Spirit and Culture in German Christian Theology : The Spiritual Awakening of a Nation

This book reveals the function of Spirit within the theological self-understanding of German Christian theologians within the Third Reich period.

Historians and theologians have discussed how the life and works of Jesus Christ was apprehended and distorted by Nazi-sympathizing theologians within the German Evangelical Church throughout the National Socialist period. Ryan Buesnel adds to these critical conversations, demonstrating how the influences of German idealism, theological liberalism, and Völkisch philosophy provided the groundwork for a new concept of Spirit that transformed how many German Protestants understood the pneumatological content of Christian doctrine. Across nine chapters, Buesnel reveals that this warping of Christian doctrine for pro-Nazi ends resulted in a largely de-sacralized understanding of Spirit which symbolized a new era in German Christianity. By turning to the original German Völkisch and National Socialist Weltanschauung texts, Buesnel grounds his analysis in trinitarian theology, offering fresh insights not only of German Christianity and pneumatology, but Nazi-sympathizing rhetoric''s use of Christian doctrine.