Martin Luther, die Juden und Esther: Bibelinterpretation im Schatten der Judenfeindschaft
Martin Luther refers to the Book of Esther and its Jewish fijigures in all kinds of his writings. Although Luther showed a respectful attitude towards the book’s Jewish heroes, especially in the early stage of his career as a reformer, later he severely criticized the very existence of the book, and...
| Published in: | Zeitschrift für Religions- und Geistesgeschichte |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | German |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
[2019]
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| In: |
Zeitschrift für Religions- und Geistesgeschichte
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Luther, Martin 1483-1546
/ Exegesis
/ Esther Biblical character
/ Antisemitism
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| IxTheo Classification: | BH Judaism HA Bible KDD Protestant Church |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | Martin Luther refers to the Book of Esther and its Jewish fijigures in all kinds of his writings. Although Luther showed a respectful attitude towards the book’s Jewish heroes, especially in the early stage of his career as a reformer, later he severely criticized the very existence of the book, and used it to support his anti-Semitic attacks against the Jews. These contradictory aspects of Luther’s perspective are examined here against the background of his general attitude towards the Old Testament, as well as towards Jews and Judaism in the last four decades of his life and career. Luther never accepted (post-biblical) Judaism as a legitimate continuity of the biblical Israel and its heritage. He was tolerant and friendly towards the Jews as people in the early stage, hoping to cause them to accept his newly reshaped Christianity. Nonetheless, he became xenophobic and antagonistic towards the Jews later on. Most likely, these two themes run together, side by side, in Luther’s life as a Protestant Reformer: Luther’s early sympathy for the fijigures and later hostility to the Book of Esther (and 2 Maccabees) is part of and parallel to his early friendly and later anti-Judaic polemics. |
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| ISSN: | 1570-0739 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Zeitschrift für Religions- und Geistesgeschichte
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15700739-07104003 |