The Sermon on the Mount and Christian Ethics in the Nazi Bible

In 1939, scholars associated with the pro-Nazi Thüringian German Christian movement founded a research institute dedicated to the task of removing the legacy of Judaism from Christianity. The mission of the Institute for the Study and Elimination of Jewish Influence on German Church Life was to rend...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Buesnel, Ryan (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Sage 2022
In: Studies in Christian ethics
Year: 2022, Volume: 35, Issue: 3, Pages: 457-470
IxTheo Classification:BH Judaism
CC Christianity and Non-Christian religion; Inter-religious relations
HC New Testament
KAJ Church history 1914-; recent history
KBB German language area
Further subjects:B National Socialism
B German theology
B Sermon on the Mount
B Antisemitism
B New Testament
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:In 1939, scholars associated with the pro-Nazi Thüringian German Christian movement founded a research institute dedicated to the task of removing the legacy of Judaism from Christianity. The mission of the Institute for the Study and Elimination of Jewish Influence on German Church Life was to render Christianity acceptable within the antisemitic and militarized climate of National Socialism. This task required purging Christian theology of Jewish influence, a feature evident in the Institute's version of the New Testament titled The Message of God. This publication aimed to transform the religious experience of ordinary German believers and would eventually sell over 200,000 copies. This article examines material in this text as it relates to the Sermon on the Mount and concludes that, despite the apparent incongruity between Nazi ideology and New Testament ethics, the editors of the so-called ‘Nazi Bible’ believed their task to be guided by Christian ethical principles.
ISSN:0953-9468
Contains:Enthalten in: Studies in Christian ethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/09539468211051172