Considering Luther and the Jews

All of our heroes are flawed. Some more than others. David committed murder to cover up his adultery. Solomon was led astray by his many wives and their gods.

Sometimes we don’t give extra-biblical guys as much slack, aka grace, as God does. I noted this in my recent post on Theological Phariseeism. Sometimes we refuse to be honest about their flaws, as if it would undermine the good they do.

My friend, Chris Probst, did his Ph.D. dissertation in London on the subject of Luther and the Jews, and how that impacted Nazi Germany. It is more nuanced that you might expect. He’s a smart guy that Probst. Not to mention the fact that his dad is German and mom is Jewish.

He got to sit down with Steve Brown on Steve Brown Etc. to talk about the book and the reality that all our heroes (except Jesus) are flawed.

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Considering Heroes and a Savior

Super Hero movies are all the rage these days. I enjoy many of them. They are often about things our culture struggles with: technology, government etc. They often portray a world in which there is good and evil, and in which good ultimately prevails. Many of the Marvel heroes share in our foibles and weaknesses. They are not perfect. In a sense they give us a measure of hope that people can solve the crises before us.

But, I think, there is a potentially dark side to this “hero worship.” Or should I call it “hero longing”? The problem is not the heroes themselves, but the limitations of the heroes which, in part, creates their appeal to us.

Heroes deal with external evil. They rescue people from the tyranny and destruction of an evil being. They recognize that evil is “out there”. They are capable of dealing with evil out there.  And the evil “out there” needs to be dealt with. We do need someone to rescue us from evil people and evil structures.

This is one reason why so many rely on government- to rescue them from evil out there. Governments should be just, and punish evil doers (Romans 13). But it is what neither a hero nor a government can do that is just as important. Dealing with the evil within.

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