Luther and the Jews Revisited: Reflections on a Thought Let Slip (Martin Luther) (Essay‪)‬

Historical and theological work on western anti-Semitism cannot proceed far without the emergence of Martin Luther's legacy. Any discussion of the roots and ramifications of Europe's perceptions and conduct toward Judaism and the Jews must eventually confront the reformer's "paper trail." Indisputably, Luther's vociferous attacks on the Jews in the later years of his life left an indelible stain on his career and, in ways he could have never foreseen, played a tragic role in anti-Semitic propaganda on the eve of the Holocaust. Generations of historians and theologians have labored through the context and sources concerning Luther's Jewish problem, with Thomas Kaufmann's essay, "Luther and the Jews," standing as the definitive historiographical treatment to date. (1) By consensus, Luther's writings on the Jews created a painful stumbling block not only to those who by confession bear his name, but to Christianity as a whole. The following seeks no revision of that conclusion, but rather revisits the issue by way of seminal insights put forth by several prominent scholars over the past quarter-century. In briefly reviewing newer methodological approaches to the historical Luther, this essay seeks to better grasp the manner in which the reformer himself approached the question of God, and how, in the case of the Jews, this very fallible man fell prey to theological hypocrisy. Ironically, woven into Luther's legacy of hate were threads of theological discourse that may well contribute to positive ecumenical relations today. Two years before his ultimate explosion against the Jews, while enmeshed in the labors that shaped his entire human experience, Luther culled from scripture a radically theocentric perspective on Judaism that stood in stark contradiction to his later assertions. Extracting from St. Paul de facto human ignorance in matters of divine mystery, he confessed a salvation rooted only in God's hidden purpose. Tragically, the reformer failed to apply these exegetical considerations to the Jewish people. Our challenge is to take up those thoughts Luther let slip, and in doing so, avoid in our day the failure so damning in his own.