Backschat, Maurice
A Lutheran Theologian and National Socialism.
Master thesis, Master Religion Conflict and Globalisation.
Abstract
This thesis produces a biographical account of an influential but often
overlooked Protestant theologian Helmuth Schreiner and explores his political
and theological views. In historical postwar literature, the binary
perception of German Protestant theologians, distinct in either support
or resistance to the NS-regime, was too superficial and neglected the
multifaceted relationship of the clergy to National Socialism before and
during the Third Reich. Over the course of the 1960s and 1970s, historians
added more shades to the black and white picture of the theologians,
drawn in historiography and began to examine the middle ground between
the two extremes as well as looked into less prominent actors. By
analyzing previously underutilized documents from the Schreiner archive,
this thesis contributes to a more detailed picture as it illustrates the
quandary in which especially traditional Lutherans found themselves.
This thesis argues that, driven by the fear of menacing secularism and
atheism, Schreiner was, on the one side, attracted to the völkisch idea and National Socialism, but on the other, was deeply concerned about the antichristian tendencies in these movements. Over the course of the war he changed his sympathy to National Socialism and understood himself
in resistance to the antichristian regime.
| Type: |
Thesis
(Master)
|
| Supervisors (RUG): |
| Supervisor | E-mail | Tutor organization | Tutor email |
|---|
| Weir, T.H. | | Faculteit GGW, Christendom en Ideeengeschiedenis | T.H.Weir@rug.nl | | stuckrad, von, C.K.M. | | | |
|
| Degree programme: |
Master Religion Conflict and Globalisation |
| Academic year: |
2020-2021 |
| Date of delivery: |
16 Sep 2022 11:28 |
| Last modified: |
16 Sep 2022 11:28 |
| URI: |
https://ggw.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/662 |
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