In Jesus and the Powers, Tom Wright and I give considerable attention to the dangers of the totalitarianism typified by the Nazis and how Christians are called, within the precincts of their own consciences, to resist ideologies of terror and autocracy.
What i found disturbingly fascinating was the coercion of biblical themes in the Nazi propaganda films. I believe it was Hitler favourite film makerHelene Bertha Amalie Riefenstah in Triumph of the Will who artfully depicted Hitler in his plane descending through the clouds. Ref Dan 8! The plane then did a panoramic sweep over Berlin/Nurenberg, ref Dan and Jerusalem, and had Hitler ascending an enormous flight of stairs to give an oration to the masses ref Sermon on Mount. The Hitler Youth groups developed and then took over the youth groups of the Lutheran church in Germany. In so doing the Nazi worldview was vehemently pushed to the fire, and use of the facilities made it difficult for any Christian input. And the church was blindsided by the apparent social benefits accrued by Nazism. The population had been "primed" to associate Hitler with the Germany Messiah, the Third Reich being the progression from Holy Roman Empire to establishment of German state to what is eschatologically The Day of The Lord (Hitler as Messianic figure ). Look at Soviet and North Korea as elevation of demigod political figures it was ever thus.. jan
Was going to mention the series on Nazis from my favorite podcast but you beat me to it! As Tom Holland mentioned in the episode its striking how anti Christian Nazism is at its core but then tragic that so many Christians went along with it. I would hope that I would be like Bonhoeffer but it really is scary to think how seductive it would have been in the 1930's.
Thanks Dr. Bird ! I have a question. What exactly do you mean by “incorporating some aspects of Lutheranism”? I understand that there is a lot of debate of some Luthers writings on his attitude towards the Jews later in his life which were really abhorrent and unacceptable rants of antisemitism. Some scholars argue Luther is basically responsible for rise of the Third Reich because of some of his anti-Semitic writings while other scholars argue it’s a stretch. What do you think?
The Protestant churches of Germany imbibed and often amplified the anti-Judaism of Martin Luther. It's not on Luther alone, a lot of it comes down to weird conspiracy theories from the 1880s, WWI, and the like. Plus, there was a tradition of secular and Catholic anti-Semitism as well. But ... some Protestant churches were a bit worst of Martin Luther on steroids. Why is partly why so many in the Protestant churches went along with Nazism.
What i found disturbingly fascinating was the coercion of biblical themes in the Nazi propaganda films. I believe it was Hitler favourite film makerHelene Bertha Amalie Riefenstah in Triumph of the Will who artfully depicted Hitler in his plane descending through the clouds. Ref Dan 8! The plane then did a panoramic sweep over Berlin/Nurenberg, ref Dan and Jerusalem, and had Hitler ascending an enormous flight of stairs to give an oration to the masses ref Sermon on Mount. The Hitler Youth groups developed and then took over the youth groups of the Lutheran church in Germany. In so doing the Nazi worldview was vehemently pushed to the fire, and use of the facilities made it difficult for any Christian input. And the church was blindsided by the apparent social benefits accrued by Nazism. The population had been "primed" to associate Hitler with the Germany Messiah, the Third Reich being the progression from Holy Roman Empire to establishment of German state to what is eschatologically The Day of The Lord (Hitler as Messianic figure ). Look at Soviet and North Korea as elevation of demigod political figures it was ever thus.. jan
Yes, it was creepy evil.
Was going to mention the series on Nazis from my favorite podcast but you beat me to it! As Tom Holland mentioned in the episode its striking how anti Christian Nazism is at its core but then tragic that so many Christians went along with it. I would hope that I would be like Bonhoeffer but it really is scary to think how seductive it would have been in the 1930's.
The problem with seductions is that they are ... seductive!
This is so well done, well explained, and so accurate!!
Thanks Dr. Bird ! I have a question. What exactly do you mean by “incorporating some aspects of Lutheranism”? I understand that there is a lot of debate of some Luthers writings on his attitude towards the Jews later in his life which were really abhorrent and unacceptable rants of antisemitism. Some scholars argue Luther is basically responsible for rise of the Third Reich because of some of his anti-Semitic writings while other scholars argue it’s a stretch. What do you think?
The Protestant churches of Germany imbibed and often amplified the anti-Judaism of Martin Luther. It's not on Luther alone, a lot of it comes down to weird conspiracy theories from the 1880s, WWI, and the like. Plus, there was a tradition of secular and Catholic anti-Semitism as well. But ... some Protestant churches were a bit worst of Martin Luther on steroids. Why is partly why so many in the Protestant churches went along with Nazism.