Abstract

Far from deemphasizing Jesus’ Jewishness, as theologians in Nazi Germany regularly did, Dietrich Schuler claims that the New Testament’s message was and continues to be detrimental for “Aryans”. In fact, he finds it far more problematic than the Old Testament. His solution is to invent a new religion. I shall thus delve into Dietrich Schuler’s literature that permeated the German neo-Nazi movement during the first decade of the 21st century. Moreover, this article attempts to answer the question why Schuler was unsuccessful in turning his secular disciples into actual believers. I will use and build on a framework put forth by the American sociologist Rodney Stark. I shall also refer to religious sociologist Martin Riesebrodt and his theory of religion.