Was Martin Luther a tremendous influence for the Christian HOLOCAUST against Jews ?

Question

St. Gregory: “ Jews are slayers of the Lord, murderers of the prophets, enemies of God, haters of God, adversaries of grace, enemies of their fathers’ faith, advocates of the devil, brood of vipers, slanderers, scoffers, men of darkened minds, leaven of the Pharisees, congregation of demons, sinners, wicked men, stoners and haters of goodness.”

St. Jerome: “....serpents, haters of all men, their image is Judas ... their psalms and prayers are the braying of donkeys..”

St. John Chrysostom: “I know that many people hold a high regard for the Jews and consider their way of life worthy of respect at the present time... This is why I am hurrying to pull up this fatal notion by the roots ... A place where a whore stands on display is a whorehouse. What is more, the synagogue is not only a whorehouse and a theater; it is also a den of thieves and a haunt of wild animals ... not the cave of a wild animal merely, but of an unclean wild animal ... When animals are unfit for work, they are marked for slaughter, and this is the very thing which the Jews have experienced. By making themselves unfit for work, they have become ready for slaughter. This is why Christ said: “as for my enemies, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them and slay them before me’ (Luke 19.27).”

St. Augustine: “Judaism is a corruption. Indeed Judas is the image of the Jewish people. Their understanding of the Scriptures is carnal. They bear the guilt for the death of the saviour, for through their fathers they have killed the Christ.”

St. Thomas Aquinas: “It would be licit to hold Jews, because of the crimes, in perpetual servitude, and therefore the princes may regard the possessions of Jews as belonging to the State.”

The teachings of Martin Luther suggested a genocide as a final solution :

http://www.awitness.org/books/luther/


“Know, 0 adored Christ, and make no mistake, that aside from the Devil, you have no enemy more venomous, more desperate, more bitter, than a true Jew who truly seeks to be a Jew... a Jew, a Jewish heart, are hard as wood, as stone, as iron, as the Devil himself. In short, they are children of the Devil, condemned to the flames of hell.”

“O Lord, I am too feeble to mock such devils. I would do so, but they are much stronger than I in raillery, and they have a God who is a past master in this art; He is called the devil and the wicked spirit.. They have transformed God into the devil, or rather into a servant of the Devil, accomplishing all the evil the Devil desires, corrupting unhappy souls , and raging against himself: in short, the Jews are worse than the devils.”

“What then shall we Christians do with this damned, rejected race of Jews? First, their synagogues should be set on fire, and whatever does not burn up should be covered or spread over with dirt so that no one may ever be able to see a cinder or stone of it. And this ought to be done for the honour of God and of Christianity, in order that God may see that we are true Christians. Secondly, their homes should be likewise broken down and destroyed. Thirdly, they should be deprived of their prayerbooks and talmuds in which such idolatry, lies, cursing and blasphemy are taught. Fourthly, their rabbis must be forbidden under threats of death to teach anymore.”

“Now whoever wishes to accept venomous serpents, desperate enemies of the lord, and to honor them, to let himself be robbed, pillaged, corrupted and cursed by them, need only turn to the Jews. If this is not enough for him, he can do more: crawl up into their...... and worship the sanctuary, so as to glorify himself afterwards for having been merciful, for having fortified the Devil and his children, in order to blaspheme our beloved lord and the precious blood that has redeemed us. He will then be a perfect Christian, filled with works of mercy, for which Christ will reward him on the-day of judgment with the eternal fire of hell (where he will roast together with the Jews).”

“In truth, the Jews, being foreigners, should possess nothing, and what they do possess should be ours.”

“...Cursed goy that I am, I cannot understand how they manage to be so skillful, unless I think that when Judas Iscariot hanged himself, his guts burst and emptied. Perhaps the Jews sent their servants with plates of silver and pots of gold to gather up Judas’ piss with the other treasures, and then they ate and drank his offal, and thereby acquired eyes so piercing that they discover in the scriptures commentaries that neither Matthew nor Isaiah himself found there, not to mention the rest of us cursed goyim..”

“If I find a Jew to baptize, I shall lead him to the Elbe bridge, hang a stone around his neck, and push him into the water, baptizing him with the name of Avraham!.. I cannot convert the Jews. Our lord Christ did not succeed in doing so; but I can close their mouths so that there will be nothing for them to do but to lie upon the ground.”

“I hope I shall never be so stupid as to be circumcised; I would rather cut off the left breast of my Catherine and of all women.”

“If we are to remain unsullied by the blasphemy of the Jews and not wish to take part in it, we must be separated from them and they must be driven out of the country.”


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Answer 1

absolutley- but the root problem is the writings in the New Testament depicting jesus himself speaking negativly of the Jews.

Answer 2

There is no doubting that Luther made these statements. They are nothing other than horrible. To what degree they influenced the Holocaust is debatable. The Nazis were not Lutheran; in fact they were not Christian. Yet Luther had a great influence on the thinking of northern Germany in particular.

But we need to give the guy a bit of a break on three counts. The first is that his entire time period is filled with vituperative writing. He himself was called all these names and worse by his Catholic opponents. He called the pope the antichrist. The Jews were just one more group included in the hyperbole of the day. Secondly, Luther believed the Jews would flock to the Gospel message which he espoused. He was bitterly disappointed when they didn't and reacted in his typical robust manner. Finally, the worst comments he made were during the very last period of his life when he was old, beset by a difficult problems in the theological and political realms, and was also ravaged by painful and debilitating physical ailments. Who under similar circumstances does not lash out, even at loved ones? He said all these things, yes, and honestly meant little of it. He was old, in pain, and frustrated. The good he did vastly outweighs this nonsense. Most historians concur.

Answer 3

Because Hitler accomplished his goals. Ultimately we can't villianize everybody who has ever had ill intentions, but those who carry them out gain a certain notariety. Martin Luther succeeded in creating a rift between catholic and protestant (created protestantism really) but the exterminations that came from that were mostly of catholics and protestants killing each other, and not to the tune of six million. All Martin Luther really accomplished in this line was some name calling, and we don't really villify people for that.

Answer 4

The Catholic Church failed to realize as did early religions that God said about His people Israel and the Jewish people that "I will curse those who curse you and I will bless those who bless you."

Some Christian churches believe that the church replaced Israel but this is not so. God has not forgotten the Jewish people. God used the Jewish people because of their stiff necks and hard hearts toward Him as an example for the Gentiles. If we forget Him as did the Jews then God will lift His blessings off of us also.

This is explained in the Bible by use of the olive tree and the wild branches (Gentiles) and the original branches (Jews).
Read Romans 11:11-36
If you hate the Jews in anyway, you'd better read God's Word.
Romans 11:11-36 will let any Christian know quickly that God has not forgotten the Jewish people. Christians are told to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. I suggest all Christians pray for the peace of Jerusalem like you are told.

Answer 5

Why not judge Christianity by the words of its founder, Jesus Christ, instead of the words of mortal men?
"Master, which [is] the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second [is] like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." (Mat 22:36-39)

Answer 6

Wow. I had no idea Martin Luther said such horrible hateful things.

Answer 7

His writings were part of the reason there has been a modicum of antisemetism in all strands of christianity based off of his offshoot.

Answer 8

Yes.

Answer 9

I think I've been Yahood!

Answer 10

What is it with all these people asking the same darn question quoting the near same evidence?
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AtdarEgi5fqrSn5udiT7lazd7BR.?qid=20070513181523AAbjmKe
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AuP91ES11xgJoeSkVebMx6YjzKIX?qid=20070513081442AAkeTgA
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AoYD.vBkRXvumloQEOfc3vgjzKIX?qid=20070511162949AAn0VMe
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AlvMDAqBTFfJVPdDL3ixny4jzKIX?qid=20070514075226AAjEijw
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Alv9ATGoTXvDFRUkV.9PcuYjzKIX?qid=20070513190450AA3UVbI