Summary Of The Harry Vaughan Smith Lectures By Dr. Marsh
In the second lecture of the Harry Vaughan Smith Lectures, Dr. Marsh followed the life of a German pastor named Dietrich Bonhoeffer during Nazi Germany. Bonhoeffer was an anti-Nazi dissident who protested against Nazi Germany and was later executed for being associated with the plot to kill Hitler. In the hopes of understanding how religion can go wrong, Dr. Marsh set out to answer the question of how can the Christian faith, one that is loving and reconciling, be used to fuel hatred.
After World War I, the German Christians began looking at Christianity from a different perspective. Germany had lost the war and people were looking for a way to relieve them of the humiliation that they felt. The German Christians were wanting to use the story
of sin and salvation to better suit Germany’s people. The German Christians claimed that God had turned away from his chosen people, the Israelites, and had now chosen the German people. They did not like the idea that Jesus was a Jew who suffered and died. They wanted Jesus to be manlier and they convinced themselves that he was not a Jew. They want a Fuehrer, someone who could promise them the salvation that they were seeking. Hitler was able to promise this salvation or new birth for the German People.
The German’s view on Christianity can be compared to some of the events that occurred in the history of Christianity. The German people’s new birth under Hitler can be compared to Jesus saving people from their sins and God‘s choosing of his people. In Christianity, God sends Jesus to save all humans from their sins and unlike in the Old Testament, everyone that accepts and follows Christ are a part of God’s people. The Germans recasts this story and substitute Jesus and God’s people for Hitler and the German people.
Another part in the history of Christianity that coincides with Germany’s ideas of Christianity is during the fourth century when Christianity was made the official religion of the Roman Empire and changed from a religion that was persecuted to a persecuting religion. Ambrose, the bishop in Milan, had Theodosius I submit to him because he was guilty of the massacre of thousands of people. Theodosius’ submission leads to the Church of the West having more governmental control and influence over the Emperor. In Germany, Hitler had dissolved religion into politics, similar to the West. The Germans had rooted religion and church identity into ethnicity and began to prosecute people under the creation of laws that prohibited certain ethnicity groups from holding positions in the church and in politics.
Dr. Marsh’s lecture relates to the history of Christianity in many ways. The idea of a Fuehrer can go alongside the idea of Jesus coming and reliving his followers of their sins and granting them a new birth. In Germany’s story, God has chosen the Germans and his chosen people compared to in Christianity, when he chose everyone. German persecution under religion is also similar to when Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire and had changed from a religion that was persecuted to a religion that persecutes intermingles with politics.
After World War I, the German Christians began looking at Christianity from a different perspective. Germany had lost the war and people were looking for a way to relieve them of the humiliation that they felt. The German Christians were wanting to use the story
of sin and salvation to better suit Germany’s people. The German Christians claimed that God had turned away from his chosen people, the Israelites, and had now chosen the German people. They did not like the idea that Jesus was a Jew who suffered and died. They wanted Jesus to be manlier and they convinced themselves that he was not a Jew. They want a Fuehrer, someone who could promise them the salvation that they were seeking. Hitler was able to promise this salvation or new birth for the German People.
The German’s view on Christianity can be compared to some of the events that occurred in the history of Christianity. The German people’s new birth under Hitler can be compared to Jesus saving people from their sins and God‘s choosing of his people. In Christianity, God sends Jesus to save all humans from their sins and unlike in the Old Testament, everyone that accepts and follows Christ are a part of God’s people. The Germans recasts this story and substitute Jesus and God’s people for Hitler and the German people.
Another part in the history of Christianity that coincides with Germany’s ideas of Christianity is during the fourth century when Christianity was made the official religion of the Roman Empire and changed from a religion that was persecuted to a persecuting religion. Ambrose, the bishop in Milan, had Theodosius I submit to him because he was guilty of the massacre of thousands of people. Theodosius’ submission leads to the Church of the West having more governmental control and influence over the Emperor. In Germany, Hitler had dissolved religion into politics, similar to the West. The Germans had rooted religion and church identity into ethnicity and began to prosecute people under the creation of laws that prohibited certain ethnicity groups from holding positions in the church and in politics.
Dr. Marsh’s lecture relates to the history of Christianity in many ways. The idea of a Fuehrer can go alongside the idea of Jesus coming and reliving his followers of their sins and granting them a new birth. In Germany’s story, God has chosen the Germans and his chosen people compared to in Christianity, when he chose everyone. German persecution under religion is also similar to when Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire and had changed from a religion that was persecuted to a religion that persecutes intermingles with politics.