Martin Luther
On The Jews and Their Lies, Luther’s anti-Jewish rants from the 1500s influenced the leaders of the Nazi party in the 20th century.
“First, their synagogues should be set on fire, and whatever does not burn up should be covered or spread over with dirt so that no one may ever be able to see a cinder or stone of it. And this ought to be done for the honor of God and of Christianity in order that God may see that we are Christians… secondly, their homes should likewise be broken down and destroyed… thirdly, they should be deprived of their prayer books and Talmuds… fourthly, their rabbis must be forbidden under threat of death to teach anymore… To sum up, dear princes and nobles who have Jews in your domains, if this advice of mine does not suit you, then find a better one so that you and we may all be free of this insufferable devilish burden, the Jews…” Martin Luther
“What harm would it do, if a man told a good strong lie for the sake of the good and for the Christian church […]a lie out of necessity, a useful lie, a helpful lie, such lies would not be against God, he would accept them.
—Martin Luther cited by his secretary, in a letter in Max Lenz, ed., Briefwechsel Landgraf Phillips des Grossmüthigen von Hessen mit Bucer, vol. I. “
[Martin Luther 1483 – 1546]
“But an heretic is one that introduces false opinions and doctrines against the articles of the Christian faith, contrary to the true meaning of Holy Scripture, and stubbornly maintains and defends them. The papists do not call me a heretic, but a schismatic; one that prepares discords and strifes. But I say, the pope is an arch heretic,for he is an adversary to my blessed Saviour Christ; and so am I to the pope, because he makes new laws and ordinances according to his own will and pleasure, and so directly denies the everlasting priesthood of Christ. “
‘Luther was, it should be remembered, thoroughly in accord with pope and with emperor in the belief that it was the duty of the faithful to destroy heresy. He only differed from the pope as to what constituted heresy. In 1525, we find him invoking the aid of the censorship regulations of Saxony and of Brandenburg for the purpose of stamping out the “pernicious doctrines” of the Anabaptists and of the followers of Zwingli.’
[Martin Luther 1483 – 1546]
“The multitude of books is a great evil. There is no measure or limit to this fever for writing; every one must be an author; some out of vanity, to acquire celebrity and raise up by name; others for the sake of lucre and gain. The Bible is now buried under so many commentaries, that the text is nothing regarded….The aggregation of large libraries tends to divert men’s thoughts from the one great book, the Bible, which ought, day and night, to be in every one’s hand….Never will the writings of mortal man in any respect equal the sentences inspired by God. We must yield the place of honour to the prophets and the apostles, keeping ourselves prostrate at their feet as we listen to their teaching. “
