The Old Testament, The Third Reich & the Church:

The Marcionism of the 20th & 21st Centuries

"The German Christian reads the Gospel in the Third Reich [realm]"

...Dismissing the Scriptures of the King of the Jews The Old Testament to the new Christian and often to the more mature Christian and the public at large, is an intimidating text. Written over a period of 3000+ years, by a variety of authors, it testifies to itself as the Word of God, through His Chosen, the Jews of Israel. It also sets the stage for the Christian, for the advent of the New Testament and the Messiah; for the Jew, it sets the stage for the expectation of the Messiah and the Covenant of Israel. Over 600 prophecies are contained in the Old Testament, or Tenach 1 regarding the Messiah, his life, coming and characteristics. Further, whole bodies of literature are given to "Types and Shadows" of events and the Messiah in the New Testament, and as a whole, the Roman Catholic Church, the Evangelical Church, and other Protestantism have historically recognized the vast importance and significance of the Scriptures taken as a whole body, Old and New, and even scripture admonishes that not one Word should be cut out without dire consequences.2 The Heresy of Marcion While many early Church Fathers such as St. Cyprian and Hilary of Poifers had the unfortunate distinction of promoting doctrinal anti-semitism, Marcion bears the distinction of founding a position, later deemed heretical in which any adherence to the Old Testament is seen as unnecessary or even dangerous to Christian Doctrine. Marcionism, a heresy recognized for centuries by most Churches from the Roman Church to Evangelical Churches, demands a dismissal of the Old Testament in light of the replacing Covenant and text, the New Testament and even more remarkable, Marcion argued that the Jews had a separate God, a God of Wrath while Christians had a God of benevolence. Variations on the position historically can range the view that most Old Testament Doctrine and teaching does not apply to the Christian, to extreme Marcionism in which the Old Testament is seen as unnecessary and even dangerous,having been done away with by the advent of the Gospel. While not going by the name "Marcionism" in public Church circles, this insidious doctrine finds it's way unpronounced in many modern American Churches, and the principles of extreme Marcionism strongly characterized the calls for reform in the German Christian Church by the Nazis in the 1930s and 1940s. Jots and Tittles: Does the Law Disappear? To understand both why Marcionism is a heresy and why its re-introduction by the National Socialists was catalytic in the events and nature of the Church in WWII, one must first understand what the Scriptures themselves teach about this position. Neither the Old nor the New Testament ever teach the dissolution of the Law or Covenants in the Old Testament. Jesus himself makes the following statement regarding the Law or Commandments of the First Covenants: Mat 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. and in the Old Testament, the eternal nature of the Word and Commandments is mentioned in numerous passages including: Psa 119:160 Thy word [is] true [from] the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments [endureth] for ever. (and all of Psalm 119). While a lengthy treatise on the Law vs Grace, or the New Covenant vs the Old Covenant is not the main focus here, it is clear in countless passages, that the the Old Testament is NOT done away with in the New Testament, in deed, Jesus says that He has come not to do away with the Law, but "to fulfill it"3. Discussions of the relationship between the Old and New Testament are problematic in the Church, and often misunderstood in the general public and among those of other faiths. The discussion is critical though. The traditionally held belief in the Church is that the covenants and promises of the Old Testament, point to the Coming New Testament: the Messiah of God, promised from Genesis 3:16 is found replete in the Old Testament in shadow and type in every book, there are prophecies of His nature, His coming, and His Timing and Purpose: He is seen in the progressive revelations of the glory of God, and the Abrahamic Covenant, and this position has been held by the Roman Church, most Protestant Churches and the Evangelical/Fundamental Churches as well throughout history. Marcion and Goebbels Marcion, when rejected early was rejected because of his exclusion of hundreds of passages of scripture and his misinterpretation of scriptures to express the Old Testament influence as "done away with" and not only 'not essential' but even dangerous to Christian practice and belief. Marcionism was the original 'replacement' theology, in which the Jews were not just displaced, but replaced and was accompanied by an unbridled distaste for the Jews. Goebbels in the years before the war picked up on this as a constant theme: while he did not specifically refer to 'Marcionism', he 'preached' constantly to the Church that for the Christian in the Third Reich, which was presented at first as a national period of Law, Order, and rebirth of the Germany people and destiny, the Old Testament influence on German Christianity must be done away with also. He reasoned in impassioned pleas to abandon Old Testament views, mores, and concepts in favor of a "New Testament Only" position. (There are still churches with this belief both implicit an explicit). The reason for the appeal of this belief sometimes even in the Christian community, is a misreading of the Gospel not as a fulfillment of the Covenants of Scripture only but as outright replacement. In this distorted view, the Gospel becomes singular, not needing the Old Testament for practice or interpretation. Essentially, the effect of the Old Testament and Covenant became for the Jews alone, and therefore unessential for the Christian. More than that, to Goebbels, Hitler, Himmler and others, including certain Theologians of the time, the Old Testament was also seen as inferior as the Jews were seen as an inferior and 'past' race. Coupled with the reinterpretations of the meaning and 'metaphor' of the Gospel in Nazi Churches wherein Jesus became a prototype "Superman" misunderstood as being Jewish, and Paul became a self-obsessed Jew with an inferiority complex, the Gospel, divorced of its Jewish roots, became a redefined vehicle for oncoming Nazi ideology. The Effects of Gutting the Gospel While the Roman Catholic Church historically has been no great friend of the Jew, and its record in the holocaust remains questioned, it has been unchanging in its denouncement of 'marcionism' in all forms: it has retained firmly the necessity of the Gospel remaining in context of its Jewish heritage in the Old Testament. Both the Catholic, Protestant and Evangelical traditionally held position is that the Old Testament and New Testament are parts of a whole: that Messiah is prophesied, shadowed, and expounded in the Old and fulfilled in the New. Jesus states with utter clarity that not one 'jot or tittle' of the Law [Hebrew: torah} will pass away till all things be fulfilled. The Gospel would make little sense in some passages divorced from its history. The adage of the Old in the New and the New in the Old holds true. While Marcion declared centuries ago that it was not necessary and in fact detrimental to engage the Old Testament in Christian belief, that position has always led to heresy, anti-semitism and a disturbing distortion in doctrine. Among the distortions that accompany this position are: A complete replacement of the Church for the Nation of Israel, not only a slumbering or suspension A lessening or erasure of the role or part of the Jew in God's sovereign plan A disparaging of the Jew, or blatant anti-semitism, usually holding the Jews in blood-guiltiness A view of the Old Testament as being unimportant, past, or even 'degenerate'. Some dispensational positions which hold this point of view (not most dispensationalists do), see the Old Testament as irrelevant and for a different time. Modern marcionism or marcion-like heresies are often accompanied by a warning that spending too much time in the Old Testament can even be dangerous to living by faith, a sincerely held fallacy. Modern marcionistic doctrines often include an 'aryanization' of the Gospel (not always); with a less than Jewish Christ and in the case of the Nazis, (and unfortunately some more modern liberal doctrinal positions) or with Paul seen in a negative light as an Old Testament Jew distorting the doctrines of Christ. While not specifically Marcionism, Goebbels and others from the Third Reich also redefined Christ as a prototype of the 'Superman' of the Master Race, and re-interpreted many passages to indicate a support for a veiled Social darwinism. The dismissing of the importance of the Old Testament to the Christian is a vital error but oddly may be seen even in Modern American theology at opposite ends: Save for the occasional reading of Psalms or short passages, many liberal World-Church oriented denominations implicitly dismiss its importance focusing on calendar-oriented liturgy and set forms of worship based entirely on the Life of Christ, and often seeing salvation as by baptism instead of belief and as being irrelevant for other religions including the Jews. Liberal Mainline Denominations have become more of a 'neo-christianity' not adhering to age old precepts and doctrines but reinterpreting them in philosophical light into a continuation of a benevolent, social gospel, focused on good deeds and not an atonement for sin. Conversely, many white aryan religious groups either reinterpret or dismiss the Old Testament, the rationale of which is obvious and follows the arguments of Hitler, Goebbels, Kittl and others. Most surprisingly though, is a move in the american Evangelical Church in which some churches even advertise themselves as a "New Testament" Church and incorporate aspects of Marcionism in their doctrine. These churches are a little more difficult to deal with because they do not align themselves with the Nazis or anti-Semitism, and may even see themselves as very pro-Israel or pro-Jewish, but dismiss the importance and influence of the Old Testament except historically, but the process of divorce from the Old Testament has the same doctrinal base. In some ways, this manifestation can be even more dangerous because it contains the dangerous doctrinal strain of the heresy without any overt prejudice. Doctrinally, the reason diverse groups such as the Catholic Church, Baptists, Evangelicals and Pentecostals have all held this position in error firmly, noting that our faith is not the same without both Covenants. The Old Testament points continuously towards a coming Messiah, the New towards the fulfillment. There is more though, in that the Old Testament points to an eternal Covenant, which will come about as Emanuel, God-With-Us, becomes internalized, and the promises of the indwelling glory of God in an eternal covenant, life and temple are formed, as in the prophesies and visions of Zechariah. There is no difference doctrinally in the Old and New Testament: Salvation is of the Jews in both, Salvation is by blood, in covenant in both. Righteousness is a gift from God and given by God in both: the Psalms constantly refer to God giving Righteousness, not to its being earned. Descriptions of the Creation and Day of Jacob's Trouble are utterly consistent as are passages regarding the Bride, Bridegroom, Armaggedon, the Millenial Reign, and promises to Israel. Likewise the view of Law and Grace and the character and nature of God, his Glory and his divine creation and spiritual warfare are the same throughout. Differences are pivotal between the Jew and Christian almost solely on the identity of the Messiah, and works-salvation, although in the most pristine view, works-salvation is not really the teaching of Torah.

The Tenach & the 3rd Reich The Old Testament or Tenach: 40 Books, Genesis to Malachi, spanning about 3000 years from the Creation to the time of the Prophets. First 5 Books: Pentateuch, Called H' Torah, or the Law Hebrew Name: Tenach New Testament Passages About the Old Testament Mat 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. Mat 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Mat 7:12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. Mat 11:13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. Mat 11:13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. Mat 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier [matters] of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Mat 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Luk 10:26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? Luk 16:16 The law and the prophets [were] until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it. Luke 16:17 And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail. Luke 24:44 And he said unto them, These [are] the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and [in] the prophets, and [in] the psalms, concerning me. ------- John 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, [but] grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Jhn 7:19 Did not Moses give you the law, and [yet] none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me? Jhn 7:23 If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day? Jhn 7:49 But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed. Jhn 12:34 The people answered him, We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth for ever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man? Jhn 15:25 But [this cometh to pass], that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause. Jhn 18:31 Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death: John 19:7 The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. Act 7:53 Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept [it]. Act 21:20 And when they heard [it], they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law: Act 22:3 I am verily a man [which am] a Jew, born in Tarsus, [a city] in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, [and] taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day. Act 23:3 Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee, [thou] whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law? Act 24:14 But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets: Act 25:8 While he answered for himself, Neither against the law of the Jews, neither against the temple, nor yet against Caesar, have I offended any thing at all. Rom 2:12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; The Book of Romans deals intricately with the view of the Law and Grace and the Jews. Since the entire 13 chapters deal with intricate issues of the Law and Grace, only a few representative passages are presented.