Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-25wd4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T08:40:16.464Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

American Protestant Journals and the Nazi Religious Assault*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2009

Frederick K. Wentz
Frederick K. Wentz
Affiliation:
Lutheran Southern Seminary, Columbia, S. C
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

American Protestantism has been unique in its relationship to state and society, and in its ideas on the matter. Yet these ideas have now been challenged, right down to their presuppositions, by the emergence in recent decades of powerful anti-Christian social movements in western civilization. One of these challengers, Nazism, made a significant impact upon American thought in the transition period of the mid-thirties, for it was regarded as a great religious upsurge of an unbaptized nationalism in the heartland of traditional Christendom. Thus in their reaction to Hitler's movement religious spokesmen revealed the basic social attitudes of their groups and provided answers to the question: “How did American Protestants of twenty years ago conceive the role of Christianity in contemporary society?”

Type
Research Article
Information
Church History , Volume 23 , Issue 4 , December 1954 , pp. 321 - 338
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Church History 1954

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. In this article “prophetic religion” refers to the viewpoint of these left-wing thinkers.

2. Cf., for example, The World Tomorrow, 04 5, 1933, p. 330Google Scholar; The Christian Century, 02. 15, 1933, p. 213Google Scholar; March 29, 1933, pp. 418–20; April 5, 1933, p. 453; March 26, 1933, p. 551; May 3, 1933, pp. 589–90; May 24, 1933, pp. 683–85; June 28, 1933, pp. 844–45.

3. The Christian Century, 09. 18, 1935, p. 1163.Google Scholar

4. The Christian Century, 06 6, 1934, pp. 757–59.Google Scholar

5. Cf., for example, The World Tomorrow, 11. 23, 1933, p. 629Google Scholar; The Christian Register, 01. 16, 1936, p. 34Google Scholar; November. 19, 1936, p. 694; The Christian Century, Oct. 25, 1933, p. 1326; Dec. 13, 1933, p. 1566; Jan. 8, 1936, p. 37.

6. Cf., for example, The Christian Century, 12. 6, 1933, pp. 1523–24Google Scholar; Dec. 13, 1933, pp. 1566–68.

7. Cf., for example, The World Tomorrow, 04 12, 1934, p. 170;Google Scholar July 26, 1934, pp. 378–79; The Christian Register, 03 8, 1934, p. 158Google Scholar; Christendom, Winter 1935–1936, pp. 474–75Google Scholar; Summer 1937, p. 488; Religion In Life, Spring 1934, p. 169Google Scholar; The Christian Century, 12. 13, 1933, pp. 1566–68.Google Scholar

8. Cf., for example, The World Tomorrow, 12. 21, 1933, p. 679Google Scholar; Jan. 4, 1934, p. 22.

9. The World Tomorrow, 12. 21, 1933, p. 679.Google Scholar

10. The World Tomorrow,04 26, 1934, p. 196.Google Scholar

11. The Christian Register, 03 8, 1934, p. 158Google Scholar; July 5, 1934, p. 446.

12. Cf., for example, Radical Religion, Autumn 1936, p. 17; Summer 1937, p. 12Google Scholar; The Christian Register, 09. 21, 1933, p. 610Google Scholar; Aug. 5, 1937, P. 464; Religion In Life, Winter 1937, p. 118Google Scholar; The Christian Century, 06 6, 1934, pp. 757–59.Google Scholar

13. Cf., for example, Christendom, Winter 1936, pp. 474–75.Google Scholar

14. These ideas are set forth, for example, in Radical Religion, Winter, 1936, pp. 5 and 7Google Scholar; The Christian Century, 08. 26, 1936, p. 1129Google Scholar; Nov. 4, 1936, p. 1452.

15. Radical Religion, Winter 1936, p. 7.Google Scholar

16. Cf., for example, reference to “reversion of universal Christianity to bald tribalism” in The Christian Century, 12. 13, 1933, p. 1567.Google Scholar

17. Religion In Life, Spring 1934, pp. 163–173.Google Scholar

18. Religion In Life, Spring 1934, p. 170.Google Scholar

19. The Christian Century, 11. 4, 1936, p. 1452.Google Scholar

20. Religion In Life, Autumn 1935, p. 558.Google Scholar

21. Religion In Life, Spring 1934, p. 166.Google Scholar

22. The Christian Century, 10. 6, 1937, p. 1240, quoting from a speech.Google Scholar

23. Christendom, summer 1937, p. 488.Google Scholar

24. The Christian Register, 09 21, 1933, p. 610Google Scholar; August 5, 1937, p. 464.

25. Cf. Religion In Life, Autumn 1933, p. 545Google Scholar; cf. also The Christian Register, 11. 8, 1934, p. 675.Google Scholar

26. Cf. for example, Christendom, Spring 1936, pp. 515–24Google Scholar; Religion In Life, Winter 1937, pp. 112–24.Google Scholar

27. This was most clearly stated by Pauck and Niebuhr in Radical Religion and by Homrighausen in The Christian Century, cf. Radical Religion Summer 1937, p. 12Google Scholar; Autumn 1937, P. 18; The Christian Century, 09. 19, 1934, p. 1186Google Scholar; Feb. 6, 1935; pp. 174–6.

28. The Christian Century, 05. 26, 1937, p. 675.Google Scholar

29. The Christian Century, 09. 1, 1937, p. 1068.Google Scholar

30. The Christian Century, 12. 13, 1933, p. 1568Google Scholar; Feb. 7, 1934, p. 175; Feb. 14, 1934, p. 214.

31. Cf. for example, The Christian Century, 02. 14, 1934, pp. 214–15Google Scholar; Aug. 12, 1936, p. 1079.

32. Radical Religion, Summer 1937, p. 16Google Scholar. It was much the same idea which lay behind the founding of Christendom, cf. Christendom, Autumn 1935, p. 13.Google Scholar

33. The Christian Century, 12. 13, 1933, p. 1568Google Scholar; Feb. 7, 1934, pp. 174–6; Feb. 14, 1934, p. 215.

34. The Christian Century, 05. 26, 1937, p. 674.Google Scholar

35. The Christian Century, 09. 19, 1934, p. 1186.Google Scholar

36. Cf. for example, The Christian Century, 12. 13, 1933, p. 1568Google Scholar; April 14, 1937, p. 478.

37. Cf. for example, The Christian Centnry, 02. 7, 1934, p. 175–6Google Scholar; Feb. 14, 1934, p. 215; May 26, 1937, p. 675; Sep. 1, 1937, p. 1068.

38. Cf. for example, The Christian Century, 12. 13, 1933, p. 1567Google Scholar; May 26, 1937, p. 675; Oct. 20, 1937, pp. 1288–9.

39. The Sunday School Times, 04 20, 1935, p. 276.Google Scholar

40. The Sunday School Times, 06 5, 1937, p. 415Google Scholar; Dec. 25, 1937, p. 926.

41. The Sunday School Times, 01. 16, 1937, p. 38.Google Scholar

42. The Moody Monthly, 06 1935, p. 457.Google Scholar

43. The Sunday School Times, 06 9, 1934, p. 381.Google Scholar

44. The Sunday School Times, 06 19, 1937, p. 444.Google Scholar

45. Christian Faith and Life, 04 1934, p. 152Google Scholar; for term “super-intellectualism” cf. Christian Faith and Life, 04 1934, p. 101.Google Scholar

46. Christian Faith and Life, 04 1933, p. 161–3.Google Scholar

47. Christian Faith and Life, 10. 1935, p. 244–6Google Scholar; The Moody Monthly, 12. 1936, p. 173.Google Scholar

48. Cf. for example, The Sunday School Times, 03 11, 1933, p. 172Google Scholar; Dec. 9, 1933, p. 778; June 9, 1934, p. 381.

49. Cf. for example, The Moody Monthly, 11. 1935, P. 121Google Scholar; The Sunday School Times, 01. 13, 1934, P. 20Google Scholar; The Moody Monthly, 01. 1934, p. 208.Google Scholar

50. The Sunday School Times, 12. 9, 1933, p. 778Google Scholar; Christian Faith and Life, 04 1934, p. 103.Google Scholar

51. The Sunday School Times, 06 19, 1937, p. 444.Google Scholar

52. An exception to these two sentences was The Lutheran which was more optimistic about fellow Lutherans in Germany and less surprised when the resistance movement broke into the news.

53. Friends Intelligencer, 01. 5, 1935, p. 4.Google Scholar

54. The Christian Advocate, 11. 8, 1934, p. 899.Google Scholar

55. Cf. for example, The Churchman, 09. 1, 1936, p. 9Google Scholar; The Christian Advocate, 11. 8, 1934, p. 899.Google Scholar

56. The Lutheran, while espousing separation in U.S. and debating its value for Europe, generally defended the statechurch position for Germany, cf. The Lutheran, 11. 19, 1936, p. 13.Google Scholar

57. The Christian Century, 10. 31, 1934, p. 1367Google Scholar; March 3, 1937; p. 271; May 26, 1937, pp. 675–6 (article by Cavert); especially Oct. 20, 1937, pp. 1288–9.

58. The Churchman, 09. 15, 1935, p. 11.Google Scholar

59. Cf. for example, The Christian Advocate, 10. 28, 1937, p. 978.Google Scholar

60. The Watchman-Examiner, 01 25, 1934, p. 83.Google Scholar

61. The Watchman-Examiner, 01. 18, 1934, p. 59Google Scholar; Sep. 10, 1936, p. 1021; Sep. 2, 1937, p. 978; June 17, 1937, p. 707.

62. The Christian Advocate, 08. 26, 1937, p. 763.Google Scholar

63. The Watchman-Examiner, 07 15, 1937, p. 815.Google Scholar

64. The Watchman-Examiner, 03 21, 1935, p. 303.Google Scholar

65. The Watchman-Examiner, 01. 25, 1934, p. 83.Google Scholar

66. The Watchman-Examiner, 05 31, 1934, p. 632.Google Scholar

67. The Watchman-Examiner, 07 15, 1937, p. 815.Google Scholar

68. The Watchman-Examiner, 07 15, 1937, p. 816.Google Scholar

69. The Watchman-Examiner, 03 29, 1934, p. 329Google Scholar; June 13, 1935, p. 699.

70. Cf. for example, references to The Christian Century and Friends Intelligencer below.

71. Christian Faith and Life, 04 1934, p. 103Google Scholar; The Sunday School Times, 12. 9, 1933, p. 778.Google Scholar

72. The Sunday School Times, 12. 1, 1934, p. 781.Google Scholar

73. The Sunday School Times, 02. 15, 1936, p. 101.Google Scholar

74. The Sunday School Times, 01. 18, 1936, p. 37.Google Scholar

75. The Sunday School Times, 09. 12, 1936, p. 597.Google Scholar

76. The Sunday School Times, 01. 13, 1934, p. 20.Google Scholar

77. Cf. for example, The Christian Register, 11. 26, 1936, p. 726.Google ScholarThe Christian Century, 12. 8, 1937, p. 1524.Google Scholar

78. Cf. for example, The Christian Register, 09. 17, 1936, p. 551Google Scholar; The Christian Century, 03 13, 1935, pp. 328–9.Google Scholar

79. The Christian Century, 10. 23, 1935, p. 1333Google Scholar; Oct. 9, 1935, p. 1270.

80. The Lutheran, 09. 15, 1937, p. 11.Google Scholar

81. Friends Intelligencer, 12. 28, 1935, p. 822.Google Scholar

82. National Baptist Voice, 12. 16, 1933, p. 3.Google Scholar

83. The Christian Herald, 05 1935, p. 26.Google Scholar

84. The Christian Advocate, 10. 5, 1933, p. 939.Google Scholar

85. The Christian Advocate, 11. 23, 1933, p. 1108.Google Scholar

86. The Christian Advocate, 03 14, 1935, p. 235.Google Scholar

87. Cf. for example, The Christian Advocate, 04 19, 1934, p. 364Google Scholar; July 4, 1935, p. 619.

88. Radical Religion, Winter 1936, p. 7Google Scholar; Spring 1936, p. 6.

90. Cf. for example, Radical Religion, Spring 1936, p. 6Google Scholar; The Christian Century, 05 26, 1937, p. 675Google Scholar; The Christian Century, 08. 4, 1937, P. 967Google Scholar; The Christian Advocate, 05 9, 1935, p. 428Google Scholar; National Baptist Voice, 06 12, 1937, pp. 3 and 5Google Scholar; for The Watchman- Examiner's idea of the evil compromise involved in a state church and for the millennial journals' criticism of modernistic compromises, cf. above.

91. Cf. for example, The Christian Register, 03 8, 1934, p. 158Google Scholar; July 5, 1934, p. 446; The Christian Century, 03 3, 1937, p. 272Google Scholar; Aug. 4, 1937, p. 967; Religion In Life, Autumn 1933, P. 541Google Scholar; The Churchman, 07 15, 1934, P. 9Google Scholar; April 1, 1937, p. 7; Friends lntelligencer, 01. 20, 1934, p. 37Google Scholar; The Christian Herald, 01. 1934, p. 27Google Scholar; Oct. 1936, p. 43; The Lutheran, 07 16, 1936, p. 21Google Scholar, quoting Barth; April 14, 1937, p. 5; The Watchman-Examiner, 07 25, 1935; p. 853Google Scholar; quoting Brunner; The Sunday School Times, 05 16, 1936, p. 351.Google Scholar

92. The Christian Century, 05 26, 1937, p. 675.Google Scholar