Church Resistance to Nazism in Norway, 1940-1945 examines the evolution of the Lutheran state Church of Norway in response to the German occupation. While German Protestant churches generally accepted Nazism and state incorporation, Norway's churches rejected both Nazism and ideological alignment. Arne Hassing moves through the history of the Church of Norway's relationship to the Nazi state, from its initial confused complicities to its open resistance and separation. He writes engagingly of the people at the center of this struggle and reflects on how the resistance affected the postwar church and state.

Arne Hassing is professor emeritus of religious studies at Northern Arizona University.

Preface

Acknowledgments

Map of the Church of Norway's dioceses in 1940

Part One | Preludes

1. German Prelude 5

2. Norwegian Preludes

Part Two | Invasion, Accommodation, Collaboration

3. Weserubung

4. Forging a Front

Part Three | Resistance

5. In Defense of a Just State

6. The NS Church System

7. Against Nazification

8. In Defense of the Church

9. The Resignation of the Bishops

10. In Defense of the Young

11. Easter 1942

Part Four | Contesting NS Legitimacy

12. Negotiations?

13. The Autonomous Church

14. The NS Church

Part Five | Final Protests

15. In Defense of Jews

16. Against Compulsory Labor Service

Part Six | Holding Out

17. Between the Times

Part Seven | Liberation

18. The Reckoning

Epilogue: Legacies

Abbreviations

Notes

Bibliography

Index