NAZI GOSPEL OF ST. JOHN

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 21991, 15 January 1937, Page 11

NAZI GOSPEL OF ST. JOHN

Jews Made to Appear Christ's Enemies AN EVANGELICAL CHURCH VERSION (UNITED TRESS ASSOCIATION — COPYRIGHT.) (Received January 14, 8.35 p.m.) BERLIN, January 13. ' A new version of the Gospel ac- ! cording to St. John hos been issued by the Bremen group of ihe Nazi minority in the Evangelical Church, who are self-styled "German Christians." It is reminiscent of the German "Sermon on the Mount," but avoids the cruder faults in taste marring that work. Dr. Weidemann, Evangelical Bishop of Bremen, collaborated and sponsors the production. The Gospel of St. John was chosen apparently because in it rather than in the other Gospels Jews can be made to appear more clearly as the opponents of Christ. There is also a tendency to gloss over the more mystical parts. The name of Moses is removed, and the purpose, it appears, is to imply that Christ felt the contempt for the Old Testament now incul- : cated in modern Germans. It is a [favourite Nazi theory that Christ belonged to Teuton stock, which settled, as the Disciples also settled, in parts of the Holy Land, and subtle changes in the new version suggest that the Disciples were also non-Jews. Jewish names such as Elijah and Isaiah are replaced by the term prophets. [ln April last. Bishop Mueller published a Nazified version of the Sermon on the Mount, in which such words as "meek" and "peaceful" were replaced by "manlier" terms. For instance, Matthew v., 5, became "Blessed is he who is at all times a good comrade, he will succeed in the world." The original words are: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."]