Luther’s Jews
Congratulations to Peter Marshall (Books, 4 February) on an engaging and thought-provoking review of Luther’s Jews: A Journey into Anti-Semitism, by Thomas Kaufmann.

He addresses an important aspect of the legacy of the Protestant Reformation within Germany as we rightly commemorate its 500th anniversary. It is an area of debate which many, both Catholic and Lutheran, would prefer to sideline, but which those who have studied the Reformation cannot ignore.

There is no doubt that Luther’s writings influenced Christian anti-Semitism during the development of Nazism, and made it easier for this evil ideology to be taught in Christian schools at the time. Nor can Catholic Christians be excused from blame. Hitler came from a Catholic family, as did Heinrich Himmler and Joseph Goebbels.

However, we should not forget the Bekenntniskirche (Confessional Church), which opposed the official Lutheran Church under Hitler’s protégé, Reich Bishop Ludwig Müller. Under considerable persecution, this body struggled to uphold the Evangelical faith in its true form.

Like many, Martin Luther was a flawed human being, often extreme in his language, but this should not detract from the call to put Christ first in true evangelical discernment