Moltke and the Bible

Moltke read passages from the Old and New Testament once the war broke out. He read them not only in the context of their origin but also as aids to interpret his current situation.

He discovered that the Passion of Christ recurred in the suffering of the people in his own day. He recognized scenes from the Old and New Testament as portents (foreshadowing) of the here and now. Everything comes up, which his own day had in droves: lawlessness and arbitrariness, murder and slaughter, exploitation and depredation, oppression and annihilation.

The Bible became the book of real human history to him. It also became the book of hope to him. The Major Prophets had offered salvation: The return to God’s life-sustaining and life-saving commandments. Jesus of Nazareth’s preaching of the Gospel contained everything there is to say about humans’ humanity. The Apostles’ preaching of Jesus as the Christ contained everything faith in the crucified and resurrected Lord of humankind and the world can mean in terms of truth and knowledge for one’s own life.

His rigorous concentration on the Apostles’ preaching of the Gospel enabled Moltke to radical reject the Nazis’ substitute neopagan religion. This was the source of his resistance.