Luther and antisemitism

American comedian Joey Adams is credited with coining the phrase: ‘With friends like these, who needs enemies?’

Sometimes, in teaching theology, I feel the same way with the works of many influential theologians. Whatever valuable insights they offer is tainted to the point of embarrassment by their misjudgments.

An infamous example is that of Martin Luther and his vitriolic comments on the Jewish people. In his lengthy treatise, ‘On the Jews and Their Lies’ (1543), he rails against the Jewish people, calling for their synagogues to be burnt down and their people enslaved or expelled. It is little surprise that the Nazi party were happy to republish and support the work in 1930s Germany as they stoked the genocidal fires of antisemitic thought.