Positive Christianity

Positive Christianity is a slogan of the Nazi propaganda with which the Nazi Party in its party program , combative opposite of 1920 their own belief as a Christian denominational unbound, the "Jewish-materialistic" spirit and the principle of the nationalist-racist understood public-interest oriented spending.

The concept of "positive Christianity" was in the religious philosophy of the Enlightenment in terms of "positive religion" (religio posita or positiva) as analogy to the concept of law positives the character of Christianity as revealed religion and institutionalized religion as opposed to natural religion and religion of reason described . Christian theologians sometimes referred to this traditional understanding of the term, which was followed by the positive ecclesiastical direction in the imperial era , when they emphasized that “positive” was only “in accordance with scriptures”, not just one, but also in the critical discussion of National Socialism political party according to, could mean.

The Nazi ideology, however, did not tie in with this tradition of terms, but instead contrasted “positive” and “negative” Christianity ( Alfred Rosenberg ), which means that those commensurate with one's own ideology or that it has passed off as Christian, e. In some cases the neo-pagan content on the one hand and the elements rejected as Jewish or ecclesiastical-denominational depraved on the other should be conceptually separated.

The self-portrayal as “positive Christianity” was combined in the 25-point program with the demand for “freedom of all religious beliefs in the state”, although this was subject to a significant restriction “insofar as it does not exist in the state” (ie that of the Nazi state ) "Endanger or offend against the morality and morality of the Germanic race". In contrast to the Marxist and social democratic parties, but also from the public perception of their own anti-Christian and anti-church tendencies, the NSDAP tried to give itself the appearance of a party that was critically open to Christianity and the churches, and also to the large number of them Had to offer a home that was alienated from the churches but still felt connected to Christian values.

In his public appeal for the seizure of power on January 31, 1933, Hitler affirmed: You (the Reich Government) will take Christianity as the basis of our entire morality, the family as the nucleus of our national and state body under their firm protection.

See also

• German Christians

literature

• Claus-Ekkehard Bärsch : The political religion of National Socialism: the religious dimensions of the Nazi ideology in the writings of Dietrich Eckart, Joseph Goebbels, Alfred Rosenberg and Adolf Hitler. 2., completely revised Ed., Fink, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-7705-3172-8 .
• Michael Ley, Julius H. Schoeps : National Socialism as a political religion. Philo, Bodenheim 1997 (= studies on intellectual history; 20), ISBN 3-8257-0032-1 .
• Friedrich Zipfel : Church struggle in Germany 1933–1945: Religious persecution and self-assertion of the churches in the National Socialist era. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 1965 (= publications of the Historical Commission in Berlin at the Friedrich Meinecke Institute of the Free University of Berlin, 11), ISBN 3-11-000459-3 .

Remarks

1. ↑ ^{a b} party program of the NSDAP of February 24, 1920, point 24: “We demand the freedom of all religious beliefs in the state, provided that they do not endanger its existence or offend against the morality of the Germanic race. The party as such takes the standpoint of positive Christianity without being confessionally bound to a particular creed. It combats the Jewish-materialistic spirit inside and outside of us and is convinced that a lasting recovery of our people can only take place from within on the basis: common good before self-interest. "Quoted from Friedrich Zipfel: Kirchenkampf in Deutschland , 1965, p. 1 .
2. ↑ See Heinrich Vogel: Wort Gotts oder Mythus , report from March 4, 1935. In: Wilhelm Niemöller (Hrsg.): Die Preußensynode zu Dahlem. The second Confessional Synod of the Evangelical Church of the Old Prussian Union: History - Documents - Reports. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1975 (= work on the history of the church struggle; 29), ISBN 3-525-55532-6 , p. 68 ff., Here p. 76.
3. ↑ On the relationship between “positive Christianity” and “neo-paganism” see Hans-Jürgen Becker : Neuheidentum und Rechtsgeschichte , in: Joachim Rückert , Dietmar Willoweit (ed.): The German legal history in the Nazi era: its prehistory and its aftermath. Mohr (Siebeck), Tübingen 1995 (= contributions to the legal history of the 20th century; 12), ISBN 3-16-146444-3 , pp. 7-29.
4. ↑ One of the central concerns of Ludwig Müller in his book What is positive Christianity? (1938); see. Thomas Martin Schneider: Reichsbischof Ludwig Müller: an investigation into life, work and personality , Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1993 (= works on contemporary church history, series B, 19), ISBN 3-525-55719-1 , pp. 274 ff.
5. ↑  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )