Hitler and Christianity

Excerpt from Chapter 8

So much of National Socialism can be found in the Folkish movement that it is not surprising two major studies have located the origins of Hitler’s ideology there. Viereck’s Meta-politics: The Roots of the Nazi Mind focuses on the ideas of Wagner. Mosse’s The Crisis of German Ideology: Intellectual Origins of the Third Reich focuses on broader intellectual trends and currents of which Wagner was only a representative. Viereck spends more time elaborating on the Folkish roots in romanticism, especially in philosophy, while Mosse concentrates more on the spread of Folkish ideas through German society in the 19th and early 20th centuries-but in spite of their differences, both studies have a lot in common. Taken together, they provide a significant part of the explanation for Hitler.

Neither Mosse nor Viereck pay much attention to Darwin, and neither of their books lists Darwin in the index. Viereck makes only one passing reference to “social Darwinism,” the belief that the Darwinian law of survival-of-the-fittest applied to people as well as to animals. Mosse devotes a few pages to social Darwinism and recognizes its importance, but asserts the fundamental incompatibility between National Socialism and Darwinism proper. He claims that the Darwinian concept of the origins of man was not acceptable to Nazi race theorists.[i] Not only (in Mosse’s view) was such a humiliating ancestry unsuitable to a race of superior beings destined to rule; it also required a common origin of all races-another blow to the Aryan ego.

It might seem, then, that Darwinism as Darwin taught it is of little relevance to our study-and those who believe that Darwinism is true and beneficial will find no difficulty in detaching it from National Socialism, which was false and harmful. Apart from this basic presupposition, they have a number of other reasonable points to make against the idea of a Hitler-Darwin connection. (more…)

The failure to understand the dark reality of original sin has nullified from the outset the vast majority of attempts to come to grips with the evils of the Third Reich. People with no firm convictions concerning righteousness, holiness, sin, or evil wander in a maze when they try to understand these matters. They are certain that the Nazis were evil, but are unable to provide any convincing or coherent explanation of the delight in cruelty that is one of the most outstanding features of the Holocaust. A real explanation is possible within a biblical framework. For those who see human nature as basically good, Hitler will forever remain an insoluble riddle—as will many of life’s other problems.

For example, in Daniel Goldhagen’s book Hitler’s Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust, a scholar who tries to understand these things without reference to that reality of God which alone gives meaning to ethics and moral standards lists conventional secular explanations for the cruelty of the Nazis.[i] Those who persecuted Jews were (a) coerced, forced to go along to avoid death or imprisonment; (b) blindly following orders with no moral sense; (c) conforming to peer pressure; (d) petty bureaucrats concerned only with their careers; (e) unaware of the big picture, committing individual acts without having a sense of the enormity of the whole. (more…)

That Christianity teaches we are more than animals and far above a mere struggle for survival, and that Christianity is profoundly Jewish in its origins and outlook do not need to be documented. That Hitler wanted and needed the votes of millions of people who were either Christians or respectful of Christianity also does not need to be documented.

The belief in the animal nature of man explains some of the more bizarre and seemingly inexplicable aspects of the Holocaust. Hundreds of thousands or even millions of cattle or poultry can be legally and ethically slaughtered to prevent the spread of cattle disease or bird flu. If people are essentially animals, who-except a born weakling, a pacifist windbag, or someone who thoughtlessly parroted Jewish nonsense-would allow poetical ethical notions to interfere with the need to eliminate harmful human beings for the good of society? By the way, I could slaughter a hundred thousand chickens to prevent the spread of bird flu and then go home and enjoy a normal life with my family-and so could someone who rid the earth of some noxious and harmful subhumans.

Also, we breed better forms of cattle or horses, and there is nothing wrong with that. Himmler was being perfectly logical and reasonable in trying to breed better and more advanced types of humans-if, that is, people are essentially no more than animals as Darwinists claim. (more…)

Introduction

The present situation

Christianity is being attacked in America today as never before. On TV shows and in movies, in the news media, in academia, in best-selling books, etc., Christians are being increasingly portrayed as narrow-minded, intolerant, ignorant, hypocritical, and even evil. This goes beyond mere ridicule. The basic teachings of Christianity are being condemned to an extent previously unimagined in this country.

It is being increasingly said that Christianity has had a negative impact on America’s history and culture-not just because of abuses, but because of fundamental characteristics of the religion. It was the Christians, it is argued, who enslaved the blacks, exterminated the Indians, oppressed women, burdened people with guilt and denied them sexual freedom, and forced the gays to stay in the closet. (more…)

From Michael Gray at the British Church Newspaper:

Keysor’s book is thought-provoking in the extreme, extensively researched and referenced and written from a clearly intellectual, rather than polemical standpoint. It is a welcome addition to a wide and controversial historiography and is worthy of serious consideration. READ THE WHOLE REVIEW

From the Messianic Times:

On the face of it, the premise that Hitler was a practicing Christian seems to reside in the gutters of the same dark, dead-end road as eugenics, Holocaust denials, and The Protocols of Zion. The conclusion seems so absurd, that an entire tome dedicated to its dismantling feels like overkill. Unfortunately, a modicum of investigation shows that it is necessary to refute this notion.

In the last fifteen years or so, the idea that from birth to bunker, Hitler was a Christian, has gained enough traction as to be taken seriously in academic circles— so much so, that author Joe Keysor felt compelled to definitively counter this absurd misconception in his new book, Hitler, The Holocaust, and The Bible.  [Full review available only to subscribers.]

From Don Hank writing at the John Birch Society:

Keysor notes something that no other historians seem to have noticed despite the fastidious research into the Third Reich, namely, the salient effect of secular influences on Hitler and the major secularizing influence of modernist theology on biblical Christianity in Germany long before Hitler emerged. Keysor points out that the secular philosophers who influenced Hitler most were Kant, Fichte and Hegel, as well as certain others. But the Folkish tradition, “with its uniquely German interpretations of Darwinism, added immensely to the respectability of the movement” as “…articulated in the writings of the eminent German Darwinist Ernst Haeckel.”

Keysor writes that, while historians constantly point to supposed religious fanaticism (Crusades, Inquisition) as a dangerous ingredient in politics, no one points out that “the atrocities of Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Castro and Pol Pot, are much more relevant to our own times and even some centuries ago, and much greater in terms of the numbers slain…” and yet they “are not held up as examples of the dangers inherent in trying to organize society by reason alone.”

From Sntjohnny.com:

Extensively researched with an immense bibliography to boast, Mr. Keysor’s book exhaustively mines the writings that Hitler himself cited as influential (if anyone care’s about Hitler as an authoritative source on the matter, of course) and writings that perhaps were not expressly cited but clearly reflected in Hitler’s ideology.

Mr. Keysor astutely observes, “Odd, that for so many people the 16th century and the 1st century had so much to do with the Holocaust, and the 19th century had nothing to do with it.” (pg 70)

This completely jibes with my assessment of the situation, too.

From Atheism is Dead (an exhaustive review!)

Overall, Joe Keysor’s “Hitler, the Holocaust, and the Bible” is a great read which combines the excitement of a thriller, the intellectual satisfaction of carefully considered historical information and logic, the dichotomous nature of polemics, along with an emotional roller coaster.

This is a very serious book on one of world history’s most serious subjects and yet, I have never laughed so often whilst reading such seriousness as Joe Keysor’s commonsensical approach exposed the sheer nakedness of the pseudo-skeptic propagandists time and time, and time and time again with a touch of gentle “irreverent” whit with an occasional touch of sarcasm.

Surely, it is an important contribution to the historical study of Adolf Hitler and Nazism, the discernment of polemics and propaganda, the sensitive nature of multi-cultural relationships, and the essential importance of treating the Bible and Christianity in a fair and hermeneutically appropriate manner.

From James Hannam at Quodilbeta:

I’m no specialist on the Nazis but luckily I know a man who is. My friend Edward Bartlett-Jones, while certainly no Nazi himself, does appear to know far more about them than might be considered healthy. Some say he has the score of Wagner’s Die Walküre embroidered into his bathrobe, others claim that he leaves copies of Nietzsche’s Also sprach Zarathustra in dentists’ waiting rooms. Needless to say, he lives in Berlin. He is also an agnostic and so I thought I should send him Keysor’s Hitler, the Holocaust and the Bible for an expert opinion. He replied,

Overall I think it’s a good book but it has a strong Christian bias. The research is commendably thorough and without going back through the original sources, I didn’t see anything that struck me as being taken out of context. There is a good summary of Hitler’s philosophy (p48-49) and anyone who still thinks Hitler was a Catholic should be persuaded otherwise by page 87. There is also a good explanation of what Hitler meant by “God” on pages 93 to 94.

From Chris writing at AtheismisDead:

In Joe Keysor’s well-timed book, “Hitler, the Holocaust, and the Bible,” the reader is taken into the intriguing but sobering worldview that drove the machinations of Hitler’s regime. The timing is right, because Joe Keysor recognizes that when Reductio ad Hitlerum arguments against Christianity are packaged in philosophical sophistry and served up by the disarming bespectacled professor, that it is time to call the bluff.

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Table of Contents

Introduction ……………………….……………………………Page 1

Part I: Christianity and National Socialism

Chapter 1.    The New Testament and the Jews  ……………..Page 14

The Hep riots … A great and terrible mystery … The biblical concept of Satan … The devilish nature of anti-Semitism … Original sin … Christian servants of the devil … What is a Christian? … Did Hitler or the Nazi Christians bear good fruit? … The Bible as the source of anti-Semitism … Paul’s teaching of salvation by grace through faith—an attack on Judaism? … The New Testament’s description of Jews … The crucifixion of Christ … Pontius Pilate and the guilt of the Gentiles … “His blood be on us” … Has God rejected the Jews? … Who are the children of the devil? … The Holocaust and the Old Testament … The massacres of the Canaanites … The Nuremberg racial laws … Hitler’s study notes on the Bible … The Christian way of holiness

Chapter 2.    Medieval Christian anti-Semitism ……………..Page 53

Introduction … An analogy … The Jewish experience in the Middle Ages … Christian limitations … Concepts of the Jews … Christian doctrinal criticisms of Judaism … Concepts of government … Moral doctrines … The restraints in practice … Government protection of Jews … The Crusades … The Church of Rome and the Jews … John Chrysostom … The apostles’ attitudes toward the Jews … Chrysostom’s motive … Martin Luther … Some misconceptions about Luther … Luther and the Nazis … Luther in perspective … A secular evaluation of Luther … Luther’s goal … Matthew Henry and Romans 11 … A glimpse ahead … Conclusion

Chapter 3.    Hitler’s secular and ungodly ideas ……………..Page 92

Hitler in the light of scripture … A blatant absence of Christian doctrines … Hitler’s unbiblical principles (i) … Hitler’s unbiblical principles (ii) … Hostility to Christianity in Mein Kampf … An honest liar … Hitler the Catholic? … Honest Adolf strikes again …  Christ in Mein Kampf … Hitler’s last will and testament … Hitler’s references to God … Hitler’s references to the Bible … Hitler’s expressions of support for Christianity and the German churches … The example of the trade unions … The Nazi party platform supported “positive” Christianity … Hitler’s policy toward the churches – words contradicted by deeds … A blueprint for the future … Nazi church policies in Austria … Nazi church policies in the Warthegau … Hitler linked to Christianity … A. Hatred and fear of Christianity … A bias revealed … B. A lack of information … C. Illogical arguments … D. Misstatements of fact … Hitler’s Table Talk … Quotes from Hitler’s followers … Nazi photos … Nazi artifacts … E. Ignorance of Christianity … Paul’s letter to the Galatians … What was Hitler?

Chapter 4.    The Christians in Nazi Germany ………….….Page 162

Judging by outward appearances … Modern Germany – a Christian nation? … How did Hitler deceive an entire nation? He didn’t. … A master of deceit … The churches’ responsibility for Hitler’s rise … Intimidation, violence, repression, and fear … A question of human nature … A few rare exceptions … Christian opposition to the euthanasia program … Hitler’s policy toward the churches … Alfred Rosenberg … Consolidation, rearmament, and war … Three lines of attack … 1. Administrative control … 2. The ideological challenge … 3. Persecution … The response of the churches … The Confessing Church … The Barmen Declaration … An ineffectual protest … The Germanic Christians … The culmination of apostasy … Wellhausen and Bultmann … The Catholics … The Concordat … The failure of the churches to speak out for the Jews … Martin Niemoller … A sermon by Niemoller … Dietrich Bonhoeffer … What should have been done? … Romans 13 – the authority of government and the sovereignty of God … A Christmas in Nazi Germany … Christians in other lands

Part II: The Origins of National Socialism

Chapter 5.   The philosophical background ………….……..Page 227

The mystery of Hitler … The need for a world view … An analogy … The role of technology … Some Russian history … Germany, Russia, China, Italy, and Japan … The roots of an ideology … Hitler’s world view … A well-behaved young man … Descartes and the “Enlightenment” … A few words about the French Revolution and Napoleon … The “Enlightenment” in Germany … A brief overview … Kant …German philosophy and anti-Semitism in Mein Kampf … Kant’s racism … Concluding thoughts on Kant … Hitler and Fichte … Hitler the intellectual? … Fichte and National Socialism … Fichte, the Jews, and Christianity … The danger of philosophy … Friedrich Ludwig Jahn … Hegel … Hegel’s philosophy … Hegel and the Jews …Schopenhauer … Schopenhauer’s anti-Semitism … Gobineau … The Folkish movement … Paul Lagarde … German romanticism … The

intensification of Folkish tendencies … Julius Langbehn … The Pan-German Association … The Folkish movement and Christianity

Chapter 6.   Wagner ………………….……………………….Page 304

A Folkish prophet … A problem of philosophy … The importance of racial purity … Racial unity and the need for a leader … Wagner’s socialism … Wagner and Christianity … Wagner and the Jews … Wagner and Hitler … Some clarification … Hitler’s youthful anti-Semitism

Chapter 7.   Chamberlain ……………………………………Page 334

A spiritual founder of National Socialism … Chamberlain on the Jews – a philosophical and scientific approach … Two key presuppositions … A secular history of the Jewish people … The Jewish idea … The influence of Judaism … The revelation of Christ?

Chapter 8.   Haeckel ……………………….…………………Page 362

Darwin, Haeckel, and Hitler … A barrier assaulted … Did Hitler believe Darwin’s theory? … Daniel Gasman’s third way … The marriage of science and philosophy … The practical implication’s of Haeckel’s ideas … Haeckel’s ethics … Euthanasia … Haeckel’s anti-Semitism … Haeckel’s idea of God … Haeckel’s unscientific ideas … A brief overview … Haeckel and Hitler … Did Haeckel influence Hitler? … Haeckel and Darwin

Chapter 9.  Nietzsche ………………………………….………Page 399

The quintessentially modern man … The Nazi philosopher? … Nietzsche’s Antichrist … Nietzsche and Christianity … Nietzsche and the Jews … Nietzsche’s view of Christ … Paul and the emergence of Christianity … The Jewish menace to civilization … More teachings of The Antichrist … On the Genealogy of Morals … Hitler’s Table Talk … Hitler, the atheistic theist … Concluding thoughts on Nietzsche

Conclusion ……………………………….…….………..……Page 434

Bibliography ………………………………………….……….Page 454

Index  …………………………………………………………..Page 462

Hitler Claimed to be a Christian… The Nazi Party Platform Endorsed “Positive” Christianity… The Churches Supported Hitler… Christians Have Always Hated Jews… Germany was a Christian Country… The Nazis were Baptized Christians… Martin Luther Attacked the Jews… Christians are Intolerant... Christian Anti-Semitism Led to the Holocaust…

Many Christians are unaware of how these and other arguments are being used in the culture wars to link Christians to Hitler and demonize them as a menace to American democracy. Relying on the bible as the Word of God, Joseph Keysor’s Hitler, the Holocaust, and the Bible responds to deceptive attacks on Christianity. The widely misunderstood question of what a Christian is is clarified according to scripture, and hatred and cruelty of any sort are shown to be contrary to the message of Christ. It studies the failure of German Christians — with rare exceptions — to stand for Christ, and shows that blind obedience to Hitler was contrary to biblical Christianity.

A Christian?

Also examined is the secular nature of Hitler’s thought. Hitler’s hostility to Jewish-inspired Christianity is shown, and his philosophical roots in German philosophy, secular racial anti-Semitism, and German interpretations of Darwinism are explored. It was human wisdom, not the Bible, that opened the door to Hitler.

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Title: Hitler, the Holocaust, and the Bible: A Scriptural Analysis of Anti-Semitism, National Socialism, and the Churches in Nazi Germany Author: Joseph Keysor Release Date: Hitler’s Birthday, April 20th, 2009. Updated Hard Cover:  March 8th, 2010. Soft Cover ISBN: 978-0-9822776-5-2 Hard Cover ISBN: 978-0-9822776-4-5 Pages: 488 Publisher: Athanatos Publishing Group Amazon Link – Hard Cover: Order on Amazon Amazon Link – Soft Cover: Order on Amazon Order soft cover from Publisher: Click Here Order hard cover from Publisher: Click Here Cover Design: Sojourner Design

Author’s Biography:

Joseph Keysor currently teaches English at a private school in Oman, where he has been for over five years. He taught English at private schools, a college, and a university in mainland China for eight years. He has a BA in Russian and East European Studies from MacMurray College and a masters degree in adult education from Northern Illinois University.

Hard Cover	Soft Cover
		“…thought-provoking in the extreme, extensively researched and referenced… a welcome addition to a wide and controversial historiography and is worthy of serious consideration. British Church Newspaper Buy on Amazon Kindle Buy Direct from the Publisher Order hard cover thru publisher for $22.95 (25% off!) Order soft cover thru publisher for $17.95 (30% off!)

Hitler Claimed to be a Christian… The Nazi Party Platform Endorsed “Positive” Christianity… The Churches Supported Hitler… Christians Have Always Hated Jews… Germany was a Christian Country… The Nazis were Baptized Christians… Martin Luther Attacked the Jews… Christians are Intolerant… Christian Anti-Semitism Led to the Holocaust…

Many Christians are unaware of how these and other arguments are being used in the culture wars to link Christians to Hitler and demonize them as a menace to American democracy.

Relying on the bible as the Word of God, Hitler, the Holocaust, and the Bible responds to deceptive attacks on Christianity. The widely misunderstood question of what a Christian is is clarified according to scripture, and hatred and cruelty of any sort are shown to be contrary to the message of Christ. It studies the failure of German Christians — with rare exceptions — to stand for Christ, and shows that blind obedience to Hitler was contrary to biblical Christianity.

Also examined is the secular nature of Hitler’s thought. Hitler’s hostility to Jewish-inspired Christianity is shown, and his philosophical roots in German philosophy, secular racial anti-Semitism, and German interpretations of Darwinism are explored. It was human wisdom, not the Bible, that opened the door to Hitler.

• Title: Hitler, the Holocaust, and the Bible: A Scriptural Analysis of Anti-Semitism, National Socialism, and the Churches in Nazi Germany
• Author: Joe Keysor
  
• Pages: 404
• ISBN: 978-0-9822776-0-7
• Publisher: Athanatos Publishing Group
• Release Date: Hitler’s Birthday, April 20th, 2009.
• Cover Design: Sojourner Design

Author’s Biography:

Joe Keysor currently teaches English at a private school in Oman, where he has been for over five years. He taught English at private schools, a college, and a university in mainland China for eight years. He has a BA in Russian and East European Studies from MacMurray College and a masters degree in adult education from Northern Illinois University.