God and I are One

Looking at a quotation that states, "God and I are one."

©2004 by James A. Fowler. All rights reserved.
You are free to download this article provided it remains intact without alteration.
You are also free to transmit this article and quote this article
provided that proper citation of authorship is included.


“GOD AND I ARE ONE”

“God and I are One.
His life is mine; my life is his.
My work is his work, and his work my work.”



Do you agree with the words of the quotation above?

Who is the author of this quotation?

Are these words from a pantheistic adherent of Eastern religion?

Is this a New Age mantra?

Could this be a statement from a “oneness theology” that advocates that man is
essentially united with God?



Be prepared for a shock!

The one who espoused these words was, in his youth, a choirboy in the Austrian Catholic Church. Later, he rebelled against the Christian gospel and the church, seeking other means to fill the spiritual void. On one occasion he declared, “Christianity is the worst thing that ever happened to mankind” (1941).

Like many who have rejected the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and have repudiated God the Father who sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, Adolf Hitler came to believe that he was God. Repeatedly mentioning “divine providence,” he believed that he was inspired by “divine powers” and predestined for greatness as a “man of destiny” who would bring about Germany’s “salvation.”

Adolf Hitler’s belief that the mortal and the divine were one and the same, and there was no God to seek other than himself, was influenced by the German philosopher, Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762–1814). In his multi-volume work by Fichte, Hitler underscored the passage and put an exclamation mark in the margin where Fichte rejected the Holy Trinity and explained instead that the Father was “a natural universal force,” the Son was the “physical embodiment of this force,” and the Holy Spirit was an “expression of the light of reason.” In another location in these writings Fichte asked, “Where did Jesus derive the power that has held his followers for all eternity?” Hitler drew a dark line below the answer: “Through his absolute identification with God.” Believing that he, too, had that “absolute identification with God,” Hitler also highlighted Fichte’s statement, “God and I are One. His life is mine; my life is his. My work is his work, and his work my work.” Hitler was apparently convinced that all of the actions of his life were God at work as him.

We must exercise careful discernment of those who ardently claim, “God and I are One,” for they have often been listening to that spirit who long ago suggested, “You can be as God.”