The gospel of the fatherland : christianity, universality and national thought in France and Germany in the early 20th century

Omtale

France and Germany in the early 20th century were communities of faith. In the national rhetoric of the time they appear not only as countries but as beliefs. A national gospel was closely linked to each of them, which this innovative doctoral thesis sets out to explore. The gospel of republican France was a transfer of faith from the Church to the republican nation. That of imperial Germany was a fusion of national and Lutheran-Protestant thought. In both countries, a common Catholic version of the gospel was in opposition: it accepted neither model, insisting on an ideal of a symbiosis between state and Church. A complex interplay between national and religious tradition produced two very different national gospels. France was an open universalistic church, corresponding to catholic tradition. Conversely, the German national community appeared much more as a particularistic tribe: it was considerably more self-referential, had strong anti-universalistic currents and a more 'closed' view of the national community. It appeared as a community not only of faith, but equally of blood.