The significance of "Gott mit Uns"
Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2014 5:47 pmThe motto "Gott mit Uns" (God with us) was taken from the Bible verse in the first chapter of Matthew and used throughout Prussian and German military history before the Third Reich adopted it and adding the national ensign of an eagle clutching a Hakenkreuz, issued it to all Wehrmacht troops beginning in 1936 -
Although almost all the references to its meaning found in books and on the net in particular claim it was simply meant to state that "God's on our side," or that He is "with us" ideologically or in spirit on the battlefield, as with so many things published and broadcast related to the Christianity of the Third Reich, that is not what is meant by the motto.
"Gott mit Uns" literally and exclusively represents Christ, as per the Bible verse -
"Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." - Matthew 1:23
And the verse as it appears in the 1912 edition of the Luther Bible in German -
"Siehe, eine Jungfrau wird schwanger sein und einen Sohn gebären, und sie werden seinen Namen Immanuel heißen", das ist verdolmetscht: Gott mit uns." - Matthäus 1:23
It's an example of easily accepted sophistry used by many to forgo the specific Biblical source of Gott mit Uns and wrongly relate that it means "God is on our side," as opposed to what its true significance was and why it was adapted by the Wehrmacht for use on millions of enlisted men's belt buckles; and not just because of tradition, as they were under no compulsion to carry on the tradition. If, as the enemies of Christ would have people believe, the Reich was anti-Christian, they certainly wouldn't have made use of the motto. It's likely that most who claim it was nothing more than a pious proclamation by the Reich of God being on their side are just repeating what they've read and heard, without having given it any thought. There are also however some who do know its significance but don't want it to become known that the soldiers of the Wehrmacht carried with them into combat, an homage to the name of Christ along with the symbol of the Third Reich.
Although almost all the references to its meaning found in books and on the net in particular claim it was simply meant to state that "God's on our side," or that He is "with us" ideologically or in spirit on the battlefield, as with so many things published and broadcast related to the Christianity of the Third Reich, that is not what is meant by the motto.
"Gott mit Uns" literally and exclusively represents Christ, as per the Bible verse -
"Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." - Matthew 1:23
And the verse as it appears in the 1912 edition of the Luther Bible in German -
"Siehe, eine Jungfrau wird schwanger sein und einen Sohn gebären, und sie werden seinen Namen Immanuel heißen", das ist verdolmetscht: Gott mit uns." - Matthäus 1:23
It's an example of easily accepted sophistry used by many to forgo the specific Biblical source of Gott mit Uns and wrongly relate that it means "God is on our side," as opposed to what its true significance was and why it was adapted by the Wehrmacht for use on millions of enlisted men's belt buckles; and not just because of tradition, as they were under no compulsion to carry on the tradition. If, as the enemies of Christ would have people believe, the Reich was anti-Christian, they certainly wouldn't have made use of the motto. It's likely that most who claim it was nothing more than a pious proclamation by the Reich of God being on their side are just repeating what they've read and heard, without having given it any thought. There are also however some who do know its significance but don't want it to become known that the soldiers of the Wehrmacht carried with them into combat, an homage to the name of Christ along with the symbol of the Third Reich.
