Julius Wellhausen (1844-1918)

By Brannon S. Howse

In 1878, a German theology professor and author of numerous books “discovered” that the Bible was a book of stories but not the divinely inspired Word of God. He proclaimed his new truth to countless Germans and taught that the Bible could not be trusted, but human reason could. Known as Higher Criticism or German rationalization, this was the contribution to Germany’s cultural demise offered by Julius Wellhausen.

It was also his contribution to the success of Adolf Hitler. Dr. David Breese explains: 

"The initial effect of German rationalization upon a Christian culture was on the schools, churches, and scholarship of Europe….Even so, religion still continued in Europe. There were still large churches, burning candles, beautiful choirs, lovely stained glass windows, congregations…all of that was still there….The Bible was only empty pages written by men who were now dead, rather than revelation of the living God. European Christianity was destroyed from within while still possessing the external form by which it had been known for centuries…the leaders quoted everything but the Bible and preached everything but the gospel, and reality was gone….It was because of religious liberalism that Europe lost its soul."

European Christianity was compromised and changed into a false religion from within as German rationalization or Higher Criticism led people into an essentially humanistic religion. Germany was Hitler’s for the taking because absolute truth and the Gospel of Jesus Christ had long since been betrayed, and thus the German people believed that “the end justifies the means.” In return for regaining their national pride and financial abundance, the people would grant Hitler his dream of hope and change. The masses went along, but, as has happened throughout history, God had a remnant that remained true to Him and His Word. 

A remnant is the group of Christians who stand firm in their Biblical convictions, even in the face of persecution and ridicule. It is often met with hostility not only by the world but by members of the postmodern, dominant, false church—even its deacons, elders, or pastors among “evangelicals.” The remnant can also encounter ridicule from their own family members. Matthew 10:36 declares, “a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.”

History screams that ideas have consequences, that worldview matters. Most Germans, including German Christians, willingly traveled the road to Hitler’s hell, largely because they had lost the courage of their convictions. They had sold out to paganism, pragmatism, and a new gospel that promised everything and required nothing. David Breese sums it up this way:

"It is obvious that Europe, despite its vaunted intellectualism, was unable to defend itself against the arguments and subversions of Nazism, Communism, fascism, the world of the occult, and other diseased ideas. External results in the life of any nation are ultimately caused by the presence or absence of a spiritual core made of divine life and spiritual blessings."

Does this not sound like churches, seminaries, Christian colleges, and some of the best-selling Christian authors in America? Wellhausen’s liberal philosophy eventually jumped the ocean, became popular on the East Coast, and has spread throughout the United States. Many American Christians seem all too willing to go down a path that will surely lead to the destruction of a once great nation. Incredibly, many self-professing Christians are not just following but leading the way over the cliff.

A domineering false church is rising, largely due to pansies in the pulpit. These false teachers have turned the grace of God into lewdness, and they deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ (Jude 3-4). 

But now, as in Germany before us, God calls His remnant to contend for the faith and oppose the false teachers that have crept in unnoticed by most. As described in Revelation 14:12, the remanant are those who remain faithful to the cause of Jesus Christ even during great apostasy: “Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Romans 11:5 also declares, “Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace.” Because of God’s grace—not because of our good works—God has seen fit to save us unto Himself.

You know we have a problem when the Russian newspaper Pravda sees better than we do how America got where it is today. A May 27, 2009, article declared:

"Then their faith in God was destroyed, until their churches, all tens of thousands of different “branches and denominations” were for the most part little more than Sunday circuses and their televangelists and top protestant mega preachers were more than happy to sell out their souls and flocks to be on the “winning” side of one pseudo Marxist politician or another. Their flocks may complain, but when explained that they would be on the “winning” side, their flocks were ever so quick to reject Christ in hopes for earthly power. Even our Holy Orthodox churches are scandalously liberalized in America."

Notice the term used in Pravda: “pseudo Marxist.” Cultural Marxism is what most Americans know only as “political correctness,” but it is the worldview of today’s professors, leading educators, members of the media, numerous self-professing Christians, and almost every politician. Political correctness is a speech code the cultural elite have forced on America to deny the existence of God and His authority in all areas of life. Words have meanings, and words that reflect absolute moral truth based on the character and nature of God are considered bigoted, intolerant, and politically incorrect.

The Bible says, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,” but Germans turned to serving man and worshiping man’s intellect instead of the Almighty God. As a result, they accepted Adolf Hitler’s lies. American’s courts, legislatures, executive branches, and the Church at large have fallen in love with similar deceptions. We’ve rejected the law of the Divine—the bedrock of our Constitutional Republic—in favor of moral relativism, situational ethics, and political correctness. The consequence is that most Americans have surrendered their heritage, their birthright, and their unalienable rights in exchange for the promise of free college, free healthcare, and whatever carrot can be devised to seduce them into slavery.

Our founders tried to warn us that the only workable option was God’s moral law. Otherwise, martial law would be required from fork-tongued politicians who promise all the rights without any of the responsibilities. In general, the Church in America, like the Church in Germany, has not stood in the way of this change but has often been a willing proponent. 

We failed to guard our churches and seminaries, and the radicals—at the behest of people like Saul Alinsky—penetrated every institution of the middle class, every institution that made us free and great. America is dying from within because of the religious Trojan horse crafted by Julius Wellhausen. 

Copyright 2009 ©Brannon Howse. This content is for Situation Room members and is not to be duplicated in any form or uploaded to other websites without the express written permission of Brannon Howse or his legally authorized representative.