Deeper understandings Interreligious dialogue Would Martin Luther engage in such discussion today?
Editor’s note: This series is intended to be a public conversa- tion among teaching theologians of the ELCA on various themes of our faith and the challenging issues of our day. It invites readers to engage in dialogue by posting comments online at the end of each article at
www.thelutheran.org. The series is edited by Philip
D.W. Krey, president of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadel- phia, on behalf of the presidents of the eight ELCA seminaries.
By J. Paul Rajashekar M
artin Luther lived in an age of religious intolerance and was not fully aware of the extent
Rajashekar
Rajashekar is an ELCA pastor and is professor of systematic theology at the Lutheran Theo- logical Seminary at Philadelphia.
of today’s religious diversity. He is better known for his disputations than dialogues; confrontations than concord; polemics than politeness. One may wonder how Luther could be invoked as an advocate for inter- religious dialogue. Luther had met only a handful of Jews and had never met a Muslim. He knew about reli- gions of antiq- uity, but he had no knowledge of the religions elsewhere in the world besides Judaism and Islam. “Would
Luther engage in interreligious dialogue if he
18 The Lutheran •
www.thelutheran.org
were alive today?” is an important question that heirs of Luther are challenged to answer. Religions of the world surround us. Most free societies grant legitimacy and civic rights to them. Interacting with people of other faiths is an unavoid- able reality in daily life. It is evident that religious diversity in our midst is here to stay, whether we like it or not, and cannot be wished away. “What would Luther do” in our situation? The answer depends on how one reads his theology of reli- gions. Luther may be more open to serious interreligious engagement today than his writings might other- wise suggest. Luther’s views on religions fol- lowed the historic claim that “out- side the church” or “outside Christ” there is no salvation. The salvation of non-Christians didn’t concern him. He focused on God’s revelation in Jesus Christ, reading the Bible to conclude that all religions without Christ are false, at best expressions of “works-righteousness” and, at worst, instruments of Satan. He saw other religions through the same lenses as he saw his Roman Catholic opponents—as religions of law and works-righteousness.
The reformer did recognize that Jesus was born a Jew and related to them as “blood relatives, cousins and brothers of our Lord” and to whom alone God had committed the Scriptures. Initially he hoped to convert the Jews. But when the rabbis disagreed with his exegesis (explanation or critical interpreta- tion) of the Old Testament, Luther became bitter. He unleashed a vitri-
olic outburst in his infamous treatise “On Jews and their Lies,” which endorsed the persecution of Jews and later became an inspiration for anti-Semitism in the 20th century. Luther’s views in this regard have now been repudiated and Lutherans have distanced themselves from his uncharitable and offensive views. Luther’s take on Muslim Turks was much more measured. His opposition to religious “crusades” against the Turks in his 95 Theses was cited against him in his excom- munication from the Roman Catho- lic Church.
Something comparable to the
9/11 terrorist attack occurred when the Ottoman Turks defeated the Hungarian army in 1526 and appeared at the gates of Vienna in 1529. Luther felt compelled to clarify his view in his treatise “On War against the Turks.” He saw the Turks as agents of God’s wrath and punishment against Christendom and at the same time servants of the devil. Nevertheless, he still opposed all attempts at inciting a religious war for revenge or for seeking glory, honor and extension of territory. Luther’s interest in the religion
of the Turks led him to publish other tracts and sermons on Islam. He was instrumental in the pub- lication of a Latin edition of the Quran, even writing its preface. He translated parts of the Quran into German based on Latin quotations and desired someday to translate it in its entirety. He sought reliable knowledge of Islam, which wasn’t available to him. Luther’s desire was based on his pastoral concern to
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