THOSE who honor Pastor Niemoller for his faithful and patient witness, will not be surprised to hear that he is a man of the Bible. “The Bible is a part of him,” says the book, Pastor Niemoller and His Creed, which has been written by one of his closest friends. “His attitude towards the Bible is absolutely uncomplicated, just as his whole way of thinking. He hardly troubles his head about the questions of literary and philosophical criticism, and he also needs no theory about verbal inspiration in order to preach the Bible.”
A saying of Luther’s has become Niemoller’s own experience: “That he had never passed through the orchard of the Bible without, here and there, shaking the trees to bring down a few apples or pears.”
He has a gift for finding the Biblical aspect and the Biblical analogy for any given situation. He likes to have the Bible “handy.” and he uses it continually in his preaching and his teaching. Now, in his imprisonment, he has read the Old and New Testament through three times, and has learned 300 hymns by heart.
As a pastor, he taught others to study the Book. He holds with Luther: “God speaks to us through His Holy Word.”