A dark shadow hangs over the Church and – though it pains me to say this – it has much to do with the legacy of one Martin Luther. Hailed as the great saviour of Christendom for his ‘re-discovery’ of the Gospel truth that salvation comes not through our own perceived good works, but by faith and through the sheer grace of God, he also tragically handed on the baton of anti-Semitism.
The man who opened the door for the Reformation with his 95 theses condemning, not least, the practice of indulgences1, which even then were paying for the building of St Peter’s in Rome, is also said to have sowed the seeds of the 20th Century Holocaust which saw six million Jews murdered by the Nazis.
Not only did he hold the Jews in abject disdain; he also wrote vitriolic pamphlets against them.
Neither Love nor Compassion
At the time of the 500th anniversary (2017) of Luther’s great challenge to the Church of his day, a plethora of books were published on the achievements of the former monk, but the shocking truth of the German hero’s Jew-hatred is still little-known, even in churches, though nevertheless well-documented. This is made clear in a new book by Fred Wright, The Dark Legacy of Martin Luther (Chesed Publishing, 2019).
It will no doubt come as a profound shock to many proud Protestants that there is a dark side to Luther, and I commend Fred for having the courage to nail his timely thesis to the church door, although it is a little difficult to follow in places.
The truth is that Luther’s writings show neither love nor compassion for the Jews, and because of his huge influence, his views on the subject were to cause great suffering.
It will no doubt come as a profound shock to many proud Protestants that there is a dark side to Luther.
Ironically, however, the Reformation also paved the way for Israel’s restoration by raising up evangelical Christians who developed a more rounded, biblical picture of God’s purpose for the Jews.
Commonly Held Views
It is also only fair to say that his negative thoughts on the Jews were commonly held views at the time, especially within the Catholic Church. It was simply part of the culture of the day that his new faith took on as the norm, rather than as something to be challenged and changed by a ‘renewing of his mind’ (see Rom 12:2).
He was thus no doubt motivated by the almost universally-held belief that ‘the Jews killed God’ and therefore deserved punishment by Christians. The irony of course is that if they hadn’t, Christians would not have had a Saviour!
The bigger picture that unfortunately eluded Luther was that Christ had to die for our sins, and that even in his moment of greatest agony, he forgave his murderers and continues to love them as his own.
Luther’s view was clouded by his interpretation – clearly out of context – of John 8:44 where Jesus judged his opponents as being children of the devil. But he was obviously addressing a particular group, not the nation as a whole.
The Reformer ranted that “it all coincides with the judgment of Christ which declares that they are venomous, bitter, vindictive, tricky serpents, assassins, and children of the devil…”
The bigger picture that unfortunately eluded Luther was that Christ had to die for our sins, and that even in his moment of greatest agony, he forgave his murderers.
Stirring Bloodshed
Fast-forward to 1933 and the inauguration of Hitler’s Third Reich, when 41 million Germans were officially registered as Evangelical (Protestant) and 21 million as Catholic (out of a total population of 65 million). Many of them adhered to the Nazi doctrine of a German super-race and the inferiority of all others, especially the Jews.
Even Christians with Jewish blood (like me) were barred from the so-called Reich Church, which also banned the use of the Hebrew Bible because of its Jewish origins.
On 17 December 1941, seven Lutheran regional confederations issued a statement supporting laws that forced Jews to wear a yellow star. And in his defence at the 1946 Nuremberg trials, publisher Julius Streicher said: “Dr Martin Luther would very probably sit in my place in the defendants’ dock today, if this book ['On the Jews and their Lies'] had been taken into consideration by the prosecution. In the book he writes that the Jews are a serpent’s brood and one should burn down their synagogues and destroy them…”
Churches and entire denominations continue to rant against the Jews, calling for boycotts and stirring further bloodshed in the Middle East. Hatred of Israel remains in the DNA of much that goes by the name of Christianity.
Jesus is coming, and judgment begins at the house of God!
‘The Dark Legacy of Martin Luther: The devil, the Jews and German nationalism’ (paperback) is available from Amazon for £6.50. Also available elsewhere online.
Notes
- Effectively buying the forgiveness of sins.
