Gritsch on Luther's Anti-Judaism

“Gritsch... writes to challenge the interpretations put forward by other modern Luther scholars that luther’s opinions towards the Jews can be described as anti-Judiastic, but not anti-Semitic. For Gritisch, the salient difference between these distinctions is that while anti-Judaistic sentiments are rational disagree- ments with Jewish religious beliefs, anti-Semitism is hatred of Jews that is inherently irrational or fanciful. Gritsch argues that luther’s animus was of this latter kind and was ‘against his better judgment’ in the sense that it was internally inconsistent with his broader theological convictions. Gritsch concludes that in his teachings on the Jews, Luther violated his principle that one should only ever be a ‘theologian of the cross.’”

Andrew Kloes, "Book Review: Luther's Hostility to the Jews in His Own Theological Category, Eric Gritsch, Martin Luther's Anti-Semitism: Against His Own Better Judgment, Grand Rapids: WB Eerdmans, 2012," Expository Times, 125(3) 2013.