Martin Luther, the Bible, and the Jewish People

by Schramm, Brooks; Stjerna, Kirsi I.

• ISBN13: 9780800698041
• ISBN10: 0800698045
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-08-01
• Publisher: Fortress Pr

Summary

The place and significance of Martin Luther in the long history of Christian anti-Jewish polemic has been and continues to be a contested issue. The literature on the subject is substantial, and diverse. While efforts to exonerate Luther as "merely" a man of his times who "merely" perpetuated what he had received from his cultural and theological tradition have rightly been jettisoned, there still persists even among the educated public the perception that the truly problematic aspects of Luther's anti-Jewish attitudes are confined to the final stages of his career. It is true that Luther's anti-Jewish rhetoric intensified toward the end of his life, but reading Luther with a careful eye toward "the Jewish question," it becomes clear that Luther's theological presuppositions toward Judaism and the Jewish people are a central, core component of his thought throughout his career, not just at the end. It follows then that it is impossible to understand the heart and building blocks of Luther's theology (justification, faith, liberation, salvation, grace) without acknowledging the crucial role of "the Jews" in his fundamental thinking.

Author Biography

Brooks Schramm is professor of biblical studies, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg. He is the author of The Opponents of Third Isaiah (1995) and, with Kirsi Stjerna, of Spirituality. Toward a Twenty-First Century Lutheran Understanding (2004). Kirsi I. Stjerna is professor of Reformation Church History, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg. She is the author of No Greater Jewel: Luther on Baptism (2009) and Women and the Reformation (2008).

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
Introduction
Martin Luther, the Bible, and the Jewish People	p. 3
Why This book?	p. 3
What Luther Knew and Thought of Judaism	p. 5
The Roots of Luther's Anti-Judaism	p. 10
The Jew in Luther's World	p. 17
Distorted Images	p. 18
Fragile Communities	p. 21
Limiting Rules	p. 24
The Specter of "Usury"	p. 27
Sicut Judaeis	p. 28
Reality and Interaction, Ghetto and Badge	p. 30
"Friends of Jews"	p. 32
The Many Faces of the "Jew" for Luther	p. 33
Texts
The Text Selections	p. 39
First Psalms Lectures (1513-1515)	p. 41
Letter to George Spalatin (1514)	p. 50
Lectures on Romans (1515-1516)	p. 53
Lectures on Galatians (1519)	p. 59
Second Psalms Lectures (1519-1521)	p. 67
Magnificat (1521)	p. 70
That Jesus Christ Was Born a Jew (1523)	p. 76
Letter to the Baptized Jew, Bernhard (1523)	p. 84
Lectures on Deuteronomy (1525)	p. 87
Sermon: How Christians Should Regard Moses (1525)	p. 93
Lectures on Zechariah (1525/1526)	p. 99
Sermon on Jeremiah 23:5-8 (The Visit of Three Jews) (1526)	p. 104
Commentary on Psalm 109 (1526)	p. 107
Lectures on Isaiah (1527-1530)	p. 117
Preface to Daniel (1530)	p. 122
Letter to Josel of Rosheim (1537)	p. 126
Lectures on Genesis 12 (1537)	p. 129
Three Symbols of the Christian Faith (1538)	p. 136
Lectures on Genesis 17 (1538)	p. 141
Against the Sabbatarians (1538)	p. 147
New Preface to Ezekiel (1541)	p. 156
Liscentiate Exam Heinrich Schmedenstede (1542)	p. 161
On the Jews and their Lies (1543)	p. 164
On the Ineffable Name and on the Lineage of Christ (1543)	p. 177
Josel of Rosheim: Letter to the Strasbourg City Council (1543)	p. 181
On the Last Words of David (1543)	p. 188
Two Letters to Katharian Luther (1546)	p. 197
An Admonition against the Jews (1546)	p. 200
Afterword	p. 203
Chronology	p. 206
At a Glance	p. 206
Timetable	p. 207
ELCA Declaration	p. 211
Abbreviations	p. 212
Notes	p. 214
Bibliography	p. 230
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