What shall we Christians do with this rejected and condemned people, the Jews?
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…
Second, I advise that their houses also be razed and destroyed… 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…
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.
As horrible as it sounds, this is what happened once upon a time in Germany. And no, this is not about the holocaust. Same location, same minority, but different time periods. What you just read was an excerpt from ‘On the Jews and Their Lies’ written in 1543, and the author is no one but the most influential reformer of the millennium, Martin Luther.
That is it then, you might say; the hard proof that Martin Luther was on the wrong side of the history; He said what Nazi Germany later did! That alone is sufficient to discredit Martin Luther and his entire reformation.
Well, before jumping into any conclusion so fast, you might want to read the following excerpt as well.
We should remember that we are but Gentiles, while the Jews are of the lineage of Christ. We are aliens and in-laws; they are blood relatives, cousins, and brothers of our Lord. Therefore, if one is to boast of flesh and blood the Jews are actually nearer to Christ than we are…
If we really want to help them, we must be guided in our dealings with them not by papal law but by the law of Christian love. We must receive them cordially, and permit them to trade and work with us, that they may have occasion and opportunity to associate with us, hear our Christian teaching, and witness our Christian life. If some of them should prove stiff-necked, what of it? After all, we ourselves are not all good Christians either.
Who the author is, you ask? Martin Luther, the very same. This was an excerpt from the ‘That Jesus Christ Was Born a Jew’ speech from the early years of his reformation. What makes this speech exceptionally heartwarming is that it was delivered in 1523, where the Jewish minority were subject to systemic hatred conducted by Christian-majority Europe. The context is best described using Luther’s own words written in 1519:
Absurd theologians defend hatred for the Jews. … What Jew would consent to enter our ranks when he sees the cruelty and enmity we wreak on them—that in our behavior toward them we less resemble Christians than beasts.
It was during this horrible period where Martin Luther rose to be a savior for the Jews, their promised Messiah if you will. So, what happened? How did the savior turn to become the prosecutor? How could such sharp contradictory characters live within the same person?
The following story is an attempt to shed some light on the complex and at some points self-contradictory character of Martin Luther. The story is short, focusing on highlights as well as lowlights of his reformation. The monologues are verbatim copies from Luther’s books, articles, and sermons. Preserving historical accuracy has been the chief goal in formulating conversations missing from recorded history.
The appendix will present the historical facts that were the basis of this story along with their references. We encourage you to do your own research and verify them by yourself.
It is worth noting that there was no country named Germany in the 16th century. The region in which the story happens was Saxony, which is a state in today’s Germany.