not also be ours. There is unity in the Empire ranks--one King, one flag, one equal temper of determination, one cause to which the fullest measure of devotion will be paid." These are but statements of fact. It was natural, indeed inevitable, that the Prime Minister's message should close with the words; "We stand with Britain."

Britain Worked for Peace

      For one thing we are very thankful, namely, that Mr. Chamberlain has given most unusual proof of his desire for peace. We are proud of the way in which our country has striven for a peaceful settlement of disputes and to avert the horrors of war. His Majesty the King in his message to the Empire issued after the declaration of war said; "For the second time in the lives of most of us we are at war. Over and over again we have tried to find a peaceful way out of the differences between ourselves and those who are now our enemies, but it has been in vain."

      A year ago the Prime Minister had to endure the criticism, misrepresentation and obloquy of many because his Munich attitude seemed so peaceable as to indicate weakness and fear. He now says; "You can imagine what a bitter blow this is to me, that after all my long struggle to win peace has failed. Yet I cannot believe there was anything more or anything different that could have been done that would have been more successful. Up to the last it could have been possible to arrange a peaceful and honorable settlement between Poland and Germany, but Hitler would not have it.

A World Calamity

      A world calamity has befallen us. For the second time men of middle age and over have to face the horror of widespread war. In our hospitals there still linger and suffer those who were broken in the last great war. Soon we may be preparing room for new groups. It is horrible to think that though in all countries there are hosts of people earnestly desiring peace war must go on. It is dreadful to contemplate the suffering of harmless civilians, women and children--for there is not today any fighting confined to armies. It is perhaps worst of all to think that those in different lands who profess to love the same Lord will be ranged against one another.

      We are glad to note that a commendable spirit of calmness prevails. People go about their work, and their recreation, much as usual. Mr. Menzies has said that "the best thing we can do is to go about our affairs in a normal fashion." To do otherwise would cause dislocation of business and unemployment and loss, as well as create conditions conducive to fear and panic. The slogan of 1914, "business as usual," is being used again. Up to a point this is legitimate; but it can easily be misused. Business cannot be as usual when a life-and-death struggle begins. Pleasures had better not be as usual, though healthy recreation is good. Drake was not hindered in his great task by his game of bowls. With confidence and trust, and attention to business, there must also be a consciousness of the seriousness of the position confronting us.

A Call to the Church

      A special call comes to the church. A day of testing lies ahead, and yet a day of opportunity. God's children can call upon men to find in God the one source of peace and security. The church has a ministry of comfort to perform. There are the men who will be drafted for service. They need Christ, and they should have all the moral and spiritual reinforcement we can give them. There are mothers and fathers and wives who will suffer loss, and great hosts of anxious minds and with hearts filled with sorrow. There are still the conditions which breed war to be removed and the forces of evil underlying it to be combated.

      The preacher's task will not be easy. Church work will tend to be more difficult. But if we all unitedly give ourselves to the work of God land to a ministry of helpfulness great good may be accomplished.

A. R. Main, A.C., 1940, p. 525.

      It is astonishing how people can become accustomed to conditions which in anticipation seem impossible to be borne. At the end of the first year of the war, we can look back upon numerous events which might have been judged incredible. In many countries people have survived an ordeal more fearful than human nature might have been expected to endure. With what fortitude and calmness have our own people in Great Britain met the onslaught of our foes! London and other cities have endured the horrors of terrible bombing without panic. The dive-bombing on crowded shopping areas and the machine-gunning of women and children have aroused indignation. Mr. Churchill, in congratulating our men, referred to the "wanton cruelty" of some of the enemy bombers.

      All of us are in our thoughts reviewing the history of the past twelve months during which the dread forebodings of the previous years have been more than realised. The Munich agreement of a year before had been received by our people with mixed feelings. Months of intense anxiety were followed on September 1 by the German invasion of Poland and the issue of British and French ultimatums to Germany. On September 3 the Empire was at war. Before the end of the first month, Poland had been overwhelmed, and its partition by Germany and Russia had been announced. Finland was invaded by the Red Army at the end of November, the Russo-Finnish war ending in March by the acceptance of the Soviet terms.

      In the west the war for the first seven months moved so slowly that some were deceived into thinking that a stalemate had been reached. But in April great events followed one another in rapid succession. The unresisted occupation of Denmark was followed by the invasion of Norway. In May the German "blitzkrieg" began, and the invasion of Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg took place. Holland soon ceased fighting in order to save the civilian population. King Leopold of Belgium, after urging his people to resist to the end, before the end of the month ordered his troops to lay down their arms. At the beginning of June the epic evacuation of Dunkirk took place. On June 10, Mussolini, who had bided his time, declared war. By the middle of the month Paris was occupied by the Germans. Then speedily came France's request for an armistice, followed by the acceptance of Hitler's humiliating armistice terms. So we lost our ally. On August 8 the great "battle for Britain" began. How heroically the terrific efforts of the enemy have been met, we have read anxiously, yet with pride, from day to day. The greatness of the German effort and its cost are seen in this, that in 24 days, from August 8 to the end of the month, the Germans lost 1088 planes and the British 298. The total German air losses in the first year of the war are reported at 3571.

The Prognosticators

      Nearly all of us read many articles and books dealing with the war, or spend much time listening to the views of supposed experts as they are broadcasted for the enlightenment of the people. Over and over again the news reports of actual happenings have had as shattering and devastating effects on the prognostications of the professional and lay expounders as the attacks of Nazi invaders had on Polish or Netherland defences. We who read the overseas magazines often find the reading both difficult and nauseating, because of the discrepancy between the facts as they appeared to confident writers of a few weeks or months ago and as they are now known to have been and to be. Long after we knew of the calamitous and weak yielding of France--a collapse which requires other explanation than Germany's military strength--we continue to read in the magazines as they come from abroad of the might of France, her incomparable army and defences, her indissoluble alliance with Britain, and her determination to fight to the end. Yet the British Prime Minister in a recent address said that "the French had been beaten into submission after they had suffered less than half the casualties of any one of half a dozen battles in the last war." Many Frenchmen, however, have refused to acquiesce in the surrender, and some of the colonies are reported to have revolted against it. To us the need of caution in the estimation and reception of the most confident statements of the know-alls is one of the great lessons which the events of recent months have taught us. The secular forecasters have fared as badly as the professional mongers of prophecy have often done in the past and are still doing. Neither of the groups has a monopoly of what we now are accustomed to call "wishful thinking."

The Confidence of Faith

      In times of crisis, great trouble and war, strange cults seem to flourish. The minds of many people are prepared, without proof, to accept the strangest of doctrines. Confident predictions abound. Some of them hit the mark, and the misses are overlooked. Many people have been quoting Mother Shipton's prophecies, some of them with an admiring faith which shows they have either not read or not been baulked by such a little error as the following:--

      We who are Christians should stay our souls upon God and his abiding Word. The Father loves and cares for us, and has made provision through his Son for the forgiveness of all our sins, and through his Spirit for the daily strengthening of his children. Our preachers, we are glad to know, continue their work of preaching the glorious Gospel of Christ. By the preaching of the clear and simple facts of the New Testament, rather than by dubious interpretations of obscure and figurative passages of Ezekiel, they are seeking to turn men from their sin to a glad acceptance of that gift of eternal life which is in Christ Jesus. The most vital things in the scriptures are the things most clearly revealed. The three thousand on Pentecost, who became disciples after hearing one sermon, the jailer at Philippi who was a pagan at sunset and a Christian at sunrise, could not have passed an examination in what some folk to-day proclaim as the gospel of the kingdom, or covenant teaching, or prophetic truth; but they knew enough to be saved by Jesus Christ and to serve him as Lord.

      What may be ahead is hid from our eyes; but the Christian can say; "God holds the key of all unknown, and I am glad."

      Let us possess our souls in patience, and allow the peace of God to garrison our hearts. In simple faith and confident prayer let us approach the Father for his help and blessing.

A.C., 1941, p. 301.

      The question presupposes another.

(1) Is God on the Side of the Empire?

      Remembering the unfortunate effects of merging church and state, and realising that, strictly speaking, there can be no such thing as a truly Christian nation we must answer, "No:" In the midst of the good we try to do there is so much evil, that we can scarcely claim for the British people the special favor of the Almighty purely and simply from the national viewpoint. However loyal we may be, we nevertheless realise that there is much within the Empire that is not in harmony with God's will. Therefore, our answer must be "No."

(2) Is God on the Side of the Enemy?

      Emphatically, "No." The diabolical spirit of Prussianism that seems to have eaten out the very heart of the "State-protected" Lutheran Church is diametrically opposed to the standards of Jesus. All but a persecuted minority in Germany to-day believe that "God is on the side of the big battalions."

      Everything Christ stands for is personal and individual. The Nazi pagan creed, on the other hand, regards the individual, not as a soul to be saved, but rather as a mere drop of blood in the swirling ocean of a proud and vaunted racial purity--an insignificant cog in the machine of the State. Man has no rights. The Christian ethic is scorned. The God of love and truth and justice is repudiated. Again, the answer to the question is emphatically, "No."

W. J. Thomson, A.C., 1941, p. 472.

      "This conference, whilst recognising the reasonable treatment so far accorded to conscientious objectors to military service, regrets that no provisions have been made, similar to the law in Britain, to cover the objector who is unable to accept any service under military control, and unable to take the military oath for conscientious reasons, and requests an early amendment of the Defence Act to make such provisions. This conference requests the executive committee to take the necessary action to acquaint the Minister for War of this resolution."

[NOF 523-529]