A hundred years ago, millions of European Christians greeted the arrival of war with a degree of acceptance, even rejoicing, that in hindsight seems hard to credit.
For Germans especially, this was a moment of Transfiguration, a New Pentecost. Other countries saw a fulfillment of prophecy, an apocalyptic sign. Among all the world’s churches, it is difficult to find leaders who spoke out as we would have wished a Christian statesman to have done in those appalling circumstances. With some relief, though, we can turn to one man who actually did speak as a prophet, and who moreover offered a genuinely realistic vision for peace.
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