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Documentation Lutheran Church
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The Luther Church should no longer call itself “Christian”!
Many Protestants are convinced that Martin Luther reformed the Church and led it closer to Christendom. In reality, Luther remained a Catholic Augustinian monk his whole life, deeply caught up in the medieval thinking of the Roman Church.
There are worlds separating Jesus and Luther!
What the Vatican Church had built up over centuries as doctrines and behavior patterns in vivid contrast to Jesus of Nazareth was adopted by Luther in many aspects and included in his newly developing state church. He even added further un-christian elements, such as obedience toward authority, for instance. The effects of this can still be clearly felt in the Luther Church right up until today.
For this reason: Whoever follows Luther cannot call himself Christian!
The question is: What did Jesus teach? What did Luther teach? How does the Luther Church act today?
Denial of the Christianity of the Deed
Jesus taught: “Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them is like a wise man who built his house upon the rock…”
Martin Luther, on the other hand, was of the opinion that “Faith alone is enough.” The denial of the significance of the Christianity of the deed connected with this is a mockery of Jesus, the Christ, and of His teachings. The final consequence of this is an ethical minimalism, which makes every further spiritual development of a person seem superfluous. In place of the active faith, which Jesus, the Christ, taught, a passive faith results, which makes people even easier to control. A look into the world shows where this leads.
Anti-Semitism
Jesus was a Jew – and He taught us the love for God, our Father, who loves all His children equally.
Martin Luther, on the other hand, was an awful anti-Semite, upon whom, 400 years later, the anti-Semites Hitler and Streicher still based them. Luther insulted Jews as “living devils,” as the “pestilence and all misfortune,” as a “thoroughly evil, thoroughly poisonous, thoroughly bedeviled thing.” He urged the authorities to burn the Jew’s synagogues and to forbid their worship services, to destroy their homes and take their prayer books and all their money away from them. He wanted them placed under house arrest and obligated to perform forced labor. The following quote about the Jews demonstrates the enormity of his hatred for the Jews: “You are not worthy of looking at the outside of the Bible, much less of reading it. You should read only the bible that is found under the sow's tail, and eat and drink the letters that drop from there.” (H.-J. Böhm, The Teachings of Martin Luther - A Myth Breaks Apart], p. 208).
The Luther Church vigorously helped when the authorities put Luther’s demand into practice during the 20th century. Already in 1933, numerous Lutheran pastors were members of the National Socialist German Workers Party. A facility of the Luther Church at times even operated its own concentration camp, bearing the address: “Regional Association for Inner Mission, Department Concentration Camp Kuhlen” (Ernst Klee, “Die SA Jesu Christi,” p. 62) In 1938, the Thuringian regional Bishop Martin Sasse still extolled Luther as a trailblazer for the Crystal Night and republished Luther’s book “About the Jews and their Lies.” Baptized Jews were excluded by the thousands from the Protestant regional Churches, which then contributed to them being exposed to certain death.
Warmongering
Jesus was a pacifist. He taught love of enemy and in a situation of self-defense warned Peter: “The one who takes up the sword will perish by the sword.”
Martin Luther, on the other hand, incited his fellowmen to war and civil war. Against the Turks, they should “raise their fist in joy and with confidence beat, murder, rob and do harm as much as they can, as long as there is still a sign of life.” And he called for civil war against the rebellious peasants, “Stab, beat, throttle here, whoever can. If you remain dead in the process, happy you, you can never attain a more blessed death. For you die obedient to the divine word and command.”
The Luther Church justifies until today, just as the Catholic Church, war and violence and presumes to decide whether they are “just” or the alleged “lesser evil.” During the First and Second World Wars, the Lutheran military chaplains and regional bishops urged the soldiers into battle right up to the bitter end. Lutheran deacons were called the “Storm Troopers of Jesus Christ.”
Obsessive Belief in Witches
Jesus respected women as having equal rights and prevented the Pharisees from carrying out a death sentence against a woman.
Martin Luther, on the other hand, profusely poured oil into the fire of the witch hunts. “You shall not let the sorceresses live … It is a just law that they are killed. They cause much harm … They can also cast a spell on a child … just kill them.”
Witch hunts raged in the territory of the Lutheran Church just as strongly as in Catholic regions. The territorial lords, who, thanks to Luther, also held the office of the head of the Church, usually raked in all the assets of those who had been tortured and murdered.
Intolerance Instead of Love for Neighbor
Jesus respected each person and was tolerant toward those of different faiths. For Him, it was not the prayer book that counted, but the deed, which is expressed, for instance, in the parable of the Good Samaritan, a helpful outsider.
Martin Luther, on the other hand, had those of other faiths persecuted with inquisitorial zeal, for example, the Anabaptists, defaming them as “messengers of the devil,” who “preach vain poison and lies.” Luther sent the hangman after anyone who dared to preach in Lutheran territory without being ordained by the Luther Church. “… the authorities should hand over such scoundrels to the proper master, who is called Master Hans (= the hangman).”
During the Nazi time, the Luther Church participated decisively in seeing to it that Jehovah‘s Witnesses (back then: “Bible researchers”) were persecuted; hundreds died in concentration camps. Even today, the Luther Church persecutes religious minorities via its own modern Inquisitors, called “sect commissioners,” with the help of the mass media, through smear campaigns that result in loss of civil rights, social exclusion and, in part, the ruination of occupational livelihood.
Financial Privileges at the Expense of the Poor
Jesus led a modest life. He warned of accumulating the treasures of earth, which “moths and rust consume.”
Martin Luther, on the other hand, provided financial security for his church, by placing it under the state. Right up to the present time, the Luther Church, just like the Catholic Church, enjoys considerable financial privileges at state expense. In addition to church taxes and to considerable state subsidies for church social facilities, it has itself subsidized by the state to the tune of circa 7 billion Euro annually: in tax exemptions, for educating theologians, for denominational religion classes, for the salaries of regional bishops and heads of church councils, military chaplains and much more. The state then lacks money in other areas.
Gruesome Image of God
Jesus taught that God is a God of love, who gave us free will as His children.
Martin Luther, on the other hand, expressly denied that man has free will; he said that the salvation of his soul is predetermined: According to this, God has predetermined that the one serve the good, and that the other, however, fall victim to evil and land in eternal damnation. He said that a person could do nothing to change this on his own. For Luther, God is, literally, also a “cruel,” an arbitrary, an unpredictable and punishing God, whose “wrath” should be feared. Yes, He is even supposed to be so cruel that He can be appeased only through the “blood sacrifice” of His Son.
This doctrine has considerably affected the mental health of its church members until today. Countless Lutherans still suffer from ecclesiogene (church-induced) neuroses: They can’t deal with the concept that the heavenly Father, of all figures, is supposedly so cruel and frightening. In many a region strongly influenced by Lutheranism, for example, the German states of Thuringia and Saxony, an increased tendency toward suicide was recorded, which gradually decreased only during the course of the time of the German Democratic Republic. That man allegedly has no free will (which in the Lutheran Church is still considered necessary for the salvation of one’s soul) is basically an unconstitutional doctrine – because how should politics function, for instance, if the majority of adulthood and the self-responsibility of the citizens are denied right from the start? How should social coexistence function when, according to Luther, reason is a “harlot of the devil”?
Church – Proclaimer of Evil
Jesus taught the God of love, who loves all His children equally and undertakes everything to have them with Him again. He did not teach an eternal hell. Nor did He teach the baptism of babies, saying, instead: “Teach first and then baptize.”
However, the Church introduced the forced baptism of babies, and upholds this until today. A baby has no possibility to defend itself against this. This is against Jesus of Nazareth; it is manipulation, a mental restriction imposed on defenseless children by way of the parents, as ordained by the Church.
But, as if that weren’t enough: Until today, the Church spreads the pagan idea of a punishing God, who punishes all those people with eternal damnation who do not follow the caste of priests. With this, they terrify countless people, undermine their mental health and alienate them from God, until today. This is a sin against the Holy Spirit.
From all these mental burdens inflicted on the people by the Church, many psychological illnesses develop, among others, the already mentioned church-induced neuroses. Since so many people are affected by this, we can understand the state our world is in.
Totalitarian Political Thought
Jesus was a spiritual revolutionary, a freedom thinker, who urged people not to orient themselves to institutions or traditions, but to seek God in their own inner being. This is why he was crucified by the caste of priests at that time. Regarding the authorities, He taught: Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is due to God.”
Martin Luther, on the other hand, made subordination to authority absolute. He saved his own skin by seeking protection from the territorial lords and by founding a new state church with their help.
This ideology of the Luther Church had fatal consequences in German history – not only in the bloody suppression of the peasant’s rebellion, but also in the Prussian form of state absolutism, which the National Socialist (Nazi) state with its blind obedience was able to easily built on.
Pagan Domination by Priests
Jesus did not appoint any priests. Nor did He initiate any sacraments or carry out any rituals; instead He brought us a religion of the heart, an inner religion.
Martin Luther did indeed reduce several excesses of Catholicism; however he also took over important elements of the Catholic cult religion, which, ultimately, consisted of things borrowed from pre-Christian paganism for instance, the ministry, which is similar to the priesthood, a ritual communion, the baptism of babies and more. All this existed in pagan religions from ancient Egypt, to Babylon, to the ancient mystery cults of Greece and Rome – but not with the first Christians.
Hostility Toward Nature and the Betrayal of Animals
Jesus came into the world among the animals, and over and over again used parables that gave people an understanding of the beauty of nature. Jesus loved the animals. When He fasted in the desert, they approached Him and made friends with Him. The first Christians lived primarily as vegetarians and excluded hunters, as well as soldiers, from their communities.
Martin Luther and the Luther Church, on the other hand, continued the Vatican Church’s hostility toward nature. Right up to the present time, we wait in vain for clear statements against animal testing, factory farming, genetic engineering, abuse of the power of atoms and much more.
Until today, the Church justifies the billion-fold maltreatment and torment of animals in animal testing, factory farming and hunting. The indifference basically laid out by church doctrine, the disdain for nature and the animals, plays a considerable part in the present boundless, brutal exploitation of nature all over the earth. Ultimately, the climate disaster also has its roots in this.
Despite all these clear contradictions,
the Church still labels itself “Christian,” as it always has.
This is a scandal that we no longer want to accept.
Down with this fraudulent labeling of the Church!
We are free Christians who champion the Christ of the Sermon on the Mount. We feel connected to Christ and committed to Him, who lived among us as Jesus of Nazareth. No one has to make of the original teachings of the Nazarene the guideline for his life. But whoever calls himself “Christian” should not constantly do the opposite of what Jesus, the great freedom teacher, wanted and taught.
Surely there are people outside the Church who try to live as Christians. But what did Jesus of Nazareth say? “No one puts new wine into old wineskins.” However, the Church, which Jesus never founded, whether Catholic or Lutheran, is an ancient “wineskin.” It as a another domain of theologians and priests, the self-named alleged intermediaries for God, who, until now, have turned nearly all the good beginnings of the largest world religion into their opposite – including the vision of Jesus of Nazareth.
Just imagine that one of our ancestors developed a unique product of the highest quality and marketed it. At first, this product enjoyed great respect among the consumers and was highly prized. Then came a product pirate who produced an inferior product under our ancestor’s name. It only bears the same name, but it is worthless and even harmful to people after short time use. How would we react?
Would we simply look on – or would we try to point out the product piracy and fraudulent labeling to our fellowman and warn them?
We have nothing against it when the Luther Church wants to call itself “Protestant,” Lutheran,” or “unified.” It can call itself whatever it wants, but please not “Christian.”
The Free Christians for the Christ of the Sermon on the Mount
In All Cultures Worldwide
Sources:
Hans-Jürgen Böhm, Die Lehre M. Luthers - ein Mythos zerbricht
Hans-Jürgen Böhm, Prof. Dr. Martin Luther – ein Massenmörder und Christenverfolger?
Karlheinz Deschner, Kriminalgeschichte des Christentums (bisher neun Bände);
Karlheinz Deschner, Ein Jahrhundert Heilsgeschichte, auch: Die Politik der Päpste im 20. Jahrhundert
Karlheinz Deschner, Opus Diaboli;
Horst Herrmann, Passion der Grausamkeit;
Hubertus Mynarek, Die neue Inquisition;
Matthias Holzbauer, Der Steinadler und sein Schwefelgeruch;
Matthias Holzbauer, Verfolgte Gottsucher;
Matthias Holzbauer und Gert Hetzel, Des Satans alte Kleider;
Carsten Frerk, Finanzen und Vermögen der Kirche
Wer sitzt auf dem Stuhl Petri?, Band 1-3, Verlag Das Wort;
Wynfrith Noll, Wenn Frommsein krank macht;
Ernst Klee, „Die SA Jesu Christi“
Die Bekenntnisschriften der Evangelisch-Lutherischen Kirche, herausgegeben im Gedenkjahr der Augsburgischen Konfession 1930, Göttingen, 1982
Dieter Potzel, Die Evangelische Kirche und der Holocaust, Der Theologe Nr.4, Wertheim, 1999
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