Ahh! Posted February 15, 2007 Share Posted February 15, 2007 http://www.outreachjudaism.org/luther1543new.html I never read this in Sunday school! "First to set fire to their synagogues or schools and to bury and cover with dirt whatever will not burn, so that no man will ever again see a stone or cinder of them. This is to be done in honor of our Lord and of Christendom, so that God might see that we are Christians, and do not condone or knowingly tolerate such public lying, cursing, and blaspheming of his Son and of his Christians. For whatever we tolerated in the past unknowingly - and I myself was unaware of it - will be pardoned by God. But if we, now that we are informed, were to protect and shield such a house for the Jews, existing right before our very nose, in which they lie about, blaspheme, curse, vilify, and defame Christ and us (as was heard above), it would be the same as if we were doing all this and even worse ourselves, as we very well know. Second, I advise that their houses also be razed and destroyed. For they pursue in them the same aims as in their synagogues. Instead they might be lodged under a roof or in a barn, like the gypsies. This will bring home to them that they are not masters in our country, as they boast, but that they are living in exile and in captivity, as they incessantly wail and lament about us before God. Third, I advise that all their prayer books and Talmudic writings, in which such idolatry, lies, cursing and blasphemy are taught, be taken from them... Fourth, I advise that their rabbis be forbidden to teach henceforth on pain of loss of life and limb. For they have justly forfeited the right to such an office by holding the poor Jews captive with the saying of Moses (Deuteronomy 17 [:10 ff.]) in which he commands them to obey their teachers on penalty of death, although Moses clearly adds: "what they teach you in accord with the law of the Lord." Those villains ignore that. They wantonly employ the poor people's obedience contrary to the law of the Lord and infuse them with this poison, cursing, and blasphemy. In the same way the Pope also held us captive with the declaration in Matthew 16 [:18], "You are Peter," etc., inducing us to believe all the lies and deceptions that issued from his devilish mind. He did not teach in accord with the word of God, and therefore he forfeited the right to teach. Fifth, I advise that safe-conduct on the highways be abolished completely for the Jews. For they have no business in the countryside, since they are not lords, officials, tradesmen, or the like. Let they stay at home..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ahh! Posted February 15, 2007 Author Share Posted February 15, 2007 My ancestors were supposedly Jewish. They converted to Lutheranism during the middle ages. I wonder if they were "moved by the Word of God"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StewartP Posted February 15, 2007 Share Posted February 15, 2007 That is so cool! Luther was an anti semite? Excellent, All we ever hear is how he nailed his list of thesis to the castle door, I've just skimmed his biog on wikipedia. When they state "Luther is also known for his writings about the Jews, the nature and consequences of which are the subject of much debate among scholars, many of whom have characterized them as anti-Semitic or anti-Judaic." it's a bit of an understatement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vixentrox Posted February 15, 2007 Share Posted February 15, 2007 I was raised mostly Lutheren. Originally in a very conservative denomination, we were taught to dislike Jews as Christ killers, agents of the devil, and absolutely they were hellbound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thurisaz Posted February 15, 2007 Share Posted February 15, 2007 http://www.outreachjudaism.org/luther1543new.html I never read this in Sunday school! That's... well... not really well-known in Germany, but it's not a state secret either. Yeah, makes one wonder, no? Considering how many morontheists think that "ebilution is bunk because darwin was a racist!!!11!!!" (let's forget for now that he was less so than many others...), then by the same kind of "reasoning" all protestants of whatever flavor are antisemitic hatemongers. Ooops. Used reason again. My bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Posted February 15, 2007 Share Posted February 15, 2007 I never read this in Sunday school! Bet you never read this either. It is a quote from a Lutheran polemic entitled Vom Schem Ham Phoras: When Judas hanged himself and his bowels gushed forth, and, as happens in such cases, his bladder also burst, the Jews were ready to catch the Judas-water and the other precious things, and then they gorged and swilled on the merd among themselves, and were thereby endowed with such a keenness of sight that they can perceive glosses in the Scriptures such as neither Matthew nor Isaiah himself . . .would be able to detect; or perhaps they looked into the loin of their God “Shed,” and found these things written in that smokehole. . . . The Devil has eased himself and emptied his belly again—that is a real halidom for Jews and would-be Jews, to kiss, batten on, swill and adore; and then the Devil in his turn also devours and swills what these good pupils spue and eject from above and below. . . . The Devil, with his angelic snout, devours what exudes from the oral and anal apertures of the Jews; this is indeed his favorite dish, on which he battens like a sow behind the hedge. . . Interestingly, I can find no English translation of the full original document on the net, although it is published in full in works by various authors. Casey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
currentchristian Posted February 15, 2007 Share Posted February 15, 2007 You are right, Ahh!. Most who attend churches know absolutely nothing about Luther (not even the 95 Theses), except they confuse him with Martin Luther King. (I can't tell you how many of my students don't know the difference between these two men!!!). Most Lutherans, I assume, are more versed in the man Luther, but I'm sure -- as you wrote -- his "On the Jews and Their Lies" is not very well known even among those who interpret the Christian vision through his eyes. While I understand how any of us can go off on a holy terror (yes, even those who don't believe in a holy!), screaming and rallying the troops to our holy cause (even those who don't believe in a holy cause), this is a very, very sad and unfortunate chapter in the life of a remarkable man. He stood up to the political and religious powers of his day. That took guts! He de-converted from his understanding of Christianity and converted to another understanding. That took guts. He never backed down from his views, even in the face of excommunication, arrest, persecution and abandonment by so many of his former colleagues. He was remarkable. But far from perfect. He thought the Jews would naturally embrace his reformed vision of Christianity, being so much better than the Catholic one (in his mind). When they didn't, he grew angry and resentful. "On the Jews and Their Lies" is the outcome. Very, very sad indeed. No matter how many millions of his words are good, these words disqualify him from having a church named in his honor. -CC in MA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thurisaz Posted February 15, 2007 Share Posted February 15, 2007 No matter how many millions of his words are good, these words disqualify him from having a church named in his honor. Now tell that to the lutherans... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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