History Rhymes

 

I am working through Matthew Barrett’s book, The Reformation as Renewal: Retrieving the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, at my substack.  However, I have a thought based on one portion of the text that I think better fits at this blog.

“Stab, smite, slay.”  And if “you die in doing it, good for you!”  To do nothing was to be an accomplice.  “If he is able to punish and does not do it – even though he would have had to kill someone or shed blood – he becomes guilty of all the murder and evil that these people commit.”  Not grace, but sword, said Luther.  And if you die trying to kill one of these rebellious peasants, fear not – you are a “true martyr in the eyes of God.”

The occasion was the Peasants Revolt in 1525.  Luther called for indiscriminate killing on the part of the nobles and princes and against the peasants. 

By its conclusion, the Peasants’ War resulted in mass carnage.  Different numbers have been estimated, but something like eighty thousand may have died in battle.

Barely armed common folk were pitted against well-trained soldiers.  It was a one-sided slaughter.

Across Germany the insurrection was snuffed out, dead bodies lay everywhere, and the outcry in Germany was so agonizing it felt unbearable. 

Having called for slaughter, Luther faced the backlash.  While he had no control of the soldiers, he could not escape his call to stab, smite, and slay.

With countless corpses rotting in the hot summer sun, Luther’s commission now seemed cruel, even malicious, and his credibility was tarnished, as was the reputation of the Reformation as a whole.

The carnage was apocalyptic in proportion, and the devastation was so severe that recovery felt like an impossibility.

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Christian Zionist leaders cheer on Israel.  In the wake of October 7, they cheered on Israel.  Today, many continue to cheer on Israel.  Despite the slaughter, they cheer on Israel.  In fact, knowing the imbalance, they cheered on Israel four months ago in the face of the genocidal statements from Israeli leaders and despite what was certain to be the result of Israel’s aggression.

One of the best equipped militaries in the world against a trapped peasant army.  Tens of thousands killed, large portions of housing destroyed.  Hospitals targeted.  Food and power cut off.  Like shooting fish in a barrel, but only after not feeding the fish and pouring a little acid in the water.

I pray that the idea that Christians have to somehow support this corrupt state in order to give God the ability to carry out (their corrupt version of) His plan gets crushed.  In fact, I pray this crushes their corrupt version of God’s plan.

I pray that the reputation of these Christian Zionist leaders today is not only tarnished, but destroyed.  Unfortunately, they add to the reputational destruction of the Church.

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Despite the damage to Luther’s name, the Reformer did not regret his previous writings.  He wrote An Open Letter on the Harsh Book against the Peasants and further defended himself.

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And I bet most of today’s Christian Zionists will do the same.  The money is too good.