Luther in a Different Light

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Whoever still reveres Martin Luther today can hardly be aware that this man called repeatedly for murder and manslaughter, that he treated women with contempt and had them burned as witches, that he preached the worst kind of Antisemitism, thus becoming a spiritual precursor to Hitler’s holocaust. Even if many people think that Luther’s demands all belong in the past, it should be remembered that still in 1944, almost 400 years after Luther’s death, his inciting speeches were quoted to justify even the murder of millions of people. And this legacy of Luther remains as long as this man is revered as a “great German personality” even if much is swept under the carpet in our time.

Shouldn’t we urgently call for making the dark chapter of all the works of Luther public knowledge at last and work it off?

This could mean that the Lutheran Church would then have to dissociate itself from Luther and his controversial and un-christian works, if it were to desire a positive role in shaping our democratic society. If this doesn’t happen, then who will guarantee that in difficult conflict situations in our society in the future, similar things won’t happen and violence against innocent people are not again justified with Luther’s teachings?