Mulller v. Matthew

Out of the limbo in which moderate Nazi authorities have been ardently trying to keep him popped Reichsbischof ("Reibi") Ludwig Mueller last week. Bishop Mueller was commissioned three years ago to Nazify all Protestant Christianity. So bullheaded were his tactics on behalf of his strange brand of Christianity that he promptly aroused among outraged churchmen the first effective opposition to the Nazi regime that Germany has yet seen (TIME, June 12, 1933 et seq.). Nazi strategists became alarmed. Reichsbischof Mueller was robbed of all authority, even deprived of his private automobile. Stubbornly he clung to his title, rode on streetcars. Last week in an elaborate limited edition he published his own version of the Gospel according to St. Matthew.

Stamped in gold, the title read: "GERMAN WORDS OF GOD, GERMANIZED BYREICHSBISCHOF LUDWIG MULLER." As a foreword the Bishop explained :

"For you, my fellow countrymen, I have Germanized the Sermon on the Mount. I have not translated it. For you Christianity has been made foreign. I have done this work so that once again you will be able to understand with your hearts God's words in German."

Bishop Mueller's first task was to remove from the Sermon on the Mount all reference to Jews, Pharisees, King Solomon, the Ten Commandments, and to fit what was left into Nazi ideology. Examples:

St. Matthew: Blessed are the peacemakers : for they shall be called the children of God.

Bishop Mueller: Happy are they that live at peace with their fellow countrymen; they act in accordance with God's will.

St. Matthew: Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment.

Bishop Mueller: You must recognize that to commit murder is the result of inner development which begins with jealousy, envy and hatred.

St. Matthew: But I say unto you, that ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Bishop Mueller: When your comrade in excitement strikes you in the face, it is not always correct to strike back immediately.

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