Was old Luther an Anti-Semite?

Question

He is the founder of the protestant movement, but I have recently read an article that pointing him out as such a big Anti-Semite that he could just as easily have been a Nazi-party leader.

Im not talking of Martin Luther King though. (Im mentioning this because I know some of my fellow Yahoo answer users arn't as intelectually gifted as most)

Answer 1

In many of his writings, he comes off sounding very Anti-Semitic....however, I'm sure the "politically corrected" version of his writings will be shown by resent day Lutherans, etc etc etc NOT to be so biased....
"revisionist history", "upon closer analysis", "symbolic", "making an analogous reference".......however you want to call it, it is not politically acceptable to have Luther seen as a racist/bigoted/biased, misogynist preacher.....

Answer 2

OK, Luther was an anti-Semite. He was anti-protestant also perhaps, as he counted much of Erasmus' works as "dung and dross." Anti-Semism exists today among people who call themselves Christian. But anti-Semitism is far from the norm among protestants, as has been noted in previous answers. The very fundamentalists whom atheists scream about the most on this forum are the ones who back Israel with the greatest resolve. Christians love everyone and work and pray so that everyone might enjoy the fruits of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Christians do not make holy wars, though people who call themselves followers of Christ have done so in the past. Even wars to protect ourselves or to protect others is debated among Christians. We have a significant Christian pacifist movement. I don't know of a Christian warmonger's movement that persists today, nor do I know of a Christian who supports conversion by the sword. While the church has supported this in centuries past, I don't think most protestants nor catholics view this as good, proper, or Christ-like. Christians make mistakes, as does the man-made, man-ordained, church organizations. We should not blame Christ or His teachings for our errors.

Whether fundamentalist or not, it is common Christian doctrine that Jews are God's chosen people, and that by accepting Christ, gentiles can be adopted sons of Abraham and adopted siblings of Christ, sort of like "step-Jews" if you will.

Yes, Christians try to share the good news of Jesus Christ with Jews, just as Christ and His disciples did. There are a number of Messianic Jews - Christians with Jewish heritage. There is nothing peculiarly anti-Semitic aout that. It is the Holy Spirit that converts people, not the evangelist.

I'm not defending Martin Luther on any point. He was what he was. He was far from the first protestant, though. His voice was strong because he had been a respected Roman Catholic, the printing press had recently been invented, and he was very headstrong.

By most accounts Luther was an angry vulgar man who hated Catholicism so much that it was important for him to take the opposite of their views whenever possible. On some things he was right, on some things he was wrong, on some things he went way too far, and on other points, he did not go far enough. (I'm speaking of Luther and his relationship of the then existing Roman Catholic Church. The RCC has changed much since then just as Lutherans have.)

Before Luther, there were the Wadensians, and Albigensians at least. So he was not the first "protestant."

PS It's good to be clear in your questions so that all can understand. What good can come from insulting the reader, though?

Answer 3

Yes. No surprise there. One could say he was the original promoter of the concept of "Jews for Jesus": the only good Jew is a Christian one:

"At the beginning of his career, Luther was apparently sympathetic to Jewish resistance to the Catholic Church. He wrote, early in his career:

"'The Jews are blood-relations of our Lord; if it were proper to boast of flesh and blood, the Jews belong more to Christ than we. I beg, therefore, my dear Papist, if you become tired of abusing me as a heretic, that you begin to revile me as a Jew.'

"But Luther expected them to convert to his purified Christianity. When they did not, he turned violently against Jews.

"It is impossible for modern people to read the horrible passages below and not to think of the burning of synagogues in November 1938 on Kristallnacht. Nor would one wish to excuse Luther for this text.

"A number of points must, however, be made. The most important concerns the language used. Luther used violent and vulgar language throughout his career....We do not expect religious figures to use this sort of language in the modern world, but it was not uncommon in the early 16th century. Second, although Luther's comments seem to be proto-Nazi, they are better seen as part of tradition of Medieval Christian anti-Semitism. While there is little doubt that Christian anti-Semitism laid the social and cultural basis for modern anti-Semitism, modern anti-Semitism does differ in being based on pseudo-scientific notions of race. The Nazis imprisoned and killed Jews who had converted to Christianity: Luther would have welcomed them."

Rest at link below.

Addendum: YnotAskDonut, below, says ignorantly that "the maqjority of Christians don't like Jews". S/he apparently has no understanding of the philosemitism of 50 million evangelicals in the USA, including George W. Bush, who believe in the End-Times and the Rapture, and believe that their destiny is closely tied to the presence of Jews in Israel, and to the Palestine conflict. See second link below. For the rest, s/he provides no support whatever, and is doubtless expressing his or her personal view.

Answer 4

Yes he was. While he did protest the Catholic Church, he also turned his back on the Jews when his efforts to convert them failed.

Answer 5

The majority of Christians don't like Jews. Sad, but true.

Answer 6

Yes, you better believe it! He was a nasty man when it came to the Jews.