Evangelical Times Series Questions New Apostolic Church’s Ties to Nazi Regime and Past Date-Setting

The Evangelical Times series by Eryl Davies, an elder at Heath Evangelical Church, Cardiff, and consulting editor of the Evangelical Magazine, examines the New Apostolic Church (NAC) through four questions. This installment, published in May 2003, addresses whether the group is cultic, its record under Hitler, and its history of predicting the Lord’s return.

On the first question, Davies cites the NAC’s *Doctrine of the New Apostolic Church* as stating that faithful members ask for advice before making important decisions, such as marriage, employment and relocating a home. Davies suggests that in practice leaders may be giving permission rather than advice, which he says points to rigid control of members’ lives. He also quotes the same publication describing an “ideal” member who believes everything a leader says without question, and stating that there should be no criticism of NAC doctrine, either in private or at meetings. According to Davies, the group’s procedure is that there is “no discussion” when a member disagrees, and all decisions are made centrally. He adds that the NAC’s claim that no one can know God, receive forgiveness or the Holy Spirit except through the NAC contributes to what he calls an alarming picture. Davies argues that unquestioning submission exposes members to mind control, exploitation and loss of personal freedom, and he says a recommendation that members display photographs of their chief leader in their homes strengthens his view that the NAC is cultic.

On the second question, whether NAC leaders supported Hitler’s regime in the 1930s and 1940s, Davies states that the evidence points to an affirmative answer. He writes that the NAC was supporting Hitler’s National Socialist regime during a period in which the Nazis murdered over six million Jews and exiled, tortured or killed many confessing Christians. He reports that as early as 1932, NAC Chief Apostle Johann Bischoff corresponded personally with Hitler, and that some of Bischoff’s messages of support claimed Hitler was God’s specially chosen emissary. After Hitler came to power in March 1933, Davies says, Bischoff wrote to all German congregations denouncing criticism of Hitler’s government as “atrocity propaganda.”

Davies describes the support as extensive. He states that at least thirteen German NAC leaders were members of the Nazi Party, that opponents of Hitler were excommunicated, that NAC young people were encouraged to join the party, and that money was raised for it. He calls this shameful and questions whether the group has learned its lesson. As a further example, he writes that in East Germany, NAC youth were directed to give enthusiastic support to the Communist Party’s Youth Movement, and that NAC leaders publicly supported the Communist government there despite its oppressive policies. Davies’s account here is his own assessment of the historical evidence, and the article presents it as his argument rather than as a finding by any court or other body.

The third question concerns whether the NAC, contrary to Scripture, has engaged in “date fixing” regarding the Lord’s return. Davies answers, “Yes,” and notes a background to the NAC’s predictions. He states that the group’s forerunner, the Catholic Apostolic Church (CAC), also gave several dates for Christ’s personal return in glory. Truth and fairness in reporting such history, as Davies frames it, require acknowledging where a movement’s earlier claims came from.

Source: Read the original report