The Aryan Jesus: Christian Theologians and the Bible in Nazi Germany

by Susannah Heschel

Was Jesus a Nazi? During the Third Reich, German Protestant theologians redefined Jesus as an Aryan and Christianity as a religion at war with Judaism. In 1939, these theologians established the Institute for the Study and Eradication of Jewish Influence on German Religious Life. Based on years of archival research, The Aryan Jesus examines the membership and activities of this controversial theological organization.

Susannah Heschel details how the Institute sponsored propaganda conferences throughout the Nazi Reich and published books defaming Judaism, including a non Jewish version of the New Testament and catechism proclaiming Jesus as the savior of the Aryans. Examining the nazified Christianity of the Third Reich, The Aryan Jesus raises vital questions about Christianity's recent past and the ambivalent place of Judaism in Christian thought.