The
antagonists of Historic Christianity claim that Adolf Hitler was a Christian
and that Historic Christianity was the primary cause of the holocaust. The defenders
of Historic Christianity counter-argue that Hitler was not a Christian or he
may have been an atheist and that his non-Christian worldview was the primary
cause of the holocaust.
The holocaust,
masterminded by Hitler and his Nazi regime, devoured 11 million lives, among
them were 6 million Jews, and the other 5 million comprising of people with
mental and physical disabilities, communists, resistance fighters, Slavic
people, homosexuals, priests, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and anarchists etc.
If Hitler was
a Christian, would Hitler’s Christianity hurt Historic Christianity? In order
to think through this theme, let us consider the case for Hitler’s
Christianity, the case for Hitler’s non-Christianity, and the interpretation of
Hitler’s apparent Christianity.
Hitler Was A
Christian
The high
priest of Atheism Richard Dawkins, in response to Pope Benedict XVI praising
the British for having fought the Nazi’s, claimed that Hitler was not an
atheist but a Catholic Christian. Dawkins quoted Hitler’s 1922 speech wherein
he referred to Jesus as “my Lord and Savior.”1
Popular
atheist author Michael A. Sherlock in his article “The Atheist Atrocities
Fallacy – Hitler, Stalin & Pol Pot” claimed that Hitler was a Christian, “…Hitler
was a Christian. This undeniable fact
couldn’t be made any clearer than by his own confessions…
To begin,
here are just a few of Hitler’s Christian confessions:
“My
feelings as a Christian points me to my Lord and Savior as a fighter. It points me to the man who once in
loneliness, surrounded by a few followers, recognized these Jews for what they were
and summoned men to fight against them and who, God’s truth! was greatest not as a sufferer but as a
fighter. In boundless love as a
Christian and as a man I read through the passage which tells us how the Lord
at last rose in His might and seized the scourge to drive out of the Temple the
brood of vipers and adders. How terrific
was His fight for the world against the Jewish poison. To-day, after two thousand years, with
deepest emotion I recognize more profoundly than ever before the fact that it
was for this that He had to shed His blood upon the Cross. As a Christian I have no duty to allow myself
to be cheated, but I have the duty to be a fighter for truth and justice…For as
a Christian I have also a duty to my own people.” [3]
“The
greatness of Christianity did not arise from attempts to make compromises with
those philosophical opinions of the ancient world which had some resemblance to
its own doctrine, but in the unrelenting and fanatical proclamation and defense
of its own teaching.” [4]
“His [the
Jew’s] life is of this world only and his mentality is as foreign to the true
spirit of Christianity as is character was foreign to the great Founder of this
new creed two thousand years ago. And the Founder of Christianity made no
secret indeed of His estimation of the Jewish people. When He found it
necessary He drove those enemies of the human race out of the Temple of God;
because then, as always, they used religion as a means of advancing their
commercial interests. But at that time Christ was nailed to the Cross for his
attitude towards the Jews…” [5]
Over and
above these solid testimonies, there are other equally strong pieces of
evidence that indicate that Hitler was a Christian, like the fact that his
soldiers all wore the slogan, ‘Gott Mit Uns’ (God with us) on their belts, that
his birthday was “celebrated from the pulpits until his death,” as Hitchens so
eloquently put it, and that the Nazis published their own slightly revised
Christian bible. [6]…”2
Hitler Was Not A Christian
As much as
the atheist argues for Hitler’s Christianity, there is enough evidence to argue
that Hitler was not a Christian.
Hitler and
his Nazi regime were much influenced by the ideology of German philosopher and
thinker, Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900). Hitler was consumed by the idea of “Superman”
(who has a great “will to power” and would reign over other humans) that was
taken from Nietzsche’s work “Thus Spoke Zarathustra.”
Nietzsche’s
sister, Elizabeth Förster-Nietzsche was married to Bernhard Fӧrster, a
prominent leader of the German anti-Semitic movement. Elizabeth was also a
friend of Hitler. Elizabeth influenced the Nazi regime to an extent that Hitler
was influenced by the Nietzschean ideology.
Hitler was
so fascinated by the Nietzschean ideology that he had copies of “Thus Spoke
Zarathustra” given to all his soldiers between 1933 and 1945. Hitler often visited
the Nietzsche museum in Weimar at the invite of Elizabeth and proudly posed for
photographs of him staring at the bust of Nietzsche.
When Hitler
began his career, Germany was mostly a Christian nation. So Hitler often
referred to himself as a follower of Christ. However, Hitler either imprisoned
or executed more than 6000 clergymen on the charge of treasonable activity.
Significantly,
after establishing the “National Reich Church” that projected Hitler as superman
/ god, Hitler banned the Bible and the cross. Bibles were replaced with copies
of Mein Kampf and the cross was replaced
with swastika.
Hitler also
printed his version of the Bible, wherein words such as Messiah and Hallelujah
were altered. Ten Commandments were revised to 12 Commandments. Hitler demanded
worship; the Lord’s Prayer was revised, “Adolf Hitler, you are our great
Fuhrer. Thy name makes the enemy tremble. Thy Third Reich comes; thy will alone
is law upon the earth. Let us hear daily thy voice, and order us by thy
leadership, for we will obey to the end, even with our lives We praise thee;
hail Hitler Fuhrer my Fuhrer, given me by God. Protect and preserve my life for
long. You saved Germany in time of need; I thank you for my daily bread; be
with me for a long time, do not leave me, Fuhrer my Fuhrer, my faith, my light
– hail, my Fuhrer.”3 This was recited by the Hitler Youth.
Hitler
systematically gained control over the Protestant churches in Germany to make
them an instrument of the Nazi regime. In response, the “Confessing Church” movement
gained momentum within the German Protestant Churches to resist Hitler’s
attempt.
Dietrich
Bonhoeffer was a German theologian, pastor and a founding member of the “Confessing
Church.” Bonhoeffer and other leaders of the Confessing Church opposed the Nazi
regime and sought to establish the true identity of the Church. Ultimately, Bonhoeffer
was executed by hanging.
Think about
this; had Hitler been a genuine Christian what was the necessity for a Christian
rebellion against Hitler? Christians subscribing to Historic Christianity fervently
opposed Hitler to an extent that they risked their own lives. They were either
imprisoned or executed for their anti-Hitler rebellion.
So What If Hitler Was
A Christian?
When our atheist
friend argues that Hitler was a self proclaimed Christian, should the defenders
of Historic Christianity negate that argument to begin a street fight with the atheist?
Debunking Hitler’s Christianity need not be the one and the only option for us.
The other
option is to ask a question, “So What If Hitler Was A Christian?” The atheist
primarily posits Hitler’s self proclamation as evidence to his Christianity. Self
proclamation is inadequate to one’s identity as a Christian. A genuine
Christian not only proclaims himself to be a Christian, but also obeys Christ through
his deeds.
Genuine Christians
do not kill as Hitler did. The very extermination of the 11 million people screams
against Hitler’s so-called Christianity. Hitler’s execution of the leadership
of the confessing church that included Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who actually sought
to establish the true identity of the church, is most surely not a genuine Christian’s
deed.
Friedrich
Nietzsche was not a Christian; he constantly attacked the Christian ideals. A genuine
Christian would not follow the Nietzschean ideology.
Significantly,
a genuine Christian would not elevate himself into a position of “Superman” demanding
worship of any form whatsoever. On the other hand, Hitler, so fascinated by Friedrich
Nietzsche, and so desperate to be a superman, demanded that people revere him.
Therefore, however
which way we may want to think, Hitler, even though he may have been a
self-proclaimed Christian, was not a genuine Christian. So Hitler’s
Christianity does not harm Historic Christianity, and any claim to Hitler’s
Christianity can and should be ignored completely.
Endnotes:
Websites cited were last accessed on September 8, 2016.
1https://whydoyoubelieve.org/2016/09/01/hitlers-religion-christian-apologetics-faces-the-hitler-question/
2 https://michaelsherlockauthor.wordpress.com/2014/10/21/the-atheist-atrocities-fallacy-hitler-stalin-pol-pot-in-memory-of-christopher-hitchens/
3http://www.cbn.com/700club/features/churchhistory/godandhitler/
