cjh@petsd.UUCP (Chris Henrich) (11/28/84)
[] > ... > I respect and admire the personal courage of the leaders of the > Confessing Church in Germany ( yes..I knew the history) but it > remains to be argued that Barth and Bultmann and other Higher > Critics who had been expounding their lower view of Scripture > helped contribute to the very problem they valiantly sought > to fight against with the Confessing Church. > > The bottom line is that Higher Critical Theology > had 80 years to permeate the German Church. I argue that > Biblical ignorance and a low view of Scripture contributed to > the problem of the Hitlerian Era. > ... > Bob Brown {...ihnp4!akgua!rjb} The assertion needs some work to prove it. I am not a partisan of "higher criticism," but I think that blaming it (even a little bit) for the rise of Hitler sounds like overkill. I have seen many rational discussions turn into flame-throwing contests when somebody just barely mentioned Hitler and Nazism. As I understand it, the steps in the argument are these: (1) Higher Critics, and their followers, attained many positions and much influence in Protestant Churches in Germany. (2) Their ideas weakened the faith of German Christians. (3) Concomitantly, the influence of Christian values on public affairs in Germany was weakened. (4) As a result, some Christians in Germany were tempted into joining an authoritarian pseudo-religion. (5) Other Christians were unable to oppose that movement effectively, because of the weakness of their faith. Well, it looks plausible. But not conclusive. The first step is a particular statement about the careers of a well-defined set of persons; the material is presumably well documented. The others combine large, hard-to-prove statements about Christianity in Germany in the relevant period with assertions of historical cause and effect. For instance, to solidify step 2, I think one would have to show, e.g., that the quality or intensity of Christian faith declined in Germany from , say, 1850 to 1930. Then one would have to undertake a comparative study of other Christian communities to show a correlation between the introduction of hi-crit ideas and the loss of faith. And so on. It looks like a massive undertaking. Very many unsettling things happened in the period from 1900 to 1940. There was the First World War, and the resulting political upheavals. "Modern" art was born in that period: the earliest abstract paintings were done about 1913. Modern architecture and literature started in that period. Mathematics and logic were revolutionized. The unsettled feeling of living through these changes, as well as many of the individual changes, have often been blamed for the rise of Hitler and other ills of our time. After one has heard enough such arguments, they all seem unsound. To misapply a quotation from B. Russell, these arguments cannot all be right; they can all be wrong. Well, some of them _may_ be right; how are we to decide? Regards, Chris -- Full-Name: Christopher J. Henrich UUCP: ..!(cornell | ariel | ukc | houxz)!vax135!petsd!cjh US Mail: MS 313; Perkin-Elmer; 106 Apple St; Tinton Falls, NJ 07724 Phone: (201) 870-5853
lab@qubix.UUCP (Q-Bick) (11/28/84)
> The first step is a particular statement about the > careers of a well-defined set of persons; the material is > presumably well documented. The others combine large, > hard-to-prove statements about Christianity in Germany in the > relevant period with assertions of historical cause and effect. > For instance, to solidify step 2, I think one would have to show, > e.g., that the quality or intensity of Christian faith declined > in Germany from , say, 1850 to 1930. Then one would have to > undertake a comparative study of other Christian communities to show a > correlation between the introduction of hi-crit ideas and the > loss of faith. And so on. It looks like a massive undertaking. Such a massive undertaking was the work of Wilbur Smith in _Therefore Stand_. In his section on "Attacks Against Christianity," Smith discusses the rise of Hitler and the German Faith. Of particular note is that TS was written *during World War II*. Smith also provides several excellent references for further study of Christians vs. Nazism. Also to note that the Friends of Israel ministry started in 1938, as a direct result of Hitler's persecution. Larry Bickford, {amd,sun,decwrl,idi,ittvax,cbosgd}!qubix!lab -- The Ice Floe of Larry Bickford {amd,decwrl,sun,idi,ittvax}!qubix!lab You can't settle the issue until you've settled how to settle the issue.