Confusion dominates too many discussions of the churches in Nazi Germany. Germany was not a Christian country but had been deeply influenced by powerful philosophical and scientific forces of secularism for over a century before 1933. The churches themselves were often mere facades of theological liberalism that denied the fundamentals of the faith in very religious-sounding language. Even more conventionally orthodox churches were all-too-often lifeless, spiritless and powerless. These factors, along with simple human cowardice in the face of brutal tyranny, best explain the pathetic collapse of the churches before Hitler. Yet, we should not forget the few who did speak out publicly, often at the cost of their lives. Nor should we fail to distinguish between the different versions of Christianity in Germany and the teachings of Christ himself.