The Aryan Jesus

Margaret Pawley Church Times Heschel's fascinating account begins not with the Third Reich but in the middle of the 19th century, when the intellectual foundation was laid for a German Christianity without roots in Judaism. Jewish Book World Some may resist reading another book on the Holocaust. Reacting to the title, they may even presume that its findings would be obvious and that examining its contents is unnecessary. That would be a mistake--with regard to the general attitude about the Holocaust and how it relates to Christian identity, as well as to any misplaced assumptions linked to the phrase Aryan Jesus. -- Henry Knight Christian Century Carefully researched, tightly written, this is an important contribution to the study of Christianity in Nazi Germany... This is a book that deserves our attention--whether we are biblical scholars, contextual theologians or church historians. -- Anthony Egan Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae Heschel's work is beautifully written and densely packed with countless examples of the ways in which the institute's theologians used their own anti-Judaic theology to support the regime's antisemitic policies, to which they lent considerable support... The book will be essential reading for all scholars of the Third Reich and the role of religion in the National Socialist state. -- Beth A. Griech-Polelle H-Net Reviews Heschel's Aryan Jesus is a probing and profoundly disturbing work. Its provocative conclusions invite further research into Christian anti-Semitism, Christian responses to the Holocaust, and the influence of ideology on historical Jesus studies. The text is enhanced by an extensive bibliography and illustrations of Nazi Christian art and architecture. Historians, Scripture scholars, clergy, seminarians, and advanced undergraduates will profit greatly from this outstanding study. -- Peter A. Huff Anglican Theological Review Every good book should provoke and The Aryan Jesus does not disappoint. Heschel's book should spark debate, which no doubt will center on her depiction of the Confessing Church... Heschel's mixture of meticulous scholarship and intellectual provocation will hopefully be read widely and, thus, stimulate more discussion of complicity and false martyrdom. -- Kevin Ostoyich German Studies Review Original, compelling, and deeply disturbing, this book also dispels several ingrained post-1945 West German myths... [T]he account raises pressing questions concerning the difference between Catholic and Protestant theology and church history with regard to race and the history of the study of Judaism after the war. -- Amos Morris-Reich Journal of Religion Heschel's long-anticipated contribution to this historiography is a work that is not only of immense importance and insight empirically but also one that attempts analytically and conceptually to break away from prior narratives. -- Richard Steigmann-Gall American Historical Review The Aryan Jesus is a worthy, indeed essential addition to [the] body of scholarship. Heschel has written a dense and multifaceted study. -- Christopher R. Browning Studies in Contemporary Jewry Aryan Jesus is not only a clear demonstration of the Christian legitimization of the Nazi Holocaust, but also a provocative entrance into the current debates about the relationship of Nazism and Christianity and the identification of Nazism as a political religion. -- Kyle T. Jantzen Journal of Church History In addition to her contributions to Jewish-Christian dialogue, Heschel provides important insights into the collaboration of the professions during the Third Reich. Indirectly, her work also has much to add to the emerging discussion on the religious inflection of German nationalism. -- Shelley Baranowski The Historian Historian Susannah Heschel was 'the first American, the first Jew, and the first person with a laptop' to enter the Institute's archives at Eisenach. She did not emerge empty-handed. -- Leslie Jones Quarterly Review