In his book, The Mathausen Trial: American Military Justice in Germany (Harvard UP, 2012), Tomaz Jardim mentions several notable evangelical and Catholic churchmen who vehemently opposed Nazism. A number of historians have paid attention to these acts of resistance, but I am wondering to what degree were some parishes/churches influenced by Nazism as an ideology? Were there churches, either Reformed, Lutheran, or Catholic, in which Nazism was fused with Christian praxis? If so, to what degree did Nazism influence liturgies? What did these liturgies look like and how receptive to these "new" ideas were the laity?
Great question! Have been reading about. And, while there were resistance it was quite meager, "So Hitler did not need to fear any resistance from the Protestant church. It welcomed the 'national revolution' all along the line. Most prominent in doing this was a group which had been founded in 1932 with the aim of combining Christianity and national Socialism. They named themselves 'German Christians', and in their program called for a quite special Christianity for Germans 'in keeping with the german spirit of Luther and heroic piety.'
This 'Christianity' contained the complete Nazi ideology"
Against Marxism
Against the "unfit"
Keep race pure ((xcerpts from what the author claims was part of their statement of guidelines)
All above from- Dieter Bonhoeffer A spoke in the Wheel by Renate Wind
Executed by the nazis "He did not live to see how the German Christians felt no guilt over the concentration camps, euthanasia programs, and genocide and how after the end of the nazi regime almost all of them would remain in office." pg 72
You might enjoy Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Proohet, Martyr, Spy for a good look at church resistance to Nazism.