Copyright (C) 1997,2002 by Jeffrey Stueber, all rights reserved.
An atheist debating opponent of mine named Lunatic Fringe suggested to me the theory that Adolf Hitler was a Biblical "fundamentalist" who did the evils he did because he was obeying the Bible. I have also seen this argument subtly used in an atheist internet FAQ (1) and Frank Zindler, atheist, in a debate with Christian apologist William Lane Craig, (2) claimed Hitler was a Christian. I've seen such claims in various atheistic publications, such as those put out by the Freedom from Religion Foundation. I have also seen this idea in New Age circles which decry atrocities done "in the name of God" such as those by Hitler. I thought to myself, "Could this be true, that Adolf Hitler was a fundamentalist - the Adolf Hitler that killed millions of Jews?" I found this claim so wild that I had to explore it further. I wanted to find out if Hitler's behavior was the result of rigid fundamentalism or a result of atheism and evolutionist ethics (as many theists claim).
Those who espouse this usually quote statements made by him in reference to God. For instance, an atheist FAQ in my possession quotes Hitler, from his book Mein Kampf, stating "folkish-minded man" should stop talking about God's will and actually put it into practice. This FAQ subtly suggests that Hitler was an orthodox Christian and not an atheist. (3) The film Antisemitism available at the beginning of the tour of the United States Memorial Holocaust Museum quoted Hitler as saying "In defending myself against the Jews, I am acting for the Lord. The only difference between the church and me is that I am finishing the job." (4) Hitler, of course, was not doing God's will at all although he foisted the illusion he was. Sounding like a fundamentalist doing God's will is far different from being one and, as we shall see, his idea of god was a watered-down version despite being raised as a Catholic. As with all people, we should examine Hitler's beliefs by comparing what he said with the Biblical model for a legitimate Christian.
The Evidence Examined
Hitler and his Nazis believed that Jesus was a German, contrary to what the Bible says. The Bible states that "salvation is from the Jews." (NIV John 4:22) How good of a fundamentalist was Hitler if he didn't even believe the proper lineage of the one who is central to the faith he is accused of belonging to? Actually the remaking of Jesus into a German was useful for the Nazis, because the idea of Jesus being German meant Jesus was a part of German mythology and folklore and possibly a German god instead of a Jewish one. Historian of the Nazi occult Peter Levenda concludes that to strip away the Jewish content of the New Testament and to accept the ideas of Biblical revisionists is to be "well on your way to accepting . . . that Christ was Baldur [just one of ancient German gods], and a Teutonic Sun God!" (5) Trevor Ravenscroft reveals Hitler tried to combine the ideas of Richard Wagner and Friedrich Nietzsche, two polar opposites themselves, with Wagner holding that Jesus was born of Aryan blood. (6) So it is understandable how Hitler may have developed his belief that Jesus was a German. Given that many occult religions portray Christ as an ascended master and not God, it would be no surprise that Hitler also embraced this view of Christ. This is hardly in keeping with Christ's statement that He and the Father were one and that before Moses existed, He did. Christ claimed to be God and not some ascended master. Hitler might have thought of Christ as an ascended master or god of German myth and not the Savior.
Actually the Bible, while portraying Jesus as critical of the Jews, states that they are promised a covenant with God and that salvation comes from them. It actually shows that God speaks very highly of the Jews, especially when God promised that all the descendants of Abraham would be blessed, and those haters of the Jews would be cursed. Here is a promise made to Abraham (when he was still called Abram):
I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. (Genesis 12:2-3 NIV)
Hitler took the Bible at its word when he needed something that showed hate toward the Jews, but was unable to take the Bible at its word when it showed love and promise toward them. Hitler had an intense hatred toward the Jews as did many intellectuals after the publication of the Protocols of the Wise Men of Zion, the purported record of the World Congress of Jewry outlining Jewish plans for world domination. Alan Bullock lays it on the line as far as Hitler's opinion of the Jews.
Just as Hitler ascribed to the `Aryan' all the qualities and achievements which he admired, so all that he hated is embodied in another mythological figure, that of the Jew. There can be little doubt that Hitler believed what he said about the Jews; from first to last his anti-Semitism is one of the most consistent themes in his career, the master idea which embraces the whole span of his thought. In whatever direction one follows Hitler's train of thought, sooner or later one encounters the satanic figure of the Jew, the universal scapegoat. One of Hitler's favorite phrases, which he claimed - very unfairly - to have taken from Mommsen was: "The Jew is the ferment of decomposition in peoples." (7)
Actually, there is good evidence that Hitler was very deceitful and was so willing to use whatever was necessary to further his world view and his goals, even to the extent of lying to his own generals. Hitler was recorded as saying to one of his generals, "No, in politics things are entirely different. You will never learn what is going on in my head. As for those who boast of privy to my thoughts -- to them lie all the more." (8) So, it would not be surprising that he would have used any facet of religion to his own benefit, while not really believing in it. This is especially true when he pandered to the Christian Church early in his career, only to turn on it.
Hitler's deceit showed itself in the way he used Christ to further his career. Joseph Carr reveals that Hitler often spoke well of Christ and often claimed both he and Christ started their "ministries" at the age of thirty. After Hitler's ascension to power in 1933, Hitler required school children to recite a prayer that gave Hitler much the same honor as Jesus. Just as Jesus saved mankind from sin and Hell, the prayer read, Hitler saved Germany from destruction. (9) Rather than pay proper homage to Christ, Hitler used Jesus for his own ends.
How Did Atheism Influence Hitler?
Actually, the atheists of Hitler's day provided more fodder for Hitler's ideas than did any Christian ideas. Trevor Ravenscroft reveals that Hitler drank in the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer who "denied that a God could ever incarnate on earth" and who advocated a philosophy of a "a blind striving of the Will." Schopenhauer's The World as Will and Idea soon become Hitler's "other bible," as Ravenscroft says. (10) Hitler also payed homage to an atheist named Friedrich Nietzsche who was the founder of the "God is dead" belief, one that guided many atheists of later years. Man had to become a "superman," as he proclaims in these words:
What is the ape to man? A laughing stock or a painful embarrassment. You have made your way from worm to man, and much in you is still worm. Once you were apes, and even now, too, man is more ape than man. . . . Behold I teach you the Superman. The Superman is the meaning of the Earth. Let your will say: the Superman shall be the meaning of the Earth. I beseech you, brothers, remain faithful to the earth, and do not believe those who speak to you of unworldly hopes. (11)
Hitler is quoted as stating "The Superman is living amongst us now! He is here!" (12) I believe Hitler thought of himself as that very superman that Nietzsche talked about. Hitler gave a copy of Nietzsche's writings to his friend Mussolini and often visited Nietzsche's museum in Weimer. There he posed for photographs of himself in front of the bust of Nietzsche (13) Hitler combined this atheism with an even stronger adherence to Darwin's evolutionary theory.
Actually, monism (the belief in only one idea or thing) played a large part in Hitler's beliefs and the National Socialist ideology. It was one of the few things he didn't distort to serve his own needs. Hitler believed there was one single idea (Darwinist struggle) and took it at face value, creating a whole sociological system around it. Levenda concludes we can think of Naziism as, "Social Darwinism carried to its logical conclusion." (14) The great Nazi historian William Shirer agrees in saying
A crude Darwinism? A sadistic fancy? An irresponsible egoism? A megalomania? It was all of these in part. But it was something more. For the mind and the passion of Hitler . . . had roots that lay deep in German experience and thought. Nazism and the Third Reich, in fact, were but a logical continuation of German history. (15)
Another atheist who influenced all fascists was Hegel who believed history was a constant striving of a "world-spirit" (a kind of Hegelian god) to change by a constant play of opposing forces canceling each other to produce a synthesis, a new idea. The Nazis adopted Hegel's theories to suit their own needs, as did the Marxists. One of Hegel's ideas was that man acts as a free individual when his ideas are acted upon by the state. Hence, totalitarian government is the supreme fulfillment of individual desire. Nazi Otto Dietrich says, "There is no freedom of the individual. There is only freedom of peoples, nations or races; for these are the only material and historical realities through which the life of the individual exists." (16)
What I have said here is not intended to blame atheism for what Hitler did. The point is that Hitler abused Christian ideas for his own ends as did he abuse some atheist ideas. One cannot blame Christian ideas for creating Hitler any more than one can blame atheism, and if one were to put the blame for Hitler somewhere, one could just as well put it with atheism.
Hitler and the Church
Some contend that Hitler was a fundamentalist because he rode to conquest on the back of the church. Hitler was good at fooling them indeed. Father Falkan, a Catholic parish priest remarked, "I must admit that I was glad to see the Nazis come to power, because at that time I felt that Hitler as a Catholic was a God-fearing individual who could battle communism for the Church." The theologian Professor Adam called Hitler one "whom the voices of our poets and sages have summoned, the liberator of our German genius." Hitler was seen as the equivalent of Christ and one who would not save the Germans from sin, but would restore their true German heritage and sacred blood. Hitler spoke against Communism as one of the great evils of that day, and since Communism was the throne of atheism, Hitler seemed like a saint.
After Hitler was in power, he showed his true face. Hitler remarked that the masses must choose between the swastika and the Cross (of Christ) and that they will betray their God and never go back. Churches were forced to take in Hitler's doctrines and payed a penalty for not doing so. One church sent a memo to Hitler stating the severity of the efforts of his legions to "deChristianize" the churches." This memo was leaked to the press, calling into question Hitler's tactics. The result was a sending of the Gestapo throughout the churches responsible for that memo and arresting more than 800 pastors. Many other Christians were imprisoned for their strict adherence to the Gospel, a testament to their faith and a testament to the bankruptcy of Hitler's. (17)
Cecil Adams, who runs a web site devoted to "fighting ignorance since 1973," summarizes his findings on Hitler and Christianity this way:
It seems Hitler, like many modern-day politicians, spoke out of both sides of his mouth. And when he didn't, his lackeys did. It may have been political pandering, just like many of our current politicians who invoke God's name to gain support. Also, it seems probable that Hitler, being the great manipulator, knew that he couldn't fight the Christian churches and their members right off the bat. So he made statements to put the church at ease and may have patronized religion as a way to prevent having to fight the Christian-based church. (18)
Hitler and the Occult
Another aspect of Hitler's life that should rule against the hypothesis he was a fundamentalist is the fact that he was a rabid occultist. An occultist is one who explores contact with angelic or even demonic beings and uses their powers for his or her own good. Clearly this was against Biblical teachings, shown as early as the writing of Genesis, which is revealed in this quotation:
When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord, and because of these detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the Lord your God.(Deuteronomy 18:9-12 NIV)
If anyone has doubts as to Hitler's involvement with occultism, Levenda and Ravenscroft put it to rest by telling how deeply ingrained Hitler was with occult practices. Hitler was surrounded by Nazis who were involved in the occult. Germany had a rich tradition of mythological gods and occultism. With such a group as his, Hitler could not have been anything else but an occultist. This transferred over to the Nazi's leadership methods and describes their actions to a tea. Levenda notes:
The Nazis were not simply a political party. As has been mentioned before, they were a cult , and as such had every trapping of the typical cult, from a spiritual Master to a brotherhood of identically clad disciples, secret rituals performed in remote castles, and a sign - a totem - that summed up their ideology as effectively as the Cross and the Star. The swastika is the single, most obvious, even glaring piece of evidence to support this view, and yet calling the Nazi party nothing more than a cult on steroids has yet to become an accepted and legitimate point of view. (19)
Clearly, Hitler was not a Christian fundamentalist by any means. He actually was more of an atheist who became an occultist than a raving Christian. This charge (that Hitler was a fundamentalist) has even led Constance Cumbey, New Age researcher, to remark:
It is time we Christians stopped apologizing for our fundamentalism and orthodoxy. Fundamentalism was not the cause of Naziism - occultism was! And we have sat back idly while the occultists turned their debacle into a propaganda victory by stating that Hitler was an illustration of the dangers of fundamentalist orthodoxy. (20)
Upon researching this claim, I find the logic, or lack of logic, totally ridiculous. Atheists, unbelievers, and New Agers who espouse this belief haven't done their research and haven't checked their facts. This is probably why my atheistic opponent held such beliefs. He didn't research his sources but instead decided to believe what he wanted because he was deeply anti-Christian. Others are like that too. Why should they research this subject to find out of Hitler was actually a fundamentalist Christian instead of the atheist-influenced occultist I've found him to be? Again, it is clear they wish to discredit Christianity at all costs, even if it takes gross illogical arguments like the above. Pity.
Who is a Christian?
When we Christians expose the flaws in logic like that used above, atheists respond with "So you're using the 'but he wasn't a real Christian' argument again." I saw one atheist use that statement on a fellow debater of mine on one computer bulletin board. The test for a true Christian can be summarized thus:
So, I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self- control. (Galatians 5: 16-23 NIV)
Hitler stack up rather poorly against the standards that qualify one as benefitting from the fruit of the Spirit. Hitler did not pass the test as put down by Christ. Hitler was involved with the occult which is clearly a violation of the Mosaic code. Hitler only used Jesus and the Bible to further his own ends. He later persecuted the church instead of standing up for it. All this adds up to a man who did not believe seriously one shred of Christian fundamentalist doctrine, but used it to his own ends. He was selfish and envious, a point well made in his numerous conquests. He was not a fundamentalist by any slice of the imagination.
We have here the end of a poor argument, meant to discredit Christianity and ensure the world view of those who make it. The fundamentalism used to exterminate the Jews is so far removed from the love the Christ of the Bible portrays that even the great skeptic and science-fakery writer Martin Gardner had to write, "It would be difficult to find a greater blasphemy in the history of Christendom than the coupling of racial pseudo-science with the name of the Nazarene who taught a doctrine of universal lover and compassion." (21)
Notes:
1. FAQ is short for "frequently asked questions." It is a list of most frequently talked about topics on certain usenet forums which cover a wide range of topics.
2. Atheism vs. Christianity, video tape, (Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 1994)
3. Alt.atheism FAQ from the internet; The FAQ cites a quotation from Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, trans. Ralph Mannheim.
4. Vincent Carroll and David Shiflett, Christianity on Trial: Arguments Against Anti-Religious Bigotry, (San Francisco, Encounter Books, 2002), p. 113
5. Peter Levenda, Unholy Alliance, 1995, Avon Books: New York, NY, p. 203
6. Trevor Ravenscroft, The Spear of Destiny, (New York, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1973), p. 36
7. Alan Bullock, Hitler: A Study in Tyranny, (New York, HarperPerennial, 1973), p. 229-230
8. Gerald Fleming, Hitler and the Final Solution, (Los Angeles, University of California Press, 1984), p. 18
9. Joseph Carr, The Twisted Cross, (Lafayette, Huntington House, 1985), p. 38
10. Ravenscroft, p. 24
11. Ibid, p. 30-31
12. Ibid, p. 38
13. Lutzer, p. 28
14. Levenda, p. 44
15. William Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, (Greenwich:CN, Fawcett Publications), p. 133
16. Leonard Peikoff, The Ominous Parallels, (New York, Stein and Day, 1982), p. 28-29
17. Lutzer, p. 101-171
18. www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mhitlerchristian.html
19. Levenda, p. 133-134
20. Constance Cumbey, The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow, (Lafayette: LA, Huntington, 1983), p. 98
21. Martin Gardner, Fads & Fallacies In the Name of Science, (New York, Dover,1952, 1957), p. 163