Martin Luther’s Catechisms on Do Not Envy, and Confronting Luther’s Anti-Semitism

Today we will learn and reflect on the commandment, DO NOT ENVY, in the Small
and Large Catechisms penned by Martin Luther. Luther was remarkably intelligent
and a brilliant theologian, but his otherwise brilliant theology was marred by anger,
anger towards the papal institution as he called the Pope many vulgar names, and
anger towards the Jews. This is true even in the Large Catechism, even here he calls
the Pope names, and opens his discussion of several of the Ten Commandments
with anti-Semitic comments, including the commandment, DO NOT ENVY.
We have another video on the puzzling Stoic Philosopher and Roman Emperor
Marcus Aurelius, who may have both been a persecutor of Christians while at the
same time promoting a stoic philosophy that was similar to Christianity in many
respects, and who was admired by some early Christians, including possibly St
Justin Martyr. If we can learn positive lessons from Marcus Aurelius, we can learn
positive lessons from Martin Luther, and we can also learn from his imperfections.

At the end of our talk, we will discuss the sources used for this video, and the
additional lessons we learn from these sources, and my blogs that also cover this
topic. Please, we welcome interesting questions in the comments. Let us learn
and reflect together!

YouTube Video:
Martin Luther on the
commandment:
Do Not Envy
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Martin Luther on
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Do Not Envy
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We are today more sensitive to anti-Semitism because of the ugly history of the
Holocaust, as indeed we should be. Was Martin Luther inspired by the Holy Spirit?
Often times Martin Luther was inspired by the Holy Spirit, sometimes he was not.
We are unfortunately compelled to treat Martin Luther like a pagan Greek
philosopher, preserving that which is beneficial, and pointing out and discarding
those teachings which do not increase our two-fold Love of God and love of our
neighbor. Indeed, sometimes Luther’s anger gets in the way of love. However, even
Luther’s imperfections can teach us valuable lessons about ourselves.
MARTIN LUTHER’S SMALL CATECHISM
Fortunately, one of advantages of the Small Catechism is its succinctness, which
means that it no room for Luther’s faults. We will start with the Small Catechism on
the Commandments for DO NOT ENVY:

Lutheran Small Catechism:
“You should not covet your neighbor’s house.”
“What does this mean? We should fear and
Love God, and so we should not seek by
craftiness to gain possession of our neighbor’s
inheritance or home, nor to obtain them under
pretext of legal right, but be of service and help
to him so that he may keep what is his.”
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or
his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox,
or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”
“What does this mean? We should fear and
Love God, and so we should not abduct,
estrange, or entice away our neighbor’s wife,
servants, or cattle, but encourage them to
remain and discharge their duty to him.”
David and Bathsheba, Jan Matsys, 1562. On a terrace at
his palace, King David watches Bathsheba, the wife of
Uriah. He desires her and sends a servant to fetch her.

Martin Luther was previously an Augustinian monk, and we know he
read St Augustine, as he was a professor and Lutheran theology is
founded on Augustinian theology, and he opens his discussion of each of
the commandments with the reminder that we should Love God,
emphasizing the Augustinian teaching that the two-fold Love of God and
love for our neighbor is the core of all Christian teaching.
Luther also expresses the positive form of this commandment, that we
should help our neighbor to retain that which belongs to him, and not
entice away his wife or servants or cattle.

What is also curious about his exposition in both the Large and Small Catechisms is Luther is
reluctant to label errant thoughts as sinful. All other commentators in other traditions, including
other Protestant commentators, we have studied so far characterize envy as a sin of thought, but
Luther just does not want to go there.
Perhaps this reluctance to label thoughts as sinful by Luther’s early experience as an overly
fastidious monk who was constantly confessing to his confessor his unworthiness, how his
thoughts too often wandered into sin. Even today many young Christians fall into this trap of
over-fastidiousness and unending anxiety, as Christians we simply need to confess and forget,
recognizing that what is important is that we not feed our temptations, and that we can be both
repentant and aware that it is difficult to tell when temptations cross over into impure thoughts.
But as the Greeks say, nothing to excess, and anxiety in excess multiplies our temptations.
MARTIN LUTHER’S LARGE CATECHISM
Luther opens his discussion of envy in the Large Catechism with extended anti-Semitic
commentary, but we will ignore this elephant in the room until after we discuss the positive
lessons he has to offer. We always want to bring out the best in our neighbor, and also in Luther.

Luther enters the monastery, Ferdinand Pauwels, painted late 1800’s

Luther Posting his 95 Theses in 1517, by Ferdinand Pauwels, painted 1872

Martin Luther is an excellent judge of character.
Luther states, “Such is our nature that we all
begrudge another’s having as much as we have.
Everyone acquires all he can and lets others look
out for themselves.”
Dear Gentle Reader, follow Luther’s lead, you can
search all day for the verse, God helps those who
help themselves, but will do so in vain, for not
only did God not say this, this saying is totally
repugnant to Christianity.
Luther continues, “Yet we all pretend to be
upright, we put up a fine front to hide our
rascality. We think up artful dodges and sly tricks
under the guise of justice. We brazenly dare to
boast of it, and insist it should not be called
rascality but shrewdness and business acumen.”

The photos for the movie To Kill a Mockingbird, which is a story of a black manin
the Deep South who is falsely accused of rape, and is tried, convicted, and later
killed by a mob, and there are more injustices in the story.
Jim Crow racism is, in part, a sin of envy, where society is envious of whatever
goodness and success that blacks may attain, eternally trying to keep them down.
We selected this as our illustration because it is a perfect example of rascality and
evil that many white Southerners excused because the Jim Crow police and courts
tolerated and encouraged this discrimination and brutality, cloaking it in a guise of
justice and normalcy.

Luther is the rare theologian who has some grasp of the law, he talks about lawsuits and bribes
and how eagerly people are to steal inheritances from their close relatives.
Luther tells us that just because a judge and a court excuses our actions, that does not make our
actions moral and right. Just because a sale has been forced and title passes legally, does not
prove its morality, is does not excuse theft. Sometimes when people gain property by irreparably
harming their neighbor, they boast about how great a bargain they drove, and they boast about
how much of a steal the transaction was, as if theft is something worth bragging about.
Likewise, Luther warns against enticing away our neighbor’s wife or servants or cattle. Does this
also apply to businessmen who wish to entice away employees as competitors? You can answer
this question for yourself, but the real question is, when does cut-throat competition in business
cross over into the sins of envy and theft?
This is the speech of the Wall Street speculator in the movie, Wolf of Wall Street:

Movie Speech:
Greed -- for lack of a
better word -- is good.
Greed is right.
Greed works.
Greed clarifies, cuts
through, and captures
the essence of the
evolutionary spirit.
Greed, in all of its
forms -- greed for life,
for money, for love,
knowledge -- has
marked the upward
surge of mankind."

Luther proclaims, “We are
forbidden to entice anything
away from our neighbor, even
though in the eyes of the world
you could do so honorably,
without accusation or blame
for fraudulent dealing.”
Later Luther also says, “God
does not want you to deprive
your neighbor of anything that
is his, letting him suffer loss
while you gratify your greed,
even though in the eyes of the
world you might honorably
retain the property.”
Martin Luther & Philipp Melanchthon, by Lucas Cranach the Younger,
painted 1558. Luther penned many tracts and theological works, while
Melanchthon represented Lutherans in various councils and was the
primary author of the Augsburg Confession and other official Lutheran
documents. Luther thought that Melanchthon was too conciliatory.

Luther explains that covetousness may lead us to file lawsuits against our
neighbor, seeking damages, disputing inheritances, or simply to squeeze
something out of our neighbor, or bribing public officials to give him title to a
desired property. Covetousness may lead us to take advantage of our neighbor’s
adversity or debt, picking up his property for less than its fair value.
Christians are not forbidden to hire attorneys to safeguard their interests,
particularly if they need to protect their ability to provide for their families and
fund their charities, but Christians are forbidden to hire attorneys who are sharks,
who have the reputation of relentlessly pursuing their prey regardless of who is in
the right, regardless of whom they manage to destroy.

Martin Luther
Preaching to the
Faithful, from
the Altarpiece
of the Church of
Torslunde, 1561

Luther offers as an example of the sin of envy justified the story of King Herod,
and the many sins that this stirred both in the both in Herod’s heart and in the
heart of his wife Herodias whom he stole away. John the Baptist publicly criticized
this behavior of the king, causing problems. This envy for his brother’s wife led to
Herod committing both theft and adultery, and slander, since imprisoning John
the Baptist hurt his reputation. Sinning further, Herod and Herodias condone the
prostituting of his step-daughter Salome as she dances for her step-dad and his
lecherous friends. Everyone is more deeply as the web of sinfulness is further
spun, as the hateful Herodias implicates her own daughter and her husband
Herod in the brutal murder and beheading of John the Baptist. Every sin against
man is broken, it is now impossible for the step-daughter to have a sliver of
respect for hen-pecked Herod or her vile mother Herodias.

The Dance of Salome by Andrea Marchisio

“For Herod had seized John
and bound him and put him in
prison, for the sake of
Herodias, his brother Philip’s
wife; because John said to
him, ‘It is not lawful for you to
have her.’ And though Herod
wanted to put John to death,
he feared the people,
because they held him to be a
prophet. But when Herod’s
birthday came, the daughter
of Herodias danced before
the company, and pleased
Herod, so that he promised
with an oath to give her
whatever she might ask.”
The Dance of Salome by Andrea Marchisio

“Prompted by her
mother, she said, ‘Give
me the head of John
the Baptist here on a
platter.’ And the king
was sorry; but because
of his oaths and his
guests he commanded
it to be given; he sent
and had John beheaded
in the prison, and his
head was brought on a
platter and given to the
girl, and she brought it
to her mother.”
Feast of Herod, Peter Paul Rubens, painted early 1600’s

Luther ends his discussion
nobly, for when we avoid the
sin of envy, “God’s purpose is to
destroy all the roots and causes
of our injuries to our
neighbors.” “God wants our
hearts to be pure, even though
as long as we live here we
cannot reach that ideal.”
Joseph recognized by his brothers, by
Charles Thevenin, painted 1789

Now to discuss the elephant in the room that we really would rather not discuss, which is THE
ANTI-SEMITISM OF MARTIN LUTHER. We cannot avoid the anti-Semitism of Luther, his first
sentence in the Do Not Envy section says, “These two commandments, taken literally, were given
exclusively to the Jews; nevertheless, in part, they also apply to us.” Luther doesn’t adequately
explain which portion of the Do Not Envy commandments do not apply to Christians, but we do
know that Luther views Jews as being morally deficient and somehow inferior when compared to
Christians. His accusations against the Jews are both historically untrue and slanderous.
Personally, I dislike these sorts of discussions which find fault with spiritual leaders, present or
past. But today, in our politics, we see so much racism and anti-Semitism, and they always go
together, even among Christians, so that we cannot pretend that it does not exist. And Luther
broadcasts his flaws so flagrantly that you cannot read Luther without confronting his faults.
On a positive note, Luther is one of few who comment on the Banality of Evil, how evil can never
be turned good by public opinion, how it is impossible to make evil good by legislation, how
legality and morality are not necessarily equivalent. Luther just did carry through this concept to
its logical end, but with the eyes of the concentration camp victims staring at us from the post
World War II photos, we know where this has led. And we are planning a future video on Hannah
Arendt on her book, Eichmann in Jerusalem, which is subtitled, The Banality of Evil.

Israeli Supreme Court, Eichmann case
Banality of Evil

There are many books that touch on Luther and his anti-Semitism which you can read if you
like, Wikipedia has an article titled “Martin Luther and antisemitism” which seems to accurately
summarize the history of this sordid topic. Early in his ministry, Luther in 1523 in his essay “That
Jesus Christ was a Jew” that we should be kind to Jews so they may convert.
Luther did not age well. He decided that we should not be kind to Jews, Luther was
disappointed that Jews did not start converting to Lutheranism even when shown how superior
Lutheranism was to corrupt Catholicism, so in his bitter anger in 1543 Luther penned the
horrific “On the Jews and Their Lies.” Dr Wikipedia documents how this deplorable hit piece
encouraged anti-Semitism in the centuries following.
Luther did not invent anti-Semitism, Jews and Muslims were both despised as infidels and
unbelievers. We have other videos on the unfortunate history of anti-Semitism from the early
Church Fathers, including some unfortunate comments by St Justin Martyr and Barnabas in
particular. There is a virulently anti-Semitic tract attributed to St John Chrysostom, and several
strongly anti-Semitic comments by St Cyril of Alexandria.

In the First Crusade, several centuries before Luther, the enthusiastic crusaders torched Jewish
communities and murdered many Jews, and stole their stuff of course, on their way to the Holy
Land, which the Catholic Church official condemned, but which many churchmen tolerated.
And there were periodic Jewish pogroms throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance.

The Strasbourg
pogrom, the
Massacre of
the city's
Jewish
inhabitants, in
1349, by Émile
Schweitzer,
painted 1894

Luther did greatly encourage virulent anti-Semitism. Centuries later, without exaggeration,
Adolph Hitler could quote Luther as support for the Nazi anti-Semitic policies. German and
European rulers in Luther’s day did not implement his suggestions, but Hitler and his SS thugs
finally did follow Luther’s advice in Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, when so many
Jewish homes, synagogues, and businesses were looted, burned, and vandalized. Afterwards,
Jews were either exiled penniless or sent to the death and work camps.
Our video covers this horrific history plus how courageous, and not so courageous, Christians
resisted the evil Nazi regime and its anti-Semitism, and sometimes survived.

Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, November 1938

What were Luther’s suggestions against the Jews?
• “First, set fire to their synagogues or schools,” “so God might see we are Christians.”
• “Second, I advise that their houses also be razed and destroyed.”

• “Third, I advise that all their prayer books and Talmudic writings, in which such
idolatry, lies, cursing, and blasphemy are taught, be taken from them.”
• “Fourth, I advise that their rabbis be forbidden to teach henceforth on pain of loss
of life and limb.”

• “Fifth, I advise
that safe-conduct
on the highways
be abolished
completely for
the Jews.”
• “Sixth, I advise
that usury be
prohibited to
them, and that all
cash and treasure
of silver and gold
be taken from
them.”

• “Seventh, I recommend putting a flail, an ax, a hoe, a spade, a distaff,
or a spindle into the hands of young, strong Jews and Jewesses and
letting them earn their bread in the sweat of their brow.”

Luther did not suggest that the Jews be murdered, and we can surmise
he would have been more careful with his words had he been foreseen
how Hitler would have found inspiration in his proclamations centuries
later. Hitler took all of these suggestions to heart in the night of the
Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, and then shipped many Jews to
Auschwitz, the camp sign that greeted the Jews on their arrival
proclaimed, “Arbeit macht frei”, in English, “Work will set you free.”
Dr Wikipedia discusses the scholars who have studied the deep ties
between the anti-Semitism of Luther and Nazi ideology. Also, most
Lutheran denominations have also condemned the anti-Semitic writings
of Luther.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_and_antisemitism
and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristallnacht

Another uncomfortable and unanswerable question is how much
indirect influence Luther’s embrace of anti-Semitism has contaminated
Protestantism, and all denominations, making it easier for white
Christians to embrace racist attitudes and reject what they characterize
as Critical Race Theory, which probably means going back to teaching
the discredited Lost Cause mythology of the nobility of the Confederate
cause in the Civil War, falsely stating that slavery was not a primary
cause of the bloody war. We also have a video exploring how white
evangelicals oppose the civil rights movement. This is not an idle
question, we have another video discussing how the Nazis used the Jim
Crow statutes as guidance when drafting their anti-Semitic Nuremburg
Race Laws.

We want to end on a positive note, we have a video on the
winning University of Colorado Coach McCartney who retired at
the height of his winning career to dedicate his life to a ministry
he founded called Promise Keepers, a ministry that had limited
success because he was trying to spread an unpopular message
of racial reconciliation, a message that he thought important
since he came to understand how difficult life was for the
families of the many black high-school football players he
recruited.

Envy breeds anger. Anger, like envy, is spiritually hazardous.
Anger dispels doubt, while love often lacks clarity, since love
invites reflection that causes us to doubt our motivations and
our innermost thoughts. Anger clarifies who our enemies are,
anger makes our neighbors our enemies. Politically, anger beats
love, anger fights, while love consoles.

SOURCES: Our primary source for this video is the Book of Concord, the
Confessional Handbook of the Lutheran Church. Luther wrote the sections on the
Small and Large Catechisms. You can also purchase the catechisms separately.
We also drew from the sources for many of the other videos from this channel. We
would also like to mention the many videos by the Lutheran Professor who is also
an Augustinian scholar, Dr Phillip Carey. He sees his life mission as bridging the
chasm separating the Protestant and Catholic Churches, and he has many excellent,
balanced, and respectful lectures on Luther, St Augustine, and histories of
Christianity and the Western Tradition that are in the Great Books, but not
Wondrium lecture series. Finally, in his final lectures on Luther, he ponders the
question I had never heard pondered for decades, How could a leading theologian
be so ANGRY? Isn’t perpetual anger spiritually dangerous?
Plus, we have a video on the history of the Lutheran and Catholic Catechisms.
And we have this wonderful thumbnail painting of Luther at the Diet of Worms.

Luther at the Diet of Worms in 1521, by Anton von Werner, painted 1877

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Martin Luther’s Catechisms on Do Not Envy, and Confronting Luther’s Anti-Semitism

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Martin Luther’s Catechisms on Do Not Envy, and Confronting Luther’s Anti-Semitism