For Holocaust Memorial Day<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"All Bible readers are tempted to make Jesus in their own image, and a study I mentioned in The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible makes a\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2013\/01\/27\/for-holocaust-memorial-day\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"For Holocaust Memorial Day\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"All Bible readers are tempted to make Jesus in their own image, and a study I mentioned in The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible makes a\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2013\/01\/27\/for-holocaust-memorial-day\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-01-27T21:35:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-01-27T23:46:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/community\/jesuscreed\/files\/2011\/08\/Screen-shot-2011-08-03-at-8.43.07-AM-300x241.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2013\/01\/27\/for-holocaust-memorial-day\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2013\/01\/27\/for-holocaust-memorial-day\/\",\"name\":\"For Holocaust Memorial Day\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-01-27T21:35:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-01-27T23:46:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\"},\"description\":\"All Bible readers are tempted to make Jesus in their own image, and a study I mentioned in The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible makes a\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2013\/01\/27\/for-holocaust-memorial-day\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2013\/01\/27\/for-holocaust-memorial-day\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2013\/01\/27\/for-holocaust-memorial-day\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"For Holocaust Memorial Day\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\",\"name\":\"Jesus Creed\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight on Jesus and orthodox faith in the 21st century\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\",\"name\":\"Scot McKnight\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight is a recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. McKnight, author of more than fifty books, is the Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary in Lombard, IL.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/author\/scotmcknight\/\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"For Holocaust Memorial Day","description":"All Bible readers are tempted to make Jesus in their own image, and a study I mentioned in The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible makes a","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2013\/01\/27\/for-holocaust-memorial-day\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"For Holocaust Memorial Day","og_description":"All Bible readers are tempted to make Jesus in their own image, and a study I mentioned in The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible makes a","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2013\/01\/27\/for-holocaust-memorial-day\/","og_site_name":"Jesus Creed","article_published_time":"2013-01-27T21:35:27+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-01-27T23:46:55+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/community\/jesuscreed\/files\/2011\/08\/Screen-shot-2011-08-03-at-8.43.07-AM-300x241.jpg"}],"author":"Scot McKnight","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Scot McKnight","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2013\/01\/27\/for-holocaust-memorial-day\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2013\/01\/27\/for-holocaust-memorial-day\/","name":"For Holocaust Memorial Day","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-01-27T21:35:27+00:00","dateModified":"2013-01-27T23:46:55+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252"},"description":"All Bible readers are tempted to make Jesus in their own image, and a study I mentioned in The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible makes a","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2013\/01\/27\/for-holocaust-memorial-day\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2013\/01\/27\/for-holocaust-memorial-day\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2013\/01\/27\/for-holocaust-memorial-day\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"For Holocaust Memorial Day"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/","name":"Jesus Creed","description":"Scot McKnight on Jesus and orthodox faith in the 21st century","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252","name":"Scot McKnight","description":"Scot McKnight is a recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. McKnight, author of more than fifty books, is the Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary in Lombard, IL.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/author\/scotmcknight\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/197"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36928\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":36928,"date":"2013-01-27T15:35:27","date_gmt":"2013-01-27T21:35:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?p=36928"},"modified":"2013-01-27T17:46:55","modified_gmt":"2013-01-27T23:46:55","slug":"for-holocaust-memorial-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2013\/01\/27\/for-holocaust-memorial-day\/","title":{"rendered":"For Holocaust Memorial Day"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

All Bible readers are tempted to make Jesus in their own image, and a study I mentioned in The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible<\/em><\/strong><\/a> makes a solid social-scientific case for that very observation. We all tend to toss onto the Bible\u2019s texts our projections the way we project onto the Rohrschach inkblots. Some of it is innocent, some if it is neither innocent nor dangerous, and sometimes it gets dangerous.<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a>Sometimes this \u201cin our own image\u201d becomes vicious. Which is the point Susannah Heschel makes in her book, The Aryan Jesus: Christian Theologians and the Bible in Nazi Germany<\/em><\/strong><\/a>. Don\u2019t get this book in your hands unless you are ready to be disturbed. But I would urge you to get this book in your hands because we all need to be disturbed.<\/p>\n

The reason to read this book is to warn us of how easy it is to slip into colonizing the Bible and Jesus into our own ideologies.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here is the big picture. From the 1930s through WWII German Christians (that\u2019s a technical name) sought to de-judaize the Bible, Jesus, Christianity and the German churches. One of the principal leaders of this attempt was Walter Grundmann, a famous New Testament scholar whose commentaries on the Synoptic Gospels were the standard commentaries read by German scholars and pastors until the 1980s and 1990s. That\u2019s the big picture, so now some details \u2026 and you will have to read this exceptional study to get the details.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt noon on Saturday, May 6, 1939, a group of Protestant theologians, pastors, and churchgoers gathered at the Wartburg Castle [of Luther fame]\u2026 to celebrate the opening of the Institute for the Study and Eradication of Jewish Influence on German Church Life\u201d (1). This book weaves the story of this Institute, led by Grundmann, in and out of discussions of what was happening in Germany and what was happening in the German Christian movement. It\u2019s a story that makes me sick.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what happened:<\/p>\n

1. A Bible was produced called \u201cThe Message of God\u201d that eliminated the Old Testament, that wiped out all traces of Jewishness, that cut out the biographical portions of Paul\u2019s life that made it sound like he was Jewish [the stuff was interpolation, they claimed], and that did everything possible to make the Bible Aryan and German and v\u00f6lkisch<\/em>.
\n2. Jesus, it was argued, was an Aryan and not a Jew. Galilee, it was argued (blatantly wrongly), was not Jewish and it was Aryan, so Jesus was after all an Aryan.
\n3. The German Christian hymns and liturgies and catechisms were wiped clean of Israel and Old Testament and Jewishness. German baptized Jewish Christians were banned from the church.
\n4. Very, very few German Bible scholars or theologians opposed what was going on; some names who were: Hans von Soden, Hans Fischer and Ernst Haenchen.
\n5. The whole thing was driven by a racial theory that Jews were deformed and the Aryans were superior. The Aryan argument and the church were so intertwined that it became dialectical and mutually reinforcing.
\n6. Some major scholars were at the heart and in the middle of it, including Grundmann, Gerhard Kittel (one of Grundmann\u2019s professors, and the editor of the famous Kittel dictionary), Emanuel Hirsch, Paul Althaus, Johannes Hempel, and others. Some scholars were at least stained, including Adolf Schlatter (one of Grundmann\u2019s teachers) and Gerhard von Rad (he saw the OT rejecting Jewishness but defended the importance of the OT). One center was the University of Jena, a thoroughly nazified university and faculty.
\n7. When the war was over many, if not most, of these German Christian scholars and theologians and pastors were rehabilitated, including Grundmann. Their lame argument was to blame the whole thing on the Nazis and that the de-judaization effort was the only way they could preserve Christianity in Germany from Nazi destruction.<\/p>\n

Reposted.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"