Anti-Semitism Essay - Martin Luther as Spiritual Icon for...

Martin Luther as Spiritual Icon for Adolf Hitler The world has been plagued with the specter of anti-Semitism for many centuries. This hatred manifested itself in the frenzy of Nazism and the deaths of six million Jews, the Holocaust as it has come to be known. If someone were to reveal an eight step plan for the removal of Jews from European society, one would readily associate such a plan with Adolf Hitler. One would not, however, think also of Martin Luther, though he himself wrote an essay in 1543 entitled Concerning the Jews and their Lies outlining such a plan. This is not to suggest that Luther was akin to Hitler in action or deed. This does suggest that Luther, the spark of the Protestant Reformation and father of German†¦show more content†¦Luther understood that Jews had been forced into usury as their only means of survival. Above all else, Luther advises Christian charity when dealing with the Jews. How then could the same man attack the Jews twenty years later in an essay, and call for their expulsion from German lands in his last sermon? (Patterson 17). What would cause such a radical shift? To be sure Luther was not alone in his Christian anti-Semitism. Erasmus, the great Catholic humanist scholar said, If it is Christian to hate Jews, then we are all good Christians (Patterson 16). But Luther knew Hebrew, the language of these godless people. He translated the Old Testament from Hebrew to German. At least on an academic level, his knowledge of Judaism must have been significant. Why then does he become an anti-Semite shortly before his death? One possible explanation might focus on the recurring theme of patricide in Christian doctrine. Luther, in order to establish Protestantism as an independent theology must destroy its parents: Catholicism and Judaism. This question, however, should be dealt with in its own right in another paper. The fact remains that Luthers essay Concerning the Jews and their Lies was written and its historical impact must be dealt with. The essay itself was a call for action against the Jews. Luther presented a calculated and methodical plan forShow MoreRelatedOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 PagesPHILADELPHIA Temple University Press 1601 North Broad Street Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122 www.temple.edu/tempress Copyright  © 2010 by Temple University All rights reserved Published 2010 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Essays on twentieth century history / edited by Michael Peter Adas for the American Historical Association. p. cm.—(Critical perspectives on the past) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-1-4399-0269-1 (cloth : alk. paper)—ISBN 978-1-4399-0270-7