When one typically hears of Martin Luther they think of the great Reformer who brought the Church out of the corrupt clutches of the Medieval Catholic Church and led her into the modern era, promoting several doctrines. Luther is best know for promoting the theological conviction that salvation is by grace through faith alone. Although this is one of the “main stage” theological convictions of Luther, there are other less known “side stage” beliefs and convictions that have been largely ignored in recent years. Recently, I have been doing some research and study on Luther’s view of Supersessionism (the conviction that the Church has replaced Israel and is now the new “spiritual Israel” and that the Jewish people are now without a covenant and cursed because they have rejected the Messiah). Luther was not alone in this view (there is widespread unanimity on this theology conviction in Christendom from the early Church Fathers up to and beyond the time of Luther until WWII), however when you combine Luther Suppersessionism, and at times blatant Anti-Semitic writings, with his positive view on Autocratic government and mix it with the potency of his massive influence, it is apparent that it helped to create the fertile ground in Germany that eventually gave birth to Nazism.
I am not saying that Luther was a Nazi or that he would have supported Hitler, in fact I would assume otherwise, but his writings definitely influenced the Third Reich. In fact, Luther’s infamous tract: “On The Jews and Their Lies,” was quoted often by the Nazis and the original copy of this tract was proudly displayed at Nurenberg during Nazi party rallies.
My research has focused on the influences of the Church Fathers, who were largely Supersessionists, upon Luther and then Luther’s influence upon Christendom and eventually the Holocaust. I am also looking at the current typical Evangelical position which has grown after World War II that views God’s covenant as still binding with Israel. Interestingly, the common Evangelical expression God will bless those who bless the Jews and curse those who curse the Jews would have been unthinkable before the Holocaust in Christianity.
I am not making any theological claims but simply stating how culture, world events and societal beliefs have drastic and profound effects on our theology and conversely, how our theology can have profound, even horrendous, affects on society.
Luther is a fascinating man whose influence and affects are still felt today, some 500 years after his life.
I also read recently that Luther and some of the other reformers took regarding politics and the church were indirect spawns of the Nazi regime as well. Essentially, they came out with this view that God used the government to enforce the law and used the church to change hearts. The two were separate entities. The church had the better way, but since many would never listen to the church, the state had the necessary role of enforcing a moral society. What this created was a situation where a politician could be a Christian, but could easily go to church one day and hang a person the next. It paved the way for the false equation between the state and God’s will. It created an environment where church people could with good conscience read about peace and turning the other cheek one day and then strike a cheek in the name of national values the next.
This is certainly not to blame Luther for the holocaust. He never foresaw the problem. He was trying to make his way in a state that was having major problems in the union between church and state. He was trying to garner support for a much needed reformation. It is just very unfortunate that when the consequences of this view became clear, the church for the most part (with notable exceptions such as Bonhoeffer and Barth) did not have the foresight to see through the disaster and be a force for change.
I think the doctrine you are referring to is the “Divine Right of Kings” which as you stated, led to an environment that was conducive to Nazism. I, too, don’t think Luther would have been a Nazi supporter. He was reacting against and trying to fix the problem he saw on the other end of the spectrum. It is, however, interesting/disturbing how the momentum he started by both his beliefs in autocratic government and Supersessionism, lead to some of the most devistating and horrendous events in human history.