Luther’s Life Outside of the Mighty Fortress

Martin Luther was one of the most influential, intelligent, and interesting theologians that the church has ever seen. In a time when the gospel was being buried and burdened by religious leaders, Martin Luther emerged as laborer for the beautiful news that God has purchased a way to himself through the suffering of his son. Luther’s works have helped hoards of people, throughout history, discover the incredible dynamics of the gospel.

Yet, Luther himself didn’t fully understand the gospel. In the book of Galatians, Paul explains that the gospel compels us to act graciously and generously to those who are different than us (Gal 2:11-16).

Luther, the man who did some incredible theological work, even with the book of Galatians, missed the point of Galatians by his unacceptable and harsh views of Jewish people. Take a moment and read his 8 point plan about how he proposed to deal with the Jewish people of his day. I’m warning you, it’s harsh.

Luther’s 8 Point Plan

1. “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. …”
2. “Second, I advise that their houses also be razed and destroyed. …”
3. “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. …”
4. “Fourth, I advise that their rabbis be forbidden to teach henceforth on pain of loss of life and limb. …”
5. “Fifth, I advise that safe-conduct on the highways be abolished completely for the Jews. …”
6. “Sixth, I advise that usury be prohibited to them, and that all cash and treasure of silver and gold be taken from them. … Such money should now be used in … the following [way]… Whenever a Jew is sincerely converted, he should be handed [a certain amount]…”
7. “Seventh, I commend putting a flail, an ax, a hoe, a spade, a distaff, or a spindle into the hands of young, strong Jews and Jewesses and letting them earn their bread in the sweat of their brow… For it is not fitting that they should let us accursed Goyim toil in the sweat of our faces while they, the holy people, idle away their time behind the stove, feasting and farting, and on top of all, boasting blasphemously of their lordship over the Christians by means of our sweat. No, one should toss out these lazy rogues by the seat of their pants.”
8. “If we wish to wash our hands of the Jews’ blasphemy and not share in their guilt, we have to part company with them. They must be driven from our country” and “we must drive them out like mad dogs.”

Are you appalled? Disgusted? You should be.

It’s been noted that these words would one day be used, by Nazi’s, to mobilize people for the Holocaust.

You may be asking yourself, “How could such an amazing theologian and lover of God be so sinfully harsh against Jewish people?”. I think that’s actually the wrong question. Here’s a better question:

In what ways am I out of step with the gospel by the way I view other people?
If Luther, one of the world’s greatest theologians, a man who spent hours each day pouring over scripture, had such a gaping hole in his life with God, then you and I are likely to have gaping holes as well.

It’s my belief that many westerners view Muslim people with the same un-Christlike, harsh, and unloving attitude that Luther had towards Jewish people. We will explore the reasons for that in future posts, but I just wanted to use the example of Luther to exhort us to examine our attitudes.

Jesus’ suffering is good news. It means that God loved Muslim people so much that he purchased a way for them to be with him. It also means that he’s paid for the sins of slanderers like us, giving us hope that we can be transformed into people who truly do love our neighbors, even our global neighbors.