Oskar Ernst Bernhardt, also known as Abd-ru-shin or Abdruschin (18 April 1875 – 6 December 1941) was a German religious leader, best known as the author of '' The Grail Message'' and as prophet and leader of the Grail Movement, a

millenarian Millenarianism or millenarism () is the belief by a religious organization, religious, social, or political party, political group or Social movement, movement in a coming fundamental Social transformation, transformation of society, after which ...

new religious movement A new religious movement (NRM), also known as a new religion, is a religious or Spirituality, spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in origin, or they can be part ...

. Beginning in the 1920s, Abd-ru-shin proclaimed that the Millennial kingdom of God would begin on Earth during the mid 1930s, drawing from Christian legend, as well as

Theosophy Theosophy is a religious movement established in the United States in the late 19th century. Founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and based largely on her writings, it draws heavily from both older European philosophies such as Neop ...

and other

Western Esotericism Western esotericism, also known as the Western mystery tradition, is a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas and currents are united since they are largely distinct both from orthod ...

Life, publishing, legacy

Bernhardt was born in

Bischofswerda Bischofswerda (; ) is a small town in eastern Germany at the western edge of Upper Lusatia in Saxony. Geography The town is located 33 km to the east of Dresden at the edge of the Upper Lusatian mountain country. The town is known as t ...

, in the

Kingdom of Saxony The Kingdom of Saxony () was a German monarchy in Central Europe between 1806 and 1918, the successor of the Electorate of Saxony. It joined the Confederation of the Rhine after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, later joining the German ...

, part of the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

, in 1875, to a innkeeping family. He trained in business, graduating from a business school. Bernhardt established his own business in 1897 and got married, but was accused of fraud on separate occasions by his mother in law and former business partners, and spent 13 months in prison. From around 1900, he traveled and wrote travel books, stories, and plays, with his plays becoming somewhat popular. He was separated from his wife and children and living London when

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

broke out (having recently returned from a business trip to New York) and in 1915 he was interned by the British Government on the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

due to his German nationality. He was released in the spring of 1919 and returned to Germany. He likely first began to forumulate his religious ideas during his internment. On Good Friday 1923, Bernhardt proclaimed that Jesus "came down to the Earth in order to transfer his task of the Mediator between God and mankind to the Son of Man." He began to write the religious writings of what ultimately become '' In the Light of Truth: The Grail Message'' beginning in 1923 and completed it in 1931. From 1924 he used the pen name "Abd-ru-shin" (originally "Abdruschin") of allegedly Persian-Arabic origin, which Bernhardt originally interpreted as meaning “The Son of the Holy Spirit”, but which many later authors have translated as "Son of Light". Bernhardt claimed to be the

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...

or Son of Man,Sources for 'Messiah', 'true Christ', 'Son of Man', or 'biblical Immanuel': and fortold an imminent coming of God's Kingdom on Earth in the mid 1930s. In his own book he presented himself (his own message) as "the last helping hand extended to humanity right before the world’s end", i.e. after Jesus Christ failed in his salvific mission almost two thousands years beforehand. In 1928, he settled in an estate at Vomperberg,

Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

. By the end of the 1920s Bernhardt had managed to attract a following of several thousand people, primarily Germans, Austrians, Swiss and Czechs. At Vomperberg, Berhardt developed a settlement for his followers. In 1936, Abd-ru-shin was arrested "because of infractions of currency laws". The

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

arrested Abd-ru-shin in 1936 on the grounds of illegal foreign exchange from Germany to Austria. It turns out that this operation was carried out in absentia, over his head, by two leaders of the Community. Therefore, he was unaware of anything and did not give his consent to this action. Records confirm that Abd-ru-shin had given an express order to his collaborators, that they should always strictly follow all legal requirements. Abd-ru-shin was arrested on that occasion without knowing anything about what was happening. Months later, he was declared innocent and released. The settlement ended when the Nazis got angry at him. Many of his former members were also angry with him. In 1938, Abd-ru-shin was arrested after Austria came under German occupation. He was described in newspapers as the Messiah of the Tyrol and the Prophet of Vomperberg. He admitted in the Grail Message that the "leading newspapers" did describe him so. Certain strands of the Grail Movement consider Abd-ru-shin's wife Maria and her daughter divine as well. Bernhardt died in 1941, without his prophecy being fulfilled. Bernhardt's followers would rationalise the failure of the prophecy following his death by suggesting that the date of the coming of God's kingdom is unknowable. After the war, his family returned to Vomperberg and carried on his work leading the Grail Movement. Other writings by Abd-ru-shin published by Grail Foundation Press include ''The Ten Commandments of God and The Lord's Prayer'', ''Questions and Answers'', and ''Prayers''.

References

Bibliography

* Kurt Hutten: ''Seher - Grübler - Enthusiasten''. 1997, , S. 531–549 * Helmut Obst: ''Apostel und Propheten der Neuzeit – Gründer christlicher Religionsgemeinschaften des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts''. 4., stark erweiterte und aktualisierte Auflage. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2000, * Andreas Plagge: "Bernhardt, Oskar Ernst". In: ''Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon'' (BBKL). Band 22, Bautz, Nordhausen 2003, , Sp. 120–122

* Georg Schmid: ''Kirchen, Sekten, Religionen''. 2003, , S. 219–221 * * Patrick Diemling: ''Neuoffenbarungen Religionswissenschaftliche Perspektiven auf Texte und Medien des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts'', Universitätsverlag Potsdam, 2012

External links

Abd-ru-shin, Author of the Work: In the Light of Truth, The Grail Message

Abd-ru-shin: In the Light of Truth, Grail Message

1920-1941: The history of the origin and development of Abd-ru-shin and his main work "In the Light of Truth"

Abd-ru-shin: The Ten Commandments of God - Explained to Mankind by Abd-ru-shin

Abd-ru-shin: The Lord's Prayer - Explained to Mankind by Abd-ru-shin

Ordem do Graal na Terra (in English)

Grail Message (1931)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abd-Ru-Shin 1875 births 1941 deaths People from Bischofswerda Writers from the Kingdom of Saxony 20th-century German male writers Writers from Saxony Self-declared messiahs Founders of new religious movements Religious writers 20th-century apocalypticists

Life, publishing, legacy

See also

References

Bibliography

External links