The Nazis and the Book of Romans-II

Why the Book of Romans Troubled the Third Reich

The Rabbi Paul Teaches That God Hath Not Cast Away Those He Foreknew There is such a thing in Christian doctrine that is referred to as 'The Mystery of the Jews'. Now, I have noted over the years that a few are mysterious indeed, but this 'Mystery' is a metaphysical truth or doctrine regarding the Jews in Scripture, including who they are, their Chosen or sanctified status before God, their role in history and God's sovereign plan, their relationship with God and his creation, their role in end time events, and their centrality in God's Salvation. 'The Mystery of the Jews' is not an often taught doctrine anymore, although if it were it would immediately solve any number of doctrinal debates and questions, and probably alleviate most Christian Anti-Semitism, although that rubric is the oxymoron of centuries. We have already discussed in Part one of this series, that the Nazis at least in several recorded cases arrested or censored pastors and clergy teaching of the Book of Romans and word from Berlin was that Paul was not the excellent character Jesus was but was an introverted self-deprecating rabbi who sought Jewish influence in the New Testament, so while the Gospels were allowed under reinterpretation, the Epistles were not banned, but were 'discouraged' as being wrought with the taint of Jewish, rabbinical teaching. (Goebbels) We have also noted that two particular doctrines referred to as 'the Jew Within' a twisting of the teaching of Paul regarding the sin nature, and the Romans 13 teaching of obedience to Civil Authority, were retained with a great deal of 'nazification', but most of the Book of Romans, particularly passages in Chapters 8 to 12, were considered detrimental to the German conscience and understanding of the Scriptures. In a meeting in the 1930s of the German Christian Church, the 'DC', a sign hung over the balcony in large letters declaring: "The German Christian reads the Gospel in the [light of] the Third Reich" ["Der Deutsche Christen liebst das Evangelium im Dritten Reich"] The Nazis originally did not intend to eradicate the Christian Church or Bible (not at first), but they wanted a New Theology that would be 'Judenrein' as well as a New European Order. The Book of Romans though, had a peculiarly Jewish nature and emphasis. It taught a few basic tenets that even early Christians and others were concerned with regarding the Jews, for some had accused Paul and the early Christians of teaching that God was finished with the Jews. Early Christianity though was not seen either as a religion or even a separate thing from Judaism, it is referred to in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles as a sect of Judaism. Act 24:5 For we have found this man [a] pestilent [fellow], and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes: Act 28:22 But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest: for as concerning this sect, we know that every where it is spoken against. The 'sect' of the Nazarenes was controversial, but there was also plenty of controversy between two other sects, the Pharisees and Sadducees. Zealots are also considered a 'sect', and while not all were favored by mainstream Judaism, they were indeed all Jewish. Still, when a great number of teachers including Paul and a few who with Paul had been raised with Herod the Tetrarch went north to Antioch, Act 13:1 Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. reaching out significantly for the first time to partly Gentiles (in line with prophecy), a number were concerned they were 'hellenizers' some began to question whether they were seeking to replace Judaism with a Greek emulation. [note 1] Paul in wisdom puts an end to misconceptions and sets in inspired 'stone' the doctrine of the Jews and their place in God's sovereign plan, and reaffirms the 'Everlasting Covenant', and a slumbering Israel, providential suspended until the prophecies of the 'fullness of the Gentiles' be brought in. The Epistle to the Romans Troubles the Nazis Why would Romans so trouble the Nazis? There are a number of explicit teachings which opposed Nazi teaching with such clarification and authority, that the Gleichschaltung for the Church would never have worked had it been brought forefront. Among those teachings are: 1. The Things of God belong to and are of the Jews

Rom 3:1 What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit [is there] of circumcision? Rom 3:2 Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God. Rom 9:3 For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: Rom 9:4 Who are Israelites; to whom [pertaineth] the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service [of God], and the promises; Rom 9:5 Whose [are] the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ [came], who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.

2. God has Not Replaced the Jewish Nation This tenet is self evident as to why the Nazis did not want it taught: they were seeking to not only replace but eradicate the Jewish people in Germany and Europe and to erase every bloodline and influence. While it is not the focus here, the reason had to do with their perception of the Jews as a 'root race' which was a remnant of an earlier inferior race, a Semitic, 'equatorial' people. Implicit in thinking at the top of a 'Herrenvolk' or Master race, was the reemergence of a 'Hyperborean' people, who would usher in a human utopia. 'Polar' people were superior to 'Equatorial' people, and former root races were inferior to emerging ones. (depending on the variation). (2) The Jews therefore in the eyes of the Third Reich, lost out. Paul though, taught:

Rom 11:1 I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, [of] the tribe of Benjamin. Rom 11:2 God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew.

It was Paul's very declaration of his 'Jewishness' that offended the Nazis enough to refer to him as degenerate. It was their fear that his teaching of 'dying to self' and the pre-eminence of the Jew would lead to the demoralization and defeat of the German people. 3. Salvation is of the Jews The Messiah came from the line of the Jews. The seed promised since the Garden of Eden (Gen 3:16); the covenant of Abraham (Gen 15) and later Isaac and Jacob, and preserved even through division and exile. This was not a comfortable doctrine to the Nazis, who were attempting to 'Aryanize' Jesus, such as attempts by Grundman to change his nativity to an Aramaic mother and Roman soldier father (3). It is Jesus though in John 4:22 who teaches

"...salvation is of the Jews"

And the apostle Paul teaches that Salvation is not only of the Jews, and for the Jews first, but the 'provoking of jealousy' regarding it:

Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Rom 11:11 I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but [rather] through their fall salvation [is come] unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.

The 'new doctrine' of the Deutsche Christen would have been neatly negated if the whole of Romans was regularly taught. 4.Boasting Not Against the Jews: The Eminence of the Jew, and the 'Grafting In': The Root Beareth Thee.

So salient is the teaching of the 'first place' of the Jews, even while God turns for a time and season to the Gentiles to fulfill prophecy

Isa 11:10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.

that all of the 'sect of Nazarenes' so to speak are cautioned not to ever even dream of boasting of replacing the Jews 'whom he foreknew', or to see the 'new birth in Christ (Messiah)' as a replacement of the everlasting Covenant:

Rom 11:16- For if the firstfruit [be] holy, the lump [is] also [holy]: and if the root [be] holy, so [are] the branches. Rom 11:17- And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; Rom 11:18-Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.

Note that Paul in Romans refers to the Jews as

1. The firstfruit, that is holy

2. The Root that is Holy

3. The true Olive tree, vsi the gentiles described as 'wild olive tree' in need of graffing (grafting) into the tree

4. The root that bearest the branches

Some interpret some of what Paul says as negative toward the Jews, but it is never so. He speaks both about the Jews who turn away, and about the 'remnant' in an election of grace, and about not a 'casting away' forever, but a suspension which results in the end in the fulness of all things coming in by them:

Rom 11:15 For if the casting away of them [be] the reconciling of the world, what [shall] the receiving [of them be], but life from the dead?

This passage is of critical importance even in today's teaching of Romans, due to several glaring errors which many hold without examining the Scriptures. Some very large churches, even TV ministries hold to something called 'Dominion' theology or 'Replacement' Theology. Gary North is a major proponent, as are Worldwide Church of God, and Lester Sumrall, the theological 'father' of Rod Parsley who teach the 'replacement' of the Church for the Jews. Other faiths teach versions of this doctrine also: the Roman Catholic Church still sees Jerusalem as their manifest destiny, not the Jews', and many ignorantly implicitly hold to the church being 'new' and the Jews being 'old' as in New and Old Testament, without ever understanding what a testament or covenant is or why they are not independent of one another, an echo of an ancient heresy of marcionism. 5. & 6. In Whole or in Part : Blindness and Salvation I had a pastor many years ago who teach as some do that the Jews could no longer be saved, adding 'at least in this dispensation'. This is a serious misunderstanding of the Epistle to the Romans and other passages regarding salvation. Some 'dispensationalists' argue that the Jews can be saved again in the end of time but only by a combination of obeying the Law and Grace, a position referred to as hyperdispensationalism. Almost all of these folks quote one passage regularly:

Rom 11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

The blindness referred to is also referred to as slumber. Of all the passages in scripture though this is one used wrongfully most often to refer to Jews essentially being 'disinherited' from the Salvation of God, an unlikely proposition since 'salvation is of the Jews.'. The one portion almost all skip over are the words, "in part"- the early church was almost entirely Jewish, until Paul and Peter and others went north, and then out into Macedonia, Greece and Italy, and soon after Northern Africa, Asia and up into Europe. Even then, most of the leaders were Jewish, certainly saved and not 'blinded', hence the doctrine of election applied to the remnant:

Rom 11:5 Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.

While the Jews are probably not happy with either position, nonetheless, these scriptures mishandled have led to varying doctrinal positions on the Salvation of the Jews and whether they are to be confronted regarding the Gospel, for some who misuse the passage argue that one shouldn't bother as no Jews can be saved, and others argue that salvation can occur outside of Christ, a heretical position, and others argue they must be confronted first, as the apostles always, even well into the first and second century always went first to the Jews with the Gospel, and to the Synagogue if possible. Even Jesus noted

Mat 15:24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

and that is the command in Matthew 10:6. The issue is not though one of preference or personal concept, but of what the Scripture teaches: the Deutsche Christen laid heavy emphasis on the Jews being beyond Salvation, following the footsteps of Martin Luther who early in his campaign of grace went first to the Jews, and then when rebuffed turned violently anti-Semitic urging their ousting from communities and the burning of Synagogues. (See The Jews and their Lies). The Nazis notoriously followed some of the same rigor and procedure advocated by Luther whose great contribution of revitalizing the doctrine of Grace did not seem to be accompanied by any for the Jews in his latter years. What is important is that while the Jew in the Word of God is chosen, bears God's Glory, and is the Vine of Messiah, the covenants, promises, and oracles of God, that he is not to be seen as differently disposed to Salvation in any time period. The 'Slumbering' referred to in Romans is a descriptive process, a partial setting aside but NOT REJECTION , an 'anesthetizing' as one would do with surgery while the Gentiles were added in in fulfillment of prophecy, but even during that process, 'whosoever will' still stands. 7. Christian Responsibility: Mercy to the Jew I suspect the most troubling aspect of the Book of Romans to the Nazis though, was that taught in its entirety, it contains a call to the Christian responsibility of Mercy to those Jews in 'The Slumber' , counting that our access to Salvation, Messiah, the Word of God and the promises and Covenant of God, come in essence by first their existence and 'root' and secondly by their suffering. 'Boast not against the Branches' is not only an admonition not to brag about a favored place over theirs, but an admonition to fear God and understand that they are still His people, in an everlasting Covenant, and He is not finished at all with them, intending to keep both earthly and heavenly Covenants with them. Zedlacher ended up in prison and beaten by the Nazis for two major emphases:

1. The Correct teaching about the Jews and our relation to the Jews, and

2. The Admonition to Mercy to the Jews being a duty and calling.

This is not mere conjecture; consider the following passage:

Rom 11:31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. Rom 11:32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

The Christian calling in general is mercy towards all. The Greek 'elleo' refers to action of having mercy or compassion or aiding the afflicted. This is not the disdain found in so many churches today who seem to have a xenophobia regarding the Jews, who even if they do not hate them are terribly uncomfortable around them. Rather than the promotion of fables about Central Worldwide Committees of Jews trying to conquer and destroy, or neo-Nazi doctrines such as the aryanization of Jesus and reinterpretation of the Scriptures to fit Reich agendas and Racial Science goals, or 'replacement theologies', hyperdispensationalism, theories of culpability for Christ's death, or the holocaust as a 'purging' to bring Israel back, none of which are scriptural, the right teaching of Romans calls for an understanding that we are in fact a sect of Judaism, though the gentiles and politicians have had their field day erasing that basic truth.

The Seditious Act of Teaching Romans

When Zedlacher, Bonhoeffer and others taught Romans, they brought forward to German Churches, at least the Confessing Church, a duty and responsibility to and for the Jewish people, a call to mercy, and a teaching regarding the Jewish nation that was opposite to the Endlosung or Final Solution to the 'Judenfrage' or Jewish Question. Thus, the teaching of Romans undid everything the Reich was attempting to instill in German minds and hearts. When Zedlacher was arrested, a group of church leaders pleaded for his right treatment and release. Part of that letter contains their defense:

"Zedlacher was specifically criticized for using Paul's Epistle to the Romans Verse 11 as a text for his lesson. It is indisputably asserted in the Epistle to the Romans, Verse 11, that the choice of Israel by god is unalterable. Zedlacher was only acting in accordance with his duties as a Bible teacher when he passed on to his pupils what is written in the Bible. The same applies to the assertions for which the Gestapo criticize Zedlacher--- namely, that Jesus was not an Aryan but a Jew, and that despite Reichminister Kerrl's contrary opinion, it cannot be denied that Christ's sonship from God is the fundamental dogma of Christianity from the standpoint of a confessing evangelical Christianity."

Karl Barth, a formidable exiled leader of the Confessing Church noted for his leadership in rejecting the oath of Nazi loyalty in the House of God, and formulation of the Barmen Declaration of the Lordship of Christ, not Hitler, was widely known in the 1920s in Germany for his publication on the Epistle to the Romans, though his emphasis was not on the doctrine of the Jews in his 1919 volume. Interestingly though, among the scriptures quoted in the Barmen declaration in support of the stand of the Confessing Church, there were almost no direct references to the Jews or the Book of Romans. I suspect, that had Romans been preeminent in the protest of the opposition, it was volatile enough to have been a call of resistance. By the end of the war, the few who would stand were deeply persecuted, ostracized, imprisoned, beaten, blown up, exiles and even killed for the stands they did take. The history of the Bible during the Third Reich has not been fully researched nor written yet, but the history of the dealings with the Book of Romans, will tell a story about what happened in the Church and Christian heart and mind during the Shoah. Clearly Christian rescuers were deeply influenced by the teaching of Romans in laying down their lives to save Jewish lives. (See, e.g. Le Chambon) Even among the Jesuits, with their shadowy history of influence and liaisons during the Shoah, the resisters among them such as Fontoynont, cited the Epistle of Romans in their complaint against the encroachment of a neo-paganistic interpretation of Scripture, quoting Bernard in noting that

whoever touched the Jews, touched the apple of God's eye.' (6)

The teaching of the Book of Romans was enough to meet with violence and censorship. The Epistle to the Romans, properly taught, though is enough to equip the modern Christian with a correct understanding of the mystery and doctrine of the Jews, in a way that so totally negates Anti-Semitism and false doctrine, that no political potentate use it again even partially to twist the allegiance of mainstream Christianity. Hitler, it is well known, quoted Scripture when it behooved him to bring about his agenda, but it is also now known that in the end, he had no place for the church in his New Germany, at least not in any received form. When twisted and used in defense of blind obedience, such as the misuse of Romans 13, it can bring about a bondage and form of 'führerprinzip', in which personal moral sense and responsibility is quelched by passing it on up the line and virtually all evil is possible. When twisted, it led to a hatred of the Jew so intense that sin and being Jewish were equated as one. When OMITTED, it led to an entire nation feeling they had no responsibility to the Jew, and that the Jew was 'subhuman' and 'vile', rather than the 'root that bearest thee'. A Bible Study, that forgotten thing in this day and hour, can be the greatest weapon against both hate crimes, genocide, wrongful global policies, and millions of believers duped into believing they must unquestioningly go along with an evil authority on issues which contradict the Word of God. A Bible Study on the Book of Romans, verse by verse, focusing on the Doctrine of the Jews, can keep the Church a healthy place in an unhealthy nation. ekbest _________________________________________________________________ .