Theologians Under Hitler -- The Crisis

I am currently reading chapter one of Theologians Under Hitler which is entitled "The Crisis." In Part B of this chapter, the expounding has been almost exclusively about theology with little or nothing about Hitler. The author deals with various kinds of theologies such as "rational-scientific," and "systematic." I will not attempt to describe these. However, the explanation of these approaches to theology and the telling of how they came to be is interesting and I assume helps set the stage for what is to come. As a musician, I was particularly interested in Albert Schweitzer's The Quest for the Historical Jesus.

What I can see so far is that the rise of rationalism as espoused by such writers as Voltaire and the increase in scientific knowledge and discovery, created a crisis for the church. In order to have any reason for being at all emergency action had to be taken. When I finish the chapter I will write more.

But for the time being, I can say that through this book I am coming to a clearer understanding of the cultural background which existed in the century before Hitler, particularly the religious situation. Since the book focuses on theologians rather than Hitler, this should prove invaluable to an understanding of the theologians I wrote of yesterday.

Please excuse me now, for I am overdue for an appointment with Theologians Under Hitler.