Protest of the Danish Church Against the Persecution of the Jews

Wherever Jews are persecuted as Jews, for racist or religious reasons, it is the duty of the Christian Church to protest:

1. Because we must never forget that the Lord of the Church, Jesus Christ, was born to the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem, as promised by God to his chosen people, Israel. The history of the Jews up to the birth of Christ is a preparation for the redemption that God will deliver to all of humankind through Christ. This is reflected in the fact that the Bible is part of the Holy Canon.

2. Because persecution of Jews is contrary to the human perspective and love of fellowman that the Gospel, which the Church of Christ is charged with delivering, engenders. Christ does not differentiate among people, and He taught us that every human life is dear unto God.

We construe freedom of religion as the right to fulfill the love of our Creator as prescribed by faith and conscience. Race and religion, in and of themselves, cannot serve as a reason to deprive human beings of rights, liberty, and property. Irrespective of religious outlooks, we shall fight to ensure that our Jewish brothers and sisters benefit from this freedom, which we ourselves value more highly than life.

The leaders of the Danish Church are well aware of their duties as law-abiding citizens. Be it far from us to rebel against the authorities at an inopportune time, but to the same extent our conscience commands us to invoke our right and duty to protest against any breach of law. Therefore, in the case at hand we shall behave unhesitatingly in accordance with the saying that the duty to obey God supersedes the duty to obey men.

Source: Leni Yahil, "The Rescue of Danish Jewry: Test of a Democracy," Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1969, pp. 235-236 .