Mission: Impossible! Helmut Schmidt, the Churches, and the Christian Mission to the Jews: An Analytical Study In Honor of Werner Ustorf, Emeritus Professor of Mission at the University of Birmingham, on the Occasion of His 80th Birthday

Abstract

This article examines the attitude of former Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Helmut Schmidt (1918–2015), toward the Christian Churches, with particular emphasis on the issue of Christian mission to the Jews. It argues that the Churches, as institutions embodying ethical standards for society, played a significant role in Schmidt’s political thought. Notably, he was among the few politicians who rejected the idea of Christian missionary work directed at Jews as early as the 1960s.