History and Method or Criticism of Religion Religion and
Philosophy in Germany (1834), quoted in Eric Metaxas,
Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy (2010: Thomas Nelson),
p. 115. Christianity — and that is its greatest merit — has
somewhat mitigated that brutal German love of war, but it could
not destroy it. Should that subduing talisman, the cross, be
shattered, the frenzied madness of the ancient warriors, that
insane Berserk rage of which Nordic bards have spoken and sung
so often, will once more burst into flame. This talisman is
fragile, and the day will come when it will collapse miserably.
Then the ancient stony gods will rise from the forgotten debris
and rub the dust of a thousand years from their eyes, and
finally Thor with his giant hammer will jump up and smash the
Gothic cathedrals. ... Thought precedes action as lightning
precedes thunder. German thunder ... comes rolling somewhat
slowly, but .. its crash ... will be unlike anything before in
the history of the world. [W]hen you hear a cras