Several years ago, a Hindu co-worker challenged me on the concept of Christian forgiveness. She asked whether Hitler might have won a reprieve to be welcomed into heaven if he had a last-minute conversion. I stated that theoretically this would have been possible for such an evildoer to receive forgiveness, but she did not stick around to get a full answer and the opportunity did not present itself again.

I’d like to provide a more fulsome answer now in the hopes that someone might benefit if the subject comes up for them. The scope, however, will be more expansive since I plan to address the other common claim that Hitler was a professing Christian. If you ever have the good fortune to have an actual debate with an atheist – since this is one of their favourite criticisms – then this may offer some ammunition to address the age-old question: Who owns Hitler?

Beginning with my atheist friend, we need to keep in mind that forgiveness cannot be summoned up out of convenience to try to pull one’s acorns out of the fires of hell. This is why the trope that “there are no atheists in foxholes” is not really very accurate. Sure, the prospect of facing one’s death gives a clarity about what matters most in life, but this does not bring one to the throne of God. It is not an act of desperation, but of contrition and submission to the person of Christ as this alone can cleanse us of the stain of our sin. Put another way: God will not be mocked (Galatians 6:7).

Living a life of moral depravity, showing a reckless disregard for God’s creation and for his calling on your life will not result in a repentant heart. Trying to redeem your “Get Out of Hell Free” card at the finish line will not somehow pull a fast one on God where he is forced to grant your wish for saying the magic words. Repentance comes from a willing submission to Christ’s lordship and is a precondition for forgiveness. No one uttering a sincere deathbed confession would welcome standing before God with a ledger bathed in red. They would desire the opportunity to demonstrate that they have been transformed and can set right what they had done.

There is actually a far more devastating issue for Hitler or his pretenders that I will address as we deal with the claims that Hitler was a Christian.

There is an irony in my co-worker’s critique of Christian forgiveness since she is actually mocking the very quality that offers her the hope of salvation. Being a Hindu means that she has rejected the Judeo-Christian God and therefore has no claim on the gift of grace that is available to her. That said, this forgiveness loophole is what holds the gates of heaven open for her if she is to turn her back on the millions of gods within her faith in favour of the one true God. She is, after all, in the same hell-bound position as Hitler unless she repents. I don’t doubt that she sees herself as a generally good person and therefore would cling to the false promise atheists believe might sneak them in. They are convinced that they should be allowed to enter heaven if it turns out they were wrong because they were “not bad people”. Certainly not as bad as, say, Hitler.

Conversely, I would have loved to have her inform me of what standard her faith would apply to determine under Hinduism what karma would do for Hitler in the next life if he were to embrace Hinduism. In the years I worked with her, I was hard pressed to gain an understanding of what constitutes moral fealty under her faith.

By outward appearances, she largely seemed to fall in line with the zeitgeist – especially as it adapted to the leftist notions of social justice, critical theory, and adoption of the GLBTQBECONTINUED agenda imposed over the years. If being an obedient Hindu means swimming with the tide, then that strikes me as an easy faith to follow. One must simply tack on some religious observances to simply going with the flow and assumedly this would move them up the reincarnation ladder.

Without clarity or specificity, however, I can’t help feeling like she is missing the bigger picture. After all, atheists tend to borrow from the moral standards of Christianity in order to condemn Christians; all while holding to a belief that, of necessity, cannot claim any objective morality. A sincere question that warrants a substantial response is: How can a Hindu condemn Hitler’s actions according to their faith. In other words, what is the chapter and verse that says what Hitler did was objectively wrong or evil? How can we know that he didn’t acquire his tyrannical power and enjoy great success because he was meeting the karmic calling on his life. How can we know that Vishnu did not greet him with, “Well done, good and faithful servant. I will put you at the head of the World Economic Forum.”

Despite the sarcasm, my query is sincere. You can only judge a faith by its convictions. Christianity has the clearest teaching of any faith system and is the gold standard for making moral determinations. When your opponents try to claim that moral virtues spelled out in scripture are relevant because people evolved to embrace ideas set out by goat-herders millennia ago, then they have a problem. The same is true of those with murky ethical standards like those held by Hindus.

As to the idea that Hitler was a Christian, I will pull from some of the most oft-cited examples used to tarnish him with the label of “Christian.”

Before that, I should make a distinction in that he didn’t just claim to be a Christian, but a Catholic in particular. That is relevant to the point that, under the reformation, Protestants severed connections with the Catholic church because we believed that the teachings had become perverted by allowing adaptations under the rights claimed by church authorities to inject several points of dogma – even in direct contravention of biblical instruction.

Let’s look at Hitler’s claims in his own words. These are taken from a website created by atheists for atheists to condemn Christ-followers.

“We demand freedom for all religious confessions in the state, insofar as they do not endanger its existence or conflict with the customs and moral sentiments of the Germanic race. The party as such represents the standpoint of a positive Christianity, without owing itself to a particular confession…” (Article 20 of the program of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party)

Any Christian right away should see the inherent flaws here. This actually reflects the atheist sentiment where Hitler asserts that there is a “positive Christianity” and that is one that submits in compliance to the welfare of the “Germanic race”. Not only does Christianity reject the notion that there is any race beyond the human race that traces back to Adam and Eve, but we know that Christianity is a natural enemy of the world (John 17:14, John 15:19, 1 John 4:5). To the degree that we allow the world to override and shape biblical standards for moral conduct, we are putting the state before our Lord and are in rebellion. This is a nonsensical concept.

“I am now as before a Catholic and will always remain so.” (to General Gerhard Engel, 1941)

Virulent proponents of abortion and enemies of the Christian faith such as Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, and Pierre & Justin Trudeau claim or claimed to be Catholics. Need I say more?

“I had an excellent opportunity to intoxicate myself with the solemn splendor of the brilliant church festivals. As was only natural, the abbot seemed to me, as the village priest had once seemed to my father, the highest and most desirable ideal.” (Mein Kampf, Vol. 1 Chapter 1)

These are flowery words about the trappings of the Catholic faith. Once again, there is absolutely no direct reference anywhere to Christian character or the Lord himself. There is certainly nothing about adhering to biblical foundations.

“As long as leadership from above was not lacking, the people fulfilled their duty and obligation overwhelmingly. Whether Protestant pastor or Catholic priest, both together and particularly at the first flare, there really existed in both camps but a single holy German Reich, for whose existence and future each man turned to his own heaven. (Mein Kampf, Vol. 1 Chapter 3)

This is pagan rhetorical gobbledygook that appears to do nothing more that try to entice those who profess to be Catholics or Protestants to go along with his perverse take on what it means to be a Christian. One can see that this would be a utilitarian ploy to invoke those with no biblical moorings to come together to satisfy his lust for authoritarian control by trying to charm them. Think of “Get jabbed, wear a mask, socially distance, and close your church to show that you love your neighbour.

Oh, and we do not have our own heavens.

“The more abstractly correct and hence powerful this idea will be, the more impossible remains its complete fulfillment as long as it continues to depend on human beings…If this were not so, the founders of religion could not be counted among the greatest men of this earth…In its workings, even the religion of love is only the weak reflection of the will of its exalted founder; its significance, however, lies in the direction which it attempted to give to a universal human development of culture, ethics, and morality. (Mein Kampf, Vol. 1 Chapter 8)

This is precisely the kind of incomprehensible absurdity one would expect to hear from a social justice professor who has a “COEXIST” bumper sticker and believes that we should all bow down to one world government and religion under the doctrines of leftism. Nothing scriptural here once again.

“…the personification of the devil as the symbol of all evil assumes the living shape of the Jew.” (Mein Kampf, Vol. 1 Chapter 11)

No. The devil is a fallen angel – not a Jew. Not only are the Jews God’s chosen people, but Christ’s earthly lineage and the disciples/apostles belong to the lineage of Judaism. They are the ones who brought Judeo-Christian teachings and the Bible itself to the gentiles. Such claims are the hallmark of a deceiver of whom we were forewarned (Colossians 2:8, 2 Thessalonians 2:3, Ephesians 5:6, Jeremiah 29:8, 1 Corinthians 6:9).

“And the founder of Christianity made no secret indeed of his estimation of the Jewish people. When He found it necessary, He drove those enemies of the human race out of the Temple of God; because then, as always, they used religion as a means of advancing their commercial interests. But at that time Christ was nailed to the Cross for His attitude towards the Jews; whereas our modern Christians enter into party politics and when elections are being held they debase themselves to beg for Jewish votes. They even enter into political intrigues with the atheistic Jewish parties against the interests of their own Christian nation.” (Mein Kampf, Vol. 1 Chapter 11)

Jesus drove the moneylenders out of the temple because they were desecrating the place of worship that belongs solely to God. It was a condemnation of the actions in that moment, not collectively of the Jewish people. Again, Christ and the disciples/apostles were Jews. Christ’s was highly critical of the Jewish leaders, but for what Hitler was doing – perverting the scriptural teachings. He died on the cross out of his all-encompassing and sacrificial love for the Jews and Gentiles that were his creation; crying out “God, forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing”. The only one politicizing the faith is Hitler.

“My feelings as a Christian points me to my Lord and Saviour as a fighter. It points me to the man who once in loneliness surrounded by a few followers, recognized these Jews for what they were and summoned men to fight against them and who, God’s truth! was greatest not as sufferer but as a fighter. In boundless love as a Christian and as a man I read through the passage which tells us how the Lord at last rose in His might and seized the scourge to drive out of the temple the brood of vipers and adders…Today, after two thousand years, with deepest emotion I recognize more profoundly than ever before the fact that it was for this that He had to shed His blood upon the Cross…” (speech on April 12, 1922)

This is simply Hitler trying to put himself on the throne to judge those against whom he holds clear contempt – the Jews. He sounds like every deceiving leftist who tries to shoehorn some justification for their personal agenda. As a recent example, look to Governor Gavin Newsome who attempted to justify abortion with a billboard campaign where he cites Mark 12:31: “Love your neighbour as yourself. There is no greater commandment than these”. Note the grammatical error as he intentionally left out the first and foundational principle behind the greatest commandment to “…love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength”. Nowhere does the Bible suggest that tearing apart the baby in the womb is a way to love him or one’s neighbour. In fact, the baby in the womb is a neighbour that Newsome believes deserves no love. He might want to re-read the story of the good Samaritan that demonstrates love by showing compassion even for those who you hold in low regard.

The distinction between Hitler and the left is that Hitler paints Christ as a fighter while the hard left claims he is a pacifist. Both are distortions meant to serve an agenda. Leftists want to roll over Christians by having them surrender to prevent them from impeding their plans while Hitler wanted to enlist them to assist with his power grab.

“The fact that the Curia is now making its peace with Fascism shows that the Vatican trusts the new political realities far more than did the former liberal democracy with which it could not come to terms…The fact that the Catholic Church has come to an agreement with Fascist Italy…proves beyond doubt that the Fascist world of ideas is closer to Christianity than those of Jewish liberalism or even atheistic Marxism…” (Article in the Volkischer Beobachter, February 29, 1929)

First, this is Hitler’s interpretation of the shared values between the Catholic church and fascism. I don’t happen to know the historical context to verify his claims, but I do know that the current pope has socialist and totalitarian sensibilities; which is why he is denounced by practicing Christians and Catholics. A pope does not represent scripture. In fact, Hitler’s attempt to focus on the pope rather than scripture shows there is no biblical defense for fascism. This is the opinion of an oligarch trying to justify his political ambitions.

“By its decision to carry out the political and moral cleansing of our public life, the Government is creating and securing the conditions for a really deep and inner religious life. The advantages for the individual which may be derived from compromises with atheistic organizations do not compare in any way with the consequences which are visible in the destruction of our common religious and ethical values. The national Government sees in both Christian denominations the most important factor for the maintenance of our society. (speech before the Reischstaf, March 23, 1933)

Again, this is a call for political agendas to over-ride scripture through compromise – the very thing that churches should stand against. Cooperation with government is what eradicates Christian influence as the silence of the church in the face of their moral transformation of society in our present time where biblical Christianity is increasingly illegal and a “good church” is one that renounces its convictions in favour of the prevailing secular orthodoxy.

“Today Christians…stand at the head of (this country)…I pledge that I never will tie myself to parties who want to destroy Christianity…We want to fill our culture again with the Christian spirit…We want to burn out all the recent immoral developments in literature, in the theatre, and in the press – in short, we want to burn out the poison of immorality which has entered into our whole life and culture as a result of liberal excess during the past…(few) years.” (the speeches of Adolph Hitler, 1922-1939, Vol. 1)

A dictator wanting to eradicate the “poison” of immorality through determining what literature and theatre is deemed acceptable to the state? That is precisely how Christianity’s influence has been eroded and all the book burners and censors are on the secular left while the Christians are calling for free speech to speak truth to an unbelieving world.

This brings us to why there is every reason to believe Hitler had no prospect ever of going to heaven – even with a sincere deathbed confession. There is one sin in all of scripture that Christ states will not be forgiven: blaspheming against the spirit (Mark 3:28-30). By Hitler committing evils while claiming to be acting on Christ’s behalf, he has condemned himself to hell through his heresies. It is his false witness as a proclaimed Christ follower as justification to commit murder that renders him eternally condemned.

It may shock you to learn that in addition to being an evil and blasphemous murderer, he also has a penchant for lying. For your reading enjoyment, I have linked to Hitler’s “Table Talks” – private conversations. I’ll leave you to decide whether public political speeches or what is said while the cameras are off best reflects the heart of a man. In it you will read of how he saw Christianity as the greatest obstacle to be defeated in order to bring about his German national socialist vision.

The final takeaway that must not be forgotten is that Christianity actually offers the only real hope for ultimate justice for evildoers such as Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, et al. Where is the vindication for the victims of such atrocious evils if it is not found in God’s final judgment where the righteous receive eternity with God and the perpetrators of evil end up in the lake of fire. Even for the Hindu, if there is any comeuppance for such individuals, then they merely slide down the reincarnation ladder with others who maybe cheated on their taxes or had an unfavourable start from their former afterlife. Assumedly, they could make a karmic correction and once again be restored over time to a place of honour.

Sorry, but any attempt to draw any parallels between Hitler and the Christian faith are specious and absurd.  In the finest tradition of atheism, Hitler felt empowered to determine his own moral justifications and he exploited whatever and whoever he could to bring his plans to fruition. To the extent that the church was not more of an obstacle to his nefarious endeavours is a sign that we failed to be the opposition that we ought to have been. That is the extent of our complicity.