"Speaking of Prussians--"Cobb, Irvin S. (Irvin Shrewsbury)
History
"Speaking of Prussians--"
Cobb, Irvin S. (Irvin Shrewsbury)
National characteristics, German; World War, 1914-1918
I am coming now to what seems to me to be the most important
consideration of all. In this war upon which we have entered our chief
enemy is a nation firmly committed to the belief that whatever it may do
is most agreeable in the sight of God. It is firmly committed to the
belief that the acts of its Kaiser, its Crown Prince, its government,
its statesmen, its generals and its armies are done in accordance with
the will and the purposes of God. And, by the same token, it is
committed, with equal firmness, to the conviction that the designs and
the deeds of all the nations and all the peoples opposed to their nation
must perforce be obnoxious to God. By the processes of their own
peculiar theology--a theology which blossomed and began to bear its
fruit after the war started, but for which the seed had been sown long
before--God is not Our God but Their God. He is not the common creator
of mankind, but a special Creator of Teutons. He is a German God. For
you to say this would sound in American ears like sacrilege. For me to
write it down here smacks of blasphemy and impiety. But to the
German--in Germany--it is sound religion, founded upon the Gospels and
the Creed, proven in the Scriptures, abundantly justified in the
performances and the intentions of an anointed and a sanctified few
millions among all the unnumbered millions who breed upon the earth.
Now here, by way of a beginning, is the proof of it. This proof is to be
found in a collection of original poems published by a German pastor,
the Reverend Herr Doktor Konsistorialrat D. Vorwerk. In the first
edition of his book there occurred a paraphrase of the Lord's Prayer, of
which the following are the last three petitions and the close:
"Though the warrior's bread be scanty, do Thou work daily death and
tenfold woe unto the enemy. Forgive in merciful long-suffering each
bullet and each blow which misses its mark! Lead us not into the
temptation of letting our wrath be too tame in carrying out Thy
divine judgment! Deliver us and our Ally from the infernal Enemy
and his servants on earth. Thine is the kingdom, The German Land;
may we, by aid of Thy steel-clad hand, achieve the power and the
glory."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account