Vom Schem Hamphoras.

LUTHER, MARTIN

Georgen Rhaw

Wittemberg

1543

FIRST EDITION. Initial letters floriated. Genealogical chart. Wide-margined copy.

Founder of the Lutheran Church of Protestantism, German religious reformer Martin Luther (1483-1546) grew increasingly hostile towards Jews following their refusal to accept his new theology. Luther's primary works on the Jews are Von den Juden und ihren Lügen ("On the Jews and Their Lies") and Vom Schem Hamphoras ("On the Holy Name,") both printed in 1543. The title Vom Schem Hamphoras derives from a legend (Toldoth Yeshu HaNotzri) suggesting that Jesus utilized God's Ineffable Name to perform miracles. Luther argued that the Jews are no longer the Chosen - but "the Devil's People" and his rabid anti-Semitic views led him to advocate mass destruction of Hebrew books, the torching of synagogues and confiscation of Jews' personal property. “Throughout the subsequent centuries, Luther’s ferocious castigation of the Jews provided fuel for anti-Semites and the vicious force of that legacy was still evident in Nazi propaganda” (EJ, Vol. XI, col. 586). See Robt. Michael, "Luther, Luther Scholars and the Jews," Encounter 46 (Autumn 1985), No. 4:343-344; idem, Holy Hatred: Christianity, Antisemitism and the Holocaust (2006), p. 113; E.W. Gritsch, Martin--God's Court Jester: Luther in Retrospect (1983), pp. 141-42.