During World War II, one of the most heinous crimes in history took place – the Holocaust. The Holocaust was the systematic, state-sponsored mass-genocide of six million Jews in Europe during the early-mid 1940s. Many millions of non-Jews (including Gypsies) were also killed during this time. What most do not realize is that this catastrophe was caused by the worldview of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi regime.

The Beliefs of Adolf Hitler  

Hitler was a staunch believer in Darwinism. Darwinism was the belief that evolution proceeded through “survival of the fittest.” Over time, evolution would lead to many different races, some better than others. Nazi Germany believed that the German (Aryan) race was the best and fittest that evolution offered, and all lower/inferior races (practically everybody else) needed to be enslaved or be exterminated. “Darwin’s notion of struggle for survival…legitimized by the latest scientific views, justified the racist’s conception of superior and inferior peoples…and validated the conflict between them.”[1]

The Darwinian worldview led Hitler and his followers to believe many horrible things. First, the Nazis believed that by getting rid of the Jews and other “inferior races” the world would become a better place. Second, people with mental illness were considered to have “bad blood.” As a result, these people had to be destroyed. This included Germans with mental illness. They were considered to be the lower part of the higher German race. Researcher Jerry Bergman says of Hitler’s view, “Only extermination would permanently eliminate these inferior genetic lines, thereby furthering evolution. Darwin even compiled a long list of cases where bad blood polluted a white gene line, causing it, he concluded, to produce impure progeny forever.”[2]

Third, war was a good thing for the Germans to partake in because it would not only eliminate inferior races, but it would weed out the weaker members of the German (superior) race. “Hitler not only unabashedly intended to produce a superior race, but he openly relied on Darwinian thought in both his extermination and war policies.” War was glorified and seen to “upgrade the race.”[3]

The beliefs of Jesus Christ

Hitler’s worldview is the complete opposite of what Jesus Christ stood for. Christ loved the world so much that he sacrificed himself, so that anyone who believed in him would be saved (John 3:16). Jesus offered salvation to everyone, regardless of race, sex, or economic status (Matthew 28:16-20; Galatians 3:28). He also based his teachings on the Old Testament and believed that the book of Genesis was historically reliable (Click here). In fact, Jesus came to earth because of what Adam and Eve did (Romans 5:12-21; 1 Corinthians 15:22).

Jesus also taught people to be peaceful, love their enemies, to love God, and to love their neighbor as they love themselves (Matthew 5:38-48; 22:37-40). He taught that the poor and meek will be blessed and will enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3-10). Jesus loved children so much that he even stated that “whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:4).

Why the Difference?

Why are there so many differences between the worldviews of Hitler and Jesus? Hitler believed that anyone other than “Aryans” were worthless and had to be killed or enslaved. Jesus believed that everyone, regardless of race, was worthy enough to die for. Jesus taught his listeners to be loving, and even to look to other’s needs just as you do your own. Hitler and his followers didn’t believe in loving others; instead others were to be exterminated. Jesus loved children; Hitler wanted many of them dead or brainwashed.

The differences in these men’s views are important because the foundation of our beliefs is determined by what we think about human origins. The book of Genesis presents humanity as being created in the image of God. It presents every human being as being descendants of Adam and Eve. It doesn’t matter what race someone is. This was Jesus’ belief.

However, Hitler believed in the theory of evolution.[4] Evolution teaches us that we are nothing but random mistakes with no meaning in life. In this worldview, there is no heaven or hell, so it doesn’t matter what we think. This was the view of Hitler and the Nazis.

By taking out the biblical worldview that humans were created in the image of God from mainline German theology and the schools, and putting Darwinism in its place, the German society was led to the acceptance of social Darwinism which led to the Holocaust.[5]

This shows us that our worldviews and how we look at the origins of mankind are important. The book of Genesis is the foundation for the gospel and without the account of Adam and Eve, the gospel and teachings of Jesus Christ falls apart (click here). I’ll conclude with this quote from Jerry Bergman:

“If the Nazi party had fully embraced and consistently acted on the belief that all humans were descendants of Adam and Eve, and equal before God as taught in both the Old and New Testaments (the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures), it is probable that the Holocaust and World War II never would have occurred.”[6]

What do you think? Can a society logically love and care for people of other races, economic status, mental illness, and other disabilities within a Darwinian worldview? Leave a comment below.