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Wiener's thesis represents what historians call the "Sonderweg" (special path) interpretation of German history—the idea that German history logically proceeded from Luther to Hitler.
Wiener's book doesn't actually prove the connection—he shows similarities between Luther's and Hitler's views but doesn't demonstrate causation.
The fact that many German Lutherans supported Hitler while many others did not weakens the direct causation
Gordon Rupp published a direct response titled "Martin Luther: Hitler's Cause—or Cure" through Lutterworth Press in 1945, specifically countering Wiener's book.
Wiener's interpretation was common in American scholarship in the mid-20th century but was almost universally rejected by German historians in the 1960s who argued that Nazism was simply one instance of totalitarianism that arose in various countries, not something uniquely rooted in German Protestant culture.
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