Abstract
AbstractIn 1948, at the 1st Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Amsterdam, its member churches stated their conviction that “war is contrary to the will of God.” Against this background, this article reviews the history of the debate about peace ethics in the Protestant churches in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It focuses on the issue of conscientious objection and the “the preferential option for nonviolence” expressed in 1989 at the Ecumenical Assembly for Justice, Peace, and the Integrity of Creation in the GDR. The convictions of the Protestant churches in the GDR on peace ethics were formulated under the conditions of “real existing socialism,” the division of Germany, the Cold War, and the nuclear threat. As such, these theologically based testimonies from the past can be applied only to a limited extent to the present challenges of peace ethics. Nevertheless, the central question posed during this time – “What can the church do for peace?” – remains the same and demands theological answers.
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