I Am Become Rath

Dr. Gilmer W. Blackburn, Professor of History at Gardner-Webb College, examined how Nazi Germany portrayed Christianity in its history textbooks. His findings were published in the December 1980 issue of Church History, a scholarly journal of the American Society of Church History (Vol. 49, No. 4, pp. 433–445). Blackburn argues that Nazi educational materials portrayed Christianity as a foreign, Jewish-derived influence that had weakened the Germanic people for centuries, contradicting the racial and national ideals of National Socialism. He records the following: 1. Christianity was portrayed as a Jewish corruption of German civilization Heinrich Himmler, as quoted by Blackburn from Charles S. Macfarland's 1939 article “Hitler or Christ.”: "The gods of our ancestors were different. They were men and carried in their hands a weapon which typified the natural characteristics of our race, namely readiness to act and self-reliance. How different is yonder pale figure on the Cross, whose passivity and emphasized mien of suffering express only humility and self-abnegation, qualities which we, conscious of our heroic blood, utterly deny.... The corruption of our blood caused by the intrusion of this alien philosophy must be ended." 2. The Christianization of Germany was depicted as a national tragedy Dietrich Klagges, So Ward Das Reich (Frankfurt am Main, 1943), p. 8 (1943 Nazi textbook): "Do you wish to stoop to the hated Franks? Do you wish to be slaves to the church? 'Never! Better death than slaves! Better die than live without honor! . . We will not crawl to the Cross! Long live freedom! You be our leader in battle and victory! Heil Herzog Widukind!'" 3. Medieval Christianity was condemned for weakening Germany "In an ironic twist of fate, the Nazi historians attempted to convince German children that the Gothic cathedral, the foremost symbol of the Christian Middle Ages, received its inspiration from the old pagan Germanic religious impulse. "The sublime Nordic Licht- und Kampfglaube [light and battle faith] has gained form in it once again...." 4. Martin Luther presented a problem for Nazi historians "Luther's Germanism was emphasized almost to the exclusion of his Christianity." "[Nazi textbook] authors condemned Luther's 'great work' (the translation of the Bible into German) which 'drove the Jewish spirit and Jewish thought deeper into the German folk than ever before.'" 5. Nazis wanted to replace Christianity with their own religion "The study of history served a metaphysical purpose, and those who prepared the history textbooks served as priests of the Nazi Weltanschauung, a creed whose basic tenet, whether pseudo or real, repudiated the anthropological unity of the human race." "The demolition of Christianity would clear the way for more robust teutonic ideals and permit the regime to substitute its own interpretation of history for the former faith." Blackburn discusses So Ward Das Reich (1943), p. 36. Under the heading “Germany Is Our Holy Land,” the textbook redirects religious devotion toward Hitler, the German people, and the Reich. 6. Nazi attacks on Christianity became more explicit over time Blackburn argues that Nazi textbook treatments of Christianity became increasingly explicit, with some publications available by 1943 openly attacking Christianity: "History was presented in National Socialist schools as an expanding revelation. Some things were revealed from the start, while others were either ignored or kept secret until the authorities were ready for them to be taught. The regime's attitude toward the Christian religion belonged in the latter category. Many of the earlier histories written by National Socialists said little or nothing at all about Christianity, but those published after 1943 unmasked the regime's full enmity for the Christian faith." Blackburn concludes that: "The fight against Christianity was viewed as a part of the desperate global struggle waged by Aryans against the inherent degeneracy of the Semitic world view. As an offshoot of the latter, Christianity was clearly seen as a rival for the German people’s allegiance. Hence, the Nazis yearned for the acceptance of a metaphysical system which was compatible with the political aims of their movement. [...] Christianity and Germanism were presented as polar opposites: the one as a stifling, unnatural, conscience-ridden, alien force; the other as an idealistic personification of the creed of hardness and a glorification of the instinctive nature of man."