June 2027

SCRIPTURAL POSITION 

I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. Rev 3:2-3

REPLACING OUR FATHER'S WAYS SPAWNS DECEPTION & ANTI-SEMITISM

Jules Isaac wrote, "Need I apologize, then, for carrying on my struggle to express - and, if possible, to extirpate - the Christian roots of anti-Semitism? No, for in my opinion they are the deepest ones of all." 1

OVERCOMER'S REWARD

The one who overcomes will be clothed thus in white garments and I will never blot his name out of the Book of Life. I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. Rev 3:5-6

1 Jules Isaac, The Teaching of Contempt: Christian Roots of Anti-Semitism (Holt, Rhinehart

and Winston, 1964), 17.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

In the wake of the Roman Empire, the Church rose up in great wealth and power. But with such power came great corruption and immorality. With the papacy being in ultimate

power, anyone attempting to bring moral reform was stiffly rebuked. Furthermore, the Scriptures were not written in the vernacular, but Latin only. The common man had no

ability to know the words of the Bible for himself, being completely servile to the authority of the defiled papacy. The Church began the criminal practice of selling indulgences for large building projects, convincing the masses that buying indulgences would not only

secure their place in heaven, but free loved ones from purgatory.

Martin Luther 1483-1546 a young German monk, moved to fiery zeal after witnessing such corruption in the Church, began what is now known as the Protestant Reformation. He

preached the love and grace of God as gifts which cannot be bought. On October 31, 1517, Luther posted his protest renowned as his "Ninety-Five Theses," on the door of All Saints Church in Wittenberg, Germany. The papacy pressured him to recant his position. Upon his refusal Luther was excommunicated and went into hiding. While in hiding Luther translated the Bible from Greek to German.

For the Jews, the Protestant Reformation did not bring relief from suffering. Luther was aware and very troubled by the Church's historically harsh treatment of the Jews. He presumed the Jews' lack of interest in conversion to Christianity was because of the

corruption in the Church. He hoped ty showing them a new and different way, they would have a change of heart and convert. However the Jews' allegiance was to the Torah, so they refused Christian conversion. Their rejection of Christianity turned Luther's heart to

become bitterly anti-Semitic.

Walter Laqueur writes. "Martin Luther at the beginning of his career had entertained hopes that the Jews would be converted to his new creed and stressed in particular that Jesus had been born a Jew. But he did not win converts among the Jews and in later years turned sharply against them. His views are of considerable importance because they helped to shape the outlook of the Protestant churches up to the twentieth century, through his pamphlet entitled On The Jews and Their Lies, frequently reprinted during the Nazi era."1

In his pamphlet, On The Jews and Their Lies, Martin Luther writes "What shall we Christians do with this rejected and condemned people, the Jews? Since they live among us, we dare not tolerate their conduct now that we are aware of their lying and reviling and blasphemy.

1 Walter Lequeur, The Changing Face of Anti-Semitism, (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2006), 63.

If we do we become sharers in their lies, cursing and blasphemy. Thus, we cannot

extinguish the unquenchable fire of divine wrath, of which the prophets speak, nor can we convert the Jews. With prayer and the fear of God we must practice a sharp mercy to see whether we might save at least a few from the glowing flames. We dare not avenge

ourselves. Vengeance a thousand times worse than we could wish them already has them by the throat. I shall give you my sincere advice . . , “1

Luther's "sincere advice" included burning all their synagogues. destroying Jewish holy books, forbidding rabbis to teach, destroying Jewish homes, banning Jews from the

marketplace, seizing Jewish property, forbidding Jews from banking, expelling Jews from Christian towns, and forcing Jews into hard labor. "This is to be done in honor of our Lord and of Christendom."2

1 Jewish Virtual Library ‘Anti Semitism: Martin Luther – ‘The Jews and Their Lies’ (1543)’. [Online] Available: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/martin-luther-quot-the-jews-and-their-lies-quot.

2 Ibid