
The Nazis came to power in a Germany which had been prepared by the theory of evolution and the “superman” philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche to accept the Nazi idea of German racial superiority. And the so-called “higher criticism” of German theologians such as Julius Wellhausen gave the evolutionary account of origins higher status than the biblical account in the theology of most of the German churches.
While rejecting Christianity, the Nazis were Deists, invoking God in the process of evolution. Evolution was the “proof” that God was using “survival of the fittest” to perfect humanity, with the Aryan/Nordic/German type being the master race at the pinnacle of God’s use of creation. For example, at the naming ceremony for children of SS men (the secret police and warrior elite of the Nazis), the following blessing was delivered:
“We believe in the God of all things
And in the mission of German blood,
Which grows ever young from German soil.
We believe in the race, carrier of the blood,
And in the Fuhrer, chosen for us by God.”
Is it really any wonder, then, that when accused of war crimes and “crimes against God” following World War II, the Nazis were known to claim that they were only assisting God in His work of evolving a master race? Is it any wonder that they were simply carrying out the program of “Survival of the Fittest”, which in their minds God had used to create the world including mankind? This applies not just to those infamous Nazis at the Nuremberg trials.
We must remember that Nazi programs of eugenic eradication and racial selection were designed and put in place by respected and respectable academics, judges, heads of hospitals, and heads of scientific institutes. Many of these people had church memberships. Through the distortion of theistic evolution, many Nazis and others were able to justify their actions as co-laboring with God! Theistic evolution has born some bad fruit – and we must be alert not to compromise with it in our theology today. There is no scientific reason to do so!
– Mark Cadwallader, Board Chairman Creation Moments
REF.: Clay, C., and Leapman, M., Master Race: The Lebensborn Experiment in Nazi Germany, Coronet Books, Hodder and Stoughton, 1995, pg 34. Photo: Nuremberg Trials, Looking down on defendants, Ray D’Addario, PD, via Wikimedia Commons.
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