148. We could draw many instructive parallels: we could say that as Jesus was treated so also have the German people been treated.—"War Sermons," by Pastor H. Francke, quoted in H.A.H., p. 63.
149. In this solemn hour, when we lament over our dead heroes, we experience, more deeply than ever before, the passion of our Lord.... Is not Germany itself transformed into a suffering Christ? We, too, have gone through our hour of trial on the Mount of Olives, when with our Kaiser we prayed that the cup of suffering might pass away from us; and we, too, obeying the unfathomable will of God, have begun to drain it.... We, too, were betrayed by those to whom we had shown nothing but justice and kindness; and around us, too, resounded, in accents of hatred and envy, the cry of "Crucify him!"—Pastor F.X. Münch, reported by Sven Hedin, "With the German Armies in the West," p. 336.
150. We assert the view that ... what once happened to Luther is now happening to our people: it is experiencing a repetition of the Passion of Christ.—Dr. Preuss, quoted in H.A.H., p. 206.
151. A hard and steep Via Crucis lies before the great benefactor and magnanimous liberator of the Kultur-world, the German people. Although it looks beyond the gloom of Good Friday to the dawn of Easter morn, beyond the dark days of war to the beacons of triumph—yet the cross still rests on its shoulders, and the Golgotha of the hardest decision still awaits it.—Hofprädikant Stipberger, quoted in "False Witness" (Klokke Roland), p. 17.
152. It was the hidden meaning of God that He made Israel the forerunner (Vordeuter) of the Messiah, and in the same way He has by His hidden intent designated the German people to be His successor.—Dr. Preuss, quoted in H.A.H., p. 214.
153. German craving for truth and German strength of faith, working along Biblical paths, have attained to the true faith, the pure religiousness, whose first and greatest spokesman is Jesus Christ. Thus the Germans are the very nearest to the Lord, and may claim for themselves that they have "continued His word".... We fight, then, for Christianity[17] as against degeneration and barbarism.... God must be with us and victory ours. This is guaranteed us by the truth of our nature, which is as German as it is Christian.—"War Sermons," by Pastor H. Francke, quoted in H.A.H., p. 71.
154. A Jesusless horde, a crowd of the Godless, are in the field against us.... May God surround us with His protection ... since our defeat would also mean the defeat of His Son in humanity.—"War Devotions," by Pastor J. Rump, quoted in H.A.H., p. 119.
155. The German people, bearing forward in victory the Evangel of the Cross of Christ,[18] is the great Christophorus in the world of the nations.—"The Christianity of the Belligerent Nations," by Pastor F. Erdmann, quoted in H.A.H., p. 148.
156. Let us rejoice that Envy has risen up against us; it only shows that God has exalted and richly blessed us. Think of Him who was hanged on the Cross and seemed forsaken of God, and had to tread in such loneliness His path to victory. My German people, even if thy road be strewn with thorns and beset by enemies, press onward, full of defiance and confidence.... Thou and thy God, ye are the majority.—Pastor D. Vorwerk, quoted in H.A.H., p. 38.
157. Kant and Jesus go through our people, seeking their disciples.—Pastor G. Traub, D.K.U.S., p. 22.