[af_vet_1981]

Here they have perhaps the last letters to his wife mentioning the Jews. This is the man who is foundational to the Reformation, and who translated Sola Fide into the Bible. If he is not in heaven the Reformation is illegitimate. XI. 1546: Luther’s Last Words About The Jews

The English edition of Luther’s Works contain three volumes dedicated to his letters (spanning the entirety of his career). Very few of those letters include anything substantial concerning Luther’s attitudes toward the Jews. However, two letters written to Luther’s wife Katie (from the year in which Luther died) reveal Luther’s deep hostility toward the Jews.

February 1, 1546. “To my dearly beloved mistress of the house, Catherine Luther,  a doctor, the lady of Zölsdorf [and] of the pig market,  and whatever else she is capable of being; Before all else, grace and peace in Christ, and my old, poor, and, as Your Grace knows, powerless love. Dear Katie. Yes, on the way, shortly before Eisleben, I became dizzy.  That was my fault. Had you been here, however, you would have said that it was the fault of the Jews or their god. For shortly before Eisleben we had to travel through a village in which many Jews are living, [and] perhaps they have attacked me so painfully.[151]  At this time over fifty Jews reside here in the city of Eisleben.  It is true that when I passed by the village such a cold wind blew from behind into the carriage and on my head through the beret, [that it seemed] as if it intended to turn my brain to ice. This might have helped me somewhat to become dizzy. But thank God now I am well, except for the fact that beautiful women tempt me so much that I neither care nor worry about becoming unchaste.  After the main issues have been settled, I have to start expelling the Jews.  Count Albrecht is hostile to them and has already outlawed them.  But no one harms them as yet. If God grants it I shall aid Count Albrecht from the pulpit, and outlaw them too.” [152]

Feb 7, 1546. “I think that hell and the whole world must now be empty of all devils, who, perhaps for my sake, have congregated here at Eisleben, so hard has this affair run aground. There are also Jews here, about fifty in one house,  as I have written to you previously. Now it is said that in Rissdorf—close to Eisleben, where I became iii during my journey—there are supposedly about four hundred Jews living and working.  Count Albrecht, who owns all the area around Eisleben, has declared that the Jews who are caught on his property are outlaws.  But as yet no one wants to do them any harm. The Countess of Mansfeld, the widow of Solms,  is considered to be the protector of the Jews. I do not know whether this is true. Today I made my opinion known in a sufficiently blunt way if anyone wishes to pay attention to it. Otherwise it might not do any good at all. You people pray, pray, pray, and help us that we do all things properly, for today in my anger I had made up my mind to grease the carriage. But the misery of my fatherland, which came to my mind, has stopped me.”[153] One can see why the Nazis regarded Luther as the greatest antisemite of his time.

[redleghunter]

Luther was not a Pope.

The discussion addressed the use of sola. And Luther’s use was not new as pointed out.