How the Nazis—Not the Grinch— Stole Christmas

Like many, our family is talking about where we'll spend Christmas this year. It appears that it will be a Christmas different from many, because we'll not all be together for the first time in many years. There are a variety of reasons for this—people getting married, illness, college vacations, economic difficulties, etc. So times change. I'm hoping I don't turn into a Grunch about it—or the Grinch.



All this reminds me of how the season of Christmas is ever changing in its meaning. In Germany of the 1930s the Nazi party made a concerted effort to redefine Christmas. I found an interesting 2007 article by David Sutton in Fortean Times UK detailing this process: How the Nazis Stole Christmas | Articles | Features | Fortean Times UK. He asks,

What’s Wrong With This Picture?

"Imagine the scene. It’s December 1936, and the shadow of war has not yet fallen over the people of Germany, who are now experiencing their fourth Christmas since Hitler’s National Socialist Party came to power and began its transformation of modern Germany. The streets of every town and city are busy with last-minute shoppers; the sounds of carol-singing and the rattle of Winter Relief collection tins fills the evening air; people wish one another a Happy Christmas as they stand before a great tree, proudly decorated and topped with a huge swastika."


He then goes on to demonstrate that the Nazis had no real interest in turning their party into a religious movement. It was political. However, they did believe in the unifying power of religion and religious holidays. They emphasized the importance of a unified nationalism. So they systematically redefined Christmas as a national holiday.

"Christmas, of course, was one of the most important dates in the calendar for German Christians of both Confessions (Catholic and Protestant); but for the Nazis it also offered a priceless opportunity to capitalize on a festival that traditionally brought people and families together and to overlay it with meanings central to a new conception of the German state."


Makes one wonder what Christmas has become in the United States.

Christmas Trees in Capitol Places

Many in these approaching days of Christmas celebration are debating about allowing Christian symbols such as the Christmas tree and nativity scenes to be erected in government buildings. Among Christians there is no common agreement about the appropriateness of having a Christmas vs. Holiday tree in Washington, D.C.

So what shall I say in view of the fact that Daniel 7:13-14 foretold that Jesus Christ would receive authority and sovereign power over all peoples and nations, as He also acknowledged before His ascension (Matthew 28:18)? Across the centuries this meant that the rulers must also acknowledge His authority by supporting the church. Many Christian churches even to the current day claim the right to be so acknowledged and supported by the government. This is still the case in Scandinavia, England and other parts of Europe. However, both Norwegian and Finnish churches seem to be moving away from such ties.

Already three-quarters of a century ago my own church body, the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, adopted the following statement.

"Although both Church and State are ordinances of God, yet they must not be commingled. Church and State have entirely different aims. By the Church, God would save men, for which reason the Church is called the "mother" of believers Gal. 4:26. By the State, God would maintain external order among men, "that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty," 1 Tim. 2:2. It follows that the means which the Church and State employ to gain their ends are entirely different. The Church may not employ any other means than the preaching of the Word of God, John 18:11, 36; 2 Cor. 10:4.

"The State, on the other hand, makes laws bearing on civil matters and is empowered to employ for their execution also the sword and other corporal punishments, Rom. 13:4.

"Accordingly we condemn the policy of those who would have the power of the State employed "in the interest of the Church" and who thus turn the Church into a secular dominion; as also of those who, aiming to govern the State by the Word of God, seek to turn the State into a Church."

In light of the principles elucidated in the above statement, it seems clear to me that there is little reason to get worked up if the state or national governments choose not to support or sponsor the erection of a Christmas tree on public property. In fact, it may be a good thing as long as they do not interfere with the church's worship or use of the same to encourage worship. 

Two Kingdoms and the Mystical Body of Christ

The questions I raised yesterday about Christ's eternal sovereignty persist. How is it that we can believe that in His ascension He received all authority in heaven and on earth and a kingdom in which peoples of all nations and languages serve Him? (Matthew 28:18 and Daniel 7:13-14)

When I return to Nazi Germany, as I have been, I see that while there was great apostasy, there were ever the faithful few. This is indicated by the Confessing Church, started by Dr.Martin Niemoeller in 1933-34. I'll not go into details here other than to point out that these faithful Christians—Lutherans mostly—rejected Hitler's move to create an Aryan church controlled by the state. Many Christians in Germany and in Scandinavia hid Jews and helped them to escape.

Many of these Christians chose to give their lives rather than back down from their convictions about the evil that had pervaded the German national church. Niemoeller was sent to concentration camp. Dietrich Bonheoffer was hung for his  complicity in the attempted assassination of Adolph Hitler. What I personally believe about Bonhoeffer's teaching will have to await another day. Suffice it to say that he died for his beliefs and opposed the Aryan Protestant Church of the Nazi state. Others went out of their way to hide or help Jews to escape Germany.

In discussing this issue I must again distinguish between the two kingdoms, church and state. When confronted by the Roman Prefect or governor Pontius Pilatus about His kingdom, the Lord Jesus replied, "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world" (John 18:33-38).

Jesus had already taught us to distinguish the two kingdoms when questioned by the hypocritical Herodians about paying taxes. Jesus knew of their evil intent, so upon receiving a Roman denarius he said, "Render to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's" (Matthew 22:16-21).

These important distinctions had long before been muddled and muddied in Europe, especially with the state supporting the church since the days of Constantine, over 1,000 years.

The kingdom of Christ is one created and sustained by the inner working of the Holy Spirit. In fact, as Jesus pointed out to the inquiring Jewish ruler Nicodemus, one cannot even see or enter it without the creative working of the Spirit in baptism. To be in this kingdom is nothing less than having experienced a rebirth. Those who have been reborn have eternal life (John 3:1-21).

I can only point to these distinctions here. The task of maintaining the separation of the two kingdoms continues in our day. The church is not a political power player. She is the mystical, mysterious, inscrutable and yet very real presence of Christ in this world, working through men and women called by Him to millions and millions of vocations and responsibilities. She still suffers and dies on behalf of the weak and helpless throughout the world as she takes up her cross to follow her Husband and Master (Matthew 10:37-39 and Matthew 16:23-25).

Son of Man and Son of God

As I go deeper into the details of the  century in which I was born and the decades during which I reached adulthood, I am amazed at how the Word of God was so completely abandoned in the nations from which my forefathers came. I speak about Germany on my father's side and Great Britain on my mother's. My persistent questions are, What led up to this? And how could this happen?

I ponder these issues  alongside portions of Holy Scripture again this week. I am considering Daniel 7:9-10 and Daniel 7:13-14, one of the texts for the final Sunday in the church year. This week's question, then, is who is this Son of Man with dominion and glory and a kingdom, served by all peoples, nations and languages? And how can it be that His kingdom shall not be destroyed when all around we see men and rulers opposing His rule?

I know, I know. This is such a weighty question that I can hardly lift my fingers to type anything further, but I shall try.

This past week I completed my reading of Erwin Lutzer's book Hitler's Cross. The book is obviously not merely a history of Christianity in Nazi Germany, but one in which Dr. Lutzer uses Nazi Germany as a background to proclaim his version of the Christian faith. That said, I learned many things.

One thing I noted at once in Lutzer's book—and knew from my study of WW I—there was a strong relationship between the nobility, the rulers of Great Britain and Germany. For instance, Houston Chamberlain, nephew of the noted Sir Neville Chamberlain, the British Prime Minister who was completely duped by Hitler in the Munich Agreement of 1938. World War II broke out a year later. when Hitler's armies invaded Poland.

Houston Chamberlain moved to Germany in 1889 to marry Eva Wagner, composer Richard Wagner's daughter in 1908. He became a German citizen in 1916. He later joined the rising Nazi party and became very intimate with Hitler.

He wrote his very influential antisemitic work, The Foundations of the Nineteenth Century, in 1913.

In his view the Teutonic peoples were the heirs of the Empires of Greece and Rome. When the Germanic races destroyed the Roman Empire, he said they saved Western civilization from Semitic domination. He went on to say that,

"Whoever claimed that Jesus was a Jew was either stupid or telling a lie . . . Jesus was not a Jew. He was an Aryan."

Further, he claimed that Christianity could only be appreciated by the Aryan race and that this race could be further strengthened by proper breeding.

Hitler loved Chamberlain's writings, as did those who helped to fashion Nazi doctrine. And so enraptured with Hitler were the German Christians  that many believed Hitler was the way of the Spirit and the will of God for the German people to enter the church of Christ. They adorned their altars with Nazi flags and in their congregations joined in the Nazi salute.

In the second reformation of the church these Germans repudiated anything that had to do with Jews, especially the Old Testament. Likewise they eliminated any reference to the Old Testament in the New and substituted "true life" for "eternal life." The cross was thrown away or wed to a pagan political agenda, that is the Nazification of the church.

Obviously leaders from both my ancestral nations long ago rejected Jesus, born of Mary, descended from Abraham and David, Son of Man and Son of God.

As foretold by the prophet Daniel, this resurrected and ascended LORD has received sovereign power over all peoples, nations and men. Millions of Germans followed the Nazi—and British—apostasy this to their deep sorrow and death. The final judgment of all such unbelief approaches.

Aryan Destiny, Pride and the Judgment of God

I referred in earlier Blogs to Madame Blavatsky, a woman whose writings had great influence upon intellectuals and other leaders in Europe in the days leading up to the two great world wars—those Patrick J. Buchanan bunches together as one modern 30-year war. A couple days ago I set out on the task of reading through Blavatsky's monumental work, now available on my Kindle. I plan to share some of my discoveries in this Blog from time to time.

The question I struggle with today, however, is why Blavatsky's claims to have secret knowledge should be more creditable than the Scriptures of the Christian church. The answer to that is quite complex on the one hand, but quite simple on the other. Here's my go at it.

It all began in the 18th century, the so-called Age of Enlightenment. After bloody civil and religious wars, enlightened thinkers lifted up the powers of human reason. If we use our minds, they said, we can be free from foolish and misguided superstition, myths and legends, as well as the authoritarian rule of the church and kings. By using our minds we can discover universal beliefs about the Divinity. Aside from these, many saw no need for organized religions. This enlightened thinking guided the American and French revolutions. The language of natural law and self-determination is the language of the Enlightenment and has indeed become our American "civil religion."

With the power of reason firmly in place, 19th century scientists and inventors made tons of new discoveries about how our world works. This was the age when the professional scientist emerged. It was the century when people discovered useable electricity, steel and petroleum products. It was the age of the assembly line, tools that make tools, interchangeable machine parts, practical internal combustion engines, the lightbulb, telephone, typewriter, sewing machine, plastic surgery, morse code, rubber vulcanization, bicycles, blueprints, and on and on.

Charles Darwin portrayed as an ape

People began to believe there were no limits to what human science and rational thinking might accomplish. This idea really caught on with the publication of Charles Darwin's 1859 book On the Origin of Species. Now men had discovered that the human race is what it is because it has evolved across the millennia. Progress is inevitable.

So along comes Blavatsky and those like her, claiming to pull all this science, all this reason, all this evolution, all this enlightened thinking and all religions together in her book The Secret Doctrine and theosophy—about which I also blogged earlier. Suddenly those who read her book and the journal articles she published realized they were in the know! Hitler and his henchmen picked up on this and took the whole thing to its logical end. The Aryans, descendants of the great Lemurians, Atlanteans and the lost kingdom of Shambhala have always ruled the world. It is their destiny and the plan of the true gods. All lesser races must either be subjugated or eliminated.

Add to this the fact that Hitler and Nazism led Germany from a defeated, broken and impoverished nation to economic and political glory within less than a decade and you can begin to see why even millions of German Lutherans embraced the new religion, with its new creed and its new gods.

What so many threw aside was the following warning from the ancient book of Leviticus, given to God's people, a warning applicable to this day as well. I quote but a portion of what is written:

" 'Do not make idols or set up an image or a sacred stone for yourselves, and do not place a carved stone in your land to bow down before it. I am the LORD your God. . .

'But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands, and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant, then I will do this to you: I will bring upon you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever that will destroy your sight and drain away your life. You will plant seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it. I will set my face against you so that you will be defeated by your enemies; those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee even when no one is pursuing you.

'If after all this you will not listen to me, I will punish you for your sins seven times over. I will break down your stubborn pride and make the sky above you like iron and the ground beneath you like bronze. Your strength will be spent in vain, because your soil will not yield its crops, nor will the trees of the land yield their fruit" (Leviticus 26:1, 14-20).

In World War I the total number of casualties, both military and civilian, were about 37 million. In World War II (the second part of that 30-year war) it is estimated that over 56 million died from all nations involved. 

Written in the Book of Life

I cannot resist a good book. What about you? I did a brief look into the history of books and found an interesting article on Wikipedia—where else? I learned that wood was the first medium to take the guise of a book. The words biblos and liber first meant "fibre inside of a tree". In Chinese, the character that means book is an image of a tablet of bamboo.

So now I come to the words of Daniel 12:1-3—"But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the BOOK."

What book? Who wrote it? Who reads it? When was this book written and why?

Read about Moses arguing with the LORD about the inappreciative Israelites after their horrid golden calf idolatry (Exodus 32:31-33),

"So Moses went back to the LORD and said, "Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. But now, please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written."
The LORD replied to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book."

Moses understood that the LORD keeps a record of sins in His book.

King David speaks in similar terms as he prays to the LORD about his adversaries (Psalm 69:28),


"May they be blotted out of the book of life and not be listed with the righteous."

One of the frightening things I have learned about Nazi Germany was their ability to keep detailed records of the people they determined should be detained and murdered in their concentration camps. And how were they able to pull that off, especially since we're talking about millions and millions? They did it with the help of IBM. This has been carefully documented in Edwin Black's book, "IBM and the Holocaust." At the heart of Black's argument is that information technology—in the form of IBM's Hollerith punch-card machines—provided the Nazis with a unique and critical tool in their task of cataloguing and dispatching their millions of victims.


Thus they blotted millions and millions of Jewish people from the book of life by keeping records with the then newly developed technology of punch cards, precursor to today's computers. I can distinctly remember punch-card machines.


Using the same imagery, Daniel speaks about another kind of record keeping, the record the LORD keeps of all who put their faith in Him and in the forgiveness won for all mankind by the cross of Jesus Christ. As Jesus said to his excited disciples (Luke 10:18-20),


He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."

Hope in the Time of Trouble

One can get quite discouraged when speaking about times of trouble, as I did yesterday. We naturally want to hear words of hope and possibility, words that tell us the future is open to endless potential. And it is, but not simply because we insist that it is. I'm focusing this week upon Daniel 12 where I find the words,

"At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. . . But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. . ."

What are these mysterious words all about? Who is this Prince Michael? What charge has he received? Are you and I included in the people to be delivered?

First a bit about Prince Michael, archangel. Besides this passage, only three times is his name found in Holy Scripture:

Daniel 10:12-14 -Then he continued, "Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come."

Jude 1:8-10 -"In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings. But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals—these are the very things that destroy them."

Revelation 12:7-9 - " And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him."

Other church fathers suggested he was 

• the cherub who stood at the gate of the garden of Eden to guard access to the tree of life (Genesis 3:24). 
• the angel through whom the Lord God gave his people the ten commandments (Exodus 20:1-17)
• the angel that prevented Balaam and his donkey from proceeding (Numbers 22:21-35)
• the angel that routed Sennacherib's army when it surrounded Jerusalem (2 Kings 19:35-36)

Whatever you make of all this, we are assured by God's revealed Word that we have spiritual armies fighting at our side against the darkness, destruction and terror of these days in which we live. Based upon the Scriptures listed, that does not suggest that our faith in God's love and mercy will be untested. We will all face doubts, anxiety, confusion and terror. Those are the weapons of the powers of darkness. But we have many promises assuring us that both in this present time and at the end of this time Satan and his demons are and will be defeated. 

None of us likes war, but we are at war. Therefore, we must take the words of the Apostle in Ephesians 6:10-18 most seriously:

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."

Living in a Time of Trouble

Yesterday I wrote about the meaning of time in the Bible and particularly in the text I'm studying with you this week: Daniel 12:1-3. As Luther says about this chapter, "The twelfth chapter of Daniel . . . has to do wholly with the Antichrist god and with these last times in which we are living" (American Edition 35:313). We can be further assured that this chapter speaks about the times leading up to the end of the age in which we are living because it speaks about the promised resurrection of all from the dead when Christ returns in glory (Isaiah 26:19), a promise guaranteed by the resurrection of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:12-28).

Daniel makes it clear that we are living in "a time of trouble." The Hebrew word (tsarah) is translated in various other Bible passages as distress, affliction, anguish and tribulation. Regardless of how you translate the word the Holy Spirit makes it clear that this time of trouble is like none other before it. Therefore we must not be surprised at the intensity and the tensions of this time.

To illustrate this I invite you to read a book I've just begun by Patrick J. Buchanan,  Churchill, Hitler and the Unnecessary War. Buchanan's premise is that Great Britain's blundering led the western world into two world wars—what he describes as the modern thirty year war—that brought about the death of scores of millions and the collapse of western civilization. Never before in the history of mankind has there been so much destruction and death. Whether you agree with Buchanan's premise, we all know that what Nazi Germany brought upon this world is trouble, horror and distress like that unknown ever before.

They who dare to claim that day by day and year by year we are evolving to an ever better and better world would do well to ponder again the events of the 20th century.

What Time Is It?

Ever been asked, "What time is it?"
Did you then glance at your watch and reply, "Oh, about three minutes after four" or something like that?
But what if your friend came back, "No, I mean what time is it?"
Then you turn to him with a you're-nuts glare and say, "I already told you."

The Biblical verses I'm pondering this week have such a discussion of time. Here's what the ancient—and oft misunderstood—prophet Daniel writes (Daniel 12:1-3):

 "At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered. Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever."

Notice how Daniel writes about 'a time' and 'that time'? What time does he speak about? I've no intention to make this a detailed study of Daniel's prophecy. However, any successful novelist, for instance, knows it's important to set your readers into some period of time when the events of his novel take place. In my latest novel, for instance, I open with a time notation, putting my readers into the year 1939. That time setting is critical to a proper understanding of all that follows.

Likewise, it is important to locate Daniel in his original setting. When in calendar time did he write and what was going on in his world at the time? It is somewhere in the year 605 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar II, ruler of Babylon, has conquered Judah, pillaged Jerusalem and carried thousands as slaves back to what we now call Iraq. It was an utterly devastating and hopeless time for God's people. They were suffering for the godless ways of their rulers.

So it was in 1939. War had returned to Europe with the Nazi invasion of Poland and soon after France. Thousands of Poles, Jews, Gypsies and others were being enslaved, slaughtered and thrown into concentration camps. There was a strong sentiment in the United States to stay out of yet another European war, but by the end of 1941 that proved impossible, as you know.

So I ask again, "What time is it?" Where are the events of our day leading? Are the decisions of our national leaders taking us also into a time of devastation and despair? If so, how shall we endure such times as these? The Holy Spirit speaking through the words of His prophet Daniel has words of guidance and comfort for God's children.

Do You Believe In Sin?

Do you believe in sin? Consider what Martin Luther said in the Lutheran Confessions, Smalcald Articles III.i.3—

"This hereditary sin is so deep [and horrible] a corruption of nature that no reason can understand it, but it must be [learned and] believed from the revelation of Scriptures, Ps. 51:5; Rom. 6:12ff ; Ex. 33:3; Gen. 3:7ff."


As I close this week of meditation on Hebrews 9:23-29, I'm deeply troubled at the disbelief in sin. So very few truly take sin as serious as the Scriptures portray it in the passages quoted above. Who can believe that Christ came to "do away with sin" if he does not believe in sin in the first place?

Here's how the Apostle describes his inner life—even after his Baptism and rebirth.


"We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it" (Romans 7:14-20).


In a world where we're taught to believe that also our moral and spiritual life is evolving to ever newer, higher and better levels, this is impossible to believe.


However, I invite you to read the bulk of the articles in today's news and convince me otherwise. 

Priests, Priestesses, Magic and Spell Casting

How many priests do you know? If you are a Roman Catholic Christian you refer to members of the clergy as priests. Such a priest is quite different from the Biblical reference to priest and in the Bible passage I'm looking at this week (Hebrews 9:23-28) where Christ is called the high priest who put away the sin of all men by the sacrifice of himself.

All religions have one common idea about a priest. He—or she—is the person appointed by some authority to lead the people of the tribe or nation in worship and honor of God and offer Him sacrifices.

This was a critical issue in the Reformation led by Martin Luther. It has to do with an understanding of the primary worship service, known as the Mass. Here is the language to be found even to this day in the Catholic encyclopedia in reference to the priest:

"The Christian law also has necessarily its priesthood to carry out the Divine service, the principal act of which is the Eucharistic Sacrifice, the figure and renewal of that of Calvary."

Lutherans reject as unbiblical the idea that the sacrifice Christ offered on the cross of Calvary can and should be repeated in any sense. We Lutherans gladly and joyfully accept the fact that Christ offered Himself "once to bear the sins of many."

Roman Catholics still use phrases like "the unbloody Sacrifice of the Eucharist" and "expiation" to explain the Mass and what the priest does within the Mass. We  Lutherans reject such understanding, even while we retain a very high view of the Lord's Supper and Jesus telling us that we receive His Body and Blood together with the bread and wine.

All this has been argued at great length in many other places and I will not go into it here once more. My only point is that when the Germans who became Nazis in the 1920s rejected Christianity, either Roman Catholicism or Lutheranism, and embraced Odinism or Asatru, they still had priests. Their priests, however, were primarily and almost exclusively women, at least if they wanted to practice the magic and gain the wisdom of the gods.

Savitri Devi, the Hindu-Aryan Myth

Here's what modern day Odinists say about this issue—very strange and very interesting, I might add.

"Seið is a term which is used in Old Norse for any magical practice which requires altering consciousness and raising energy. It includes shamanic skills such as spirit journeying and weather working, magic that affects men's minds, spell casting and oracular divination (spæcraft) for good or for ill. As such, it is the natural complement of the more intellectual, controlled, runic galdor magic. A woman who practiced this craft was known as a Völva, visenda (wisewoman), spákona, or seiðkona (spá- or seið-woman). The titles for male practitioners were thul (a lorespeaker, though this could also refer to galdor magic), vitki (sage), andspámaðr or seiðmaðr (spá- or seiðman)."


No Christian priest or pastor claims such powers, nor should he. Yet the desire for magic, divination and spell casting still attracts. 

So, What Is Your View Of History?

Those of you uninterested in history—how many that includes—may wonder why I seem to be preoccupied with it. When hearing about my latest and soon to be published novel, they ask, "Is it a historical novel?" And my answer is yes or at least so it seems. It is historical fiction, that is fiction related to events that really happened. 


So is that what the Bible is, fiction based upon events that really happened? For many it seems so, especially when they come across a couple phrases from the Bible passage I've been pondering this week—Hebrews 9:24-28—"he (Christ) has appeared once for all . . . Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people."


That once-for-all idea has a ton of historical controversy behind it. Who ever came up with this idea that a young Jew was God and that by dying on a Roman cross he could atone for the sins of every human being who has ever lived and breathed upon this planet from the beginning of time until now and on into the endless future? Preposterous! Unless this man Jesus of Nazareth was and is the Son of God, "very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father"  (Nicene Creed).

Here's an alternate view of history from the novel, one fervently held by many Germans, even before the rise of Nazism. My protagonist, Albert, is talking with the vivacious Hulda Schwarz, priestess of the goddess Freya.


“Albert, Albert, you have so much to learn."


She spoke with what seemed greater intensity as the pitch of her voice rose. “For centuries before your bumbling Italian stumbled upon the North American continent, the great Vikings navigated back and forth from Scandinavia.They cruised the Great Lakes to explore this place, your so-called Indians called Minnesota, the land of sky blue waters. The Vikings had villages here. Their runes prove it. Have you never heard about a stone discovered here in Minnesota over thirty years ago with powerful runes written upon it?"


Al stared at her, “What are these fairy tales?”


“Before the great Vikings, even for thousands and thousands of years before the birth of Christ, we Aryans ruled these lands. Albert, all the way to the South American continent. We were the Aztecs and the Maya. We Aryans also ruled the islands of the Mediterranean Sea and established great kingdoms from Crete to Egypt and Ethiopia. Our power reached out to India and beyond, even to the lands of the Chinese.”


“But, but how can this be, Fraulein? No one ever spoke about this to me. Are, are you certain this is true?”


His mumbling and fumbling made him feel like a fool. Did she have access to some hidden knowledge or was she a raving lunatic?


Hulda smiled as she turned to Al. “You have so much to learn, Albert, so much. Be patient. You are on the right track and Woden smiles upon you!”


“Woden?”


Hulda sighed and seemed to let out a long, almost exasperated breath. “I, too, must be patient. I know it, but I forget. You have been taught empty myths about the Jewish god. You have probably been taught that the Jesus, the Jew of Nazareth, was a god! In time you will learn the truth and give your allegiance to the true gods, the gods of the North, the Aryan gods!”


“Perhaps, but who is this Woden you speak about?”


“Woden—some call him Odin—is the Father of us all, Albert.”


Her words came out slow, quiet reverently. She bowed her head and gazed again out the window. It seemed to Al as if she was worshiping this Woden person right in front of him.


Turning back to him, she continued. “Albert, Woden is the All-Father, the ruler of all spirits. He is the First One, the Creator. In him lives all knowledge and wisdom. To him we sing our songs, for all comes from him.” 


What is your view of history? 

What and Where is Heaven?

I continue to ponder the meaning of the words of Hebrews 9:24-28 this week. In this passage about Christ our High Priest, we hear that he went not into the old temple in Jerusalem, but into heaven itself once and for all. Today's questions  are about heaven. What is it? Where is it?

Among the many emails I get came this one about children and their views of heaven. Here are some samples.

• Mom, God's so neat, and heaven's supposed to be so great.  Could me and Gloria go there Saturday for a sleep-over?

• Our seven-year-old daughter, Clarisa, was not really excited about going to Sunday school, but her little friend talked her into it. After the first class, at lunch she said, "I like my teacher, and she said if I come to Sunday school every Sunday, she'll show me how I can get a free trip to heaven."

• My three-year-old granddaughter, Morgan, came over one day and looked around the room and asked, "Where's Grandpa?" I answered, "He's in heaven."  Surprised, she looked at me and said, "Still?"

• When Jenny was four, she asked, "Does heaven have a floor?"     Surprised, I said, "Well, Jenny, what do you think heaven is like?"          She looked up at the sky and clouds and replied, "Well, I can't see any  floor, so I guess people are just up there on coat hangers!"

Many of us adults are almost as confused about our hope. Perhaps part of the confusion lies with the fact that whatever heaven holds is outside and beyond our experience. In 1 Corinthians 2:9 the Apostle Paul quotes from Isaiah 64:4 to remind us our eyes have never seen, our ears have never heard and our minds have never conceived what God has prepared for His beloved children. Paul himself was caught up to heaven and says he heard inexpressible things that a man is not permitted to tell (2 Corinthians 12:4).

The whole thing gets more complex when you realize that the space above and beyond us, with the stars and planets, is also called heaven. In Genesis 15:5 we read that the LORD said to Abraham that he should gaze into the sky or heaven and count the stars, because that's how many descendants he would have.

On the other hand, when the Apostle speaks about Christ ascending, he says he "ascended higher than all the heavens, so that he might fill the entire universe with himself" (Ephesians 4:10). This is in accord with Psalm 11:4 where we read that the LORD's throne is in heaven.

Heaven as the dwelling place of God—our Father who art in heaven—is also the place where the holy angels dwell. The prophet Micaiah said he saw the LORD on his throne and all the host of heaven standing by (1 Kings 22:19).

The rebel, evil angels on the other hand are not permitted into this glory. They are confined to what Paul calls the "heavenly places" (Ephesians 3:10 and 6:12). That most likely refers to the atmosphere surrounding our planet. They are not allowed into deep heaven.

Those of us who put our trust in Christ, however, have the hope laid up in heaven (Colossians 1:5). We have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing" (2 Corinthians 5:1-5).

And along with that we have the promise of a renewal of creation. We are part of that creation and our bodies, together with everything the LORD has made, will be made new. All this is a hope unseen, but nevertheless real, because of Christ's resurrection (Romans 8:18-25).

Without a doubt, words fail us to describe what awaits, but wait we must and wait we will.So, come LORD Jesus. Come soon—Marana tha (1 Corinthians 16:22).

The Myth of Ragnoroek, the Twilight of the Gods

Three or four times in the past couple days the online radio station I've been listening to has played Richard Wagner's Flight of the Valkyries. Even though the Nazis are out of power— but still around—the music they loved is still very much around and loved as well.

In that connection, the Nordic religion (Asatru, Heathenism or Germanic/Teutonic Paganism) many Nazis embraced, still teaches some kind of end-of-the-world as we know it, to be followed by a new world. I wrote about that in my October 17  entry this year. Here's what I said:

"They called it Ragnaroek, the twilight of the gods. The Germans called it Goetterdammerung, the damnation of the gods. The word was applied to the final days of Nazi German in 1944-45."

As I reflect upon that belief again against the background of Hebrews 9:24-28, a Bible passage I'm pondering this week, I'm forced to ask what Divinity was guiding the destiny of these gods and their inevitable destruction? How could these mighty gods— Freyr, Tyr, Thor and Odin—be killed, together with the previously slain heroes living in Valhalla? Who was the even greater Divine Being behind this judgment?

Now we may call these myths and, in the manner of postmodern man, dismiss them as but interesting stories. However, may I humbly suggest that these man-made stories reflect a perverted memory of the revelation of the LORD God, Ruler of all. Christians are accustomed to call this natural theology. Unbelievers call natural theology the knowledge of God acquired by reason, science and observation. They tell us that there is no need for God to reveal anything further. It can all be found in the universe He/She/They created.

If you choose not to believe in Divine revelation or in the need for it, I would be unable to convince you otherwise by my rational arguments. I will not even try. Rather, I will simply return to my question for today:

Where did the idea of the destruction of the gods come from? God's revelation recorded in the Bible tells us that the demons know there is a time of judgment approaching—and they're afraid. Consider the following Bible passages:

"What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy one of God" (Mark 1:24).

"And behold they cried out, "What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?"" (Matthew 8:29).

These demons knew who Jesus is—the Holy One of God, a title never used to describe an angel or a prophet in the Bible. They also knew about "the time." There is a future appointed time when the demons will face judgment and torment.

Jude writes, "And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day . . ." (Jude 1:6).

And in John's Revelation, "And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever" (Revelation 20:7-10).

The Nazis worshipped the Nordic gods, but in so doing they worshipped the rebel demons who are behind all such forms of religion. These demonic powers know of the destruction that awaits them. They will indeed stand before the Judge of men and gods. The myth of Ragnaroek reflects that knowledge.