The quotes from Luther about the Jews share one common characteristic. None express ideas that are found in the Bible. Luther did not study and meditate on the Scriptures and then develop these ideas.
Sorry, but three objections.
1) The roots of christian anitsemitism are in the bible. The verses describing the Jews as a wicked and stiff-necked people, as a brood of vipers who reject the prophets, and as collectively guilty for the death of the messiah are all clearly stated in the gospels.
2) Although there are not commandments explicity stating 'go forth and humiliate, torture expel and kill Jews, such actions were part of the church from its beginnings. They are an integral part of the development of christianity.
There is also nothing in the bible explicitly defining the doctrine of the trinity, an explicit definition of heaven or hell, a clear statement that the christians should stop observing the sabbath and switch to Sunday, just to name a few of the standard christian practices and doctrines, that are not completely defined in the bible.
3) From the evidence of his writings, and the testimony of others, I think it is clear that Luther studied and meditated long and hard on the scriptures and debated many of the leading theological scholars of his day. He may have reached the wrong conclusions, but he certainly did so through study, meditation and prayer.
This is not really surprising, after all I would assume that nobody founds a christian sect as a casual act, and there are literally thousands of them, each one with quite significant differences in dogma and practice. Christians disagree on what is a sacrament and how many there are, whether non christians or unbaptised infants are damned, whether purgatory exists, whether such a thing as a Pope has the approval of god, whether clergy are necessary, and so on. You know, it almost seems like they're just making it up as they go along.
In line with that last thought, it is also noteworthy that the practices and beliefs of all christian sects, catholic, protestant and other, have changed in significant ways over time.
This can most easily be seen by reading a religious text from the 19th century, and observing what the religious of that time considered essential, and comparing it to today's church which as almost completely adopted the values of a humanist stance covered over with a thin veneer of ancient christianity.
I am prepared to back up this claim.
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However, he [Hitler] received no Instructions from God to kill the Jews.
However, if there were still a Reich Christian Church, they would naturally demand that you prove that god did not command Hitler to do so. After all, we have as much evidence for this command as for the one he supposedly gave Joshua or to the nation to wipe out the Amalekites.
The suffering and horror felt by the Canaanites or Amalekites when the Israelites invaded their land and slaughtered every living thing, except, occasionally, the virgin girls, who they then kept for themselves, raping them at leisure, was no dobut simliar to that of the Jews rounded up by the christian Nazis and herded into the extermination camps, or the Indians, deliberately poxed by the christian invading armies, or the aborigines shot for sport or poisoned like vermin by the christians in Australia.
The Israelites and Yahweh itself seem to delight in ripping open the bellies of pregnant women, dashing babies' heads against rocks and hacking people to pieces with the sword. Jesus delights in the picture of endless, infinite torment in fire and being forever eaten by worms. With these as examples of godly behaviour, and with the 1900 year history of christianity's actions towards outsiders, where exactly did Hitler go wrong?
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>>Many people who like to think that they are Christains also
>>think that because they are going to be forgiven, they can just
>>go ahead and sin all they want.
>They are wrong on both counts.
Are you denying the efficacy of the Atonement? If sinners repent of their sins, accept Jesus into their hearts and confess on his or her deathbed, are they not forgiven and given a ticket to heaven (with or without a side trip to purgatory)? And doesn't the Blood of the Lamb provide sufficient redemption to save such as those? As I understand it, if you do not believe this, it is you who are not a christian.
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- God said, "Do not steal the wallet; if you do I will punish you." - God said, "The law requires that you be punished if you steal the wallet."
Unless, of course, you repent at the last minute and accept Jesus as your saviour, in which case, god will welcome you into heaven. Whereas an atheist who never stole a wallet, or did one single hurtful action in a long and fruitful life, in fact a person who may have been a paragon of charity and helpfulness, a benefactor of all humanity, will go to hell to be tormented for eternity.
That's why hell is considered a bully's threat.
-- Autumn afternoon Greg Erwin ai815@freenet.Carleton.ca Alone walk on fallen gold VP, Humanist Association of Canada Sun shines, warmth fading
Man created God, not God, man ---Garibaldi