Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Leo Tolstoy's Perception of the Jewish People

In the words of the famous novelist Leo Tolstoy :

“The Jew is that sacred being who has brought down from heaven the everlasting fire, and has illumined with it the entire world. He is the religious source, spring, and
fountain out of which all the rest of the peoples have drawn their beliefs and their religious. The Jew is the pioneer of liberty. The Jew is the pioneer of civilization.
The Jew is the emblem of eternity.”

Compare the above with the founder of the Christian Protestant church Martin Luther. The following is his opinion of the Jewish people:

Accordingly, it must and dare not be considered a trifling matter but a most serious one to seek counsel against this and to save our souls from the Jews, that is, from the devil and from eternal death. My advice, as I said earlier, is:

First, that their synagogues be burned down, and that all who are able toss in sulphur and pitch; it would be good if someone could also throw in somehellfire.

Second, that all their books their prayer books, their Talmudic writings, also the entire Bible, be taken from them, not leaving them one leaf, and that these be preserved for those who may be converted.

Third, that they be forbidden on pain of death to praise God, to give thanks, to pray, and to teach publicly among us and in our country. The reason for this prohibition is that their praise, thanks, prayer, and doctrine are sheer blasphemy, cursing, and idolatry, because their heart and mouth call God the Father *Hebel Vorik* as they call his Son, our Lord Jesus, this.

Fourth, that they be forbidden to utter the name of God within our hearing.For we cannot with a good conscience listen to this or tolerate it, because their blasphemous and accursed mouth and heart call God's Son *Hebel Vorik,* and thus also call his Father that. Therefore we must not consider the mouth of the Jews as worthy of uttering the name of God within our hearing. He who hears this name-from a Jew must inform the authorities, or else throw sow dung at him when he sees him and chase him away. And may no one be merciful and kind in this regard, for God's honor and the salvation of us all, including that of the Jews, are at stake!

So who is the religious man?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think both Tostoy and Luther are two extremes; the former in the direction that the Jews are the greatest gift to man, the latter that the Jews are the greatest "gift" (German for "poison") to man.

If Tolstoy believed that Jesus was the Redeemer and Son of God, he would have spoken with more circumspection of those who rejected Jesus. We know that Luther did believe this; so, his fault was to ignore the everlasting covenant that God had made with his people.

BOLD like a Leopard said...

Tolstoy also commented once that Jew hatred was holding Russia back, and allowed the Czar's lackeys to focus the blame for its backwardness on Jews.

Reason said...

Jesus said that Jews who rejected him are a cursed people. And that applies today just as it did then. Anti-Semitism proves that to be true today, just it has throughout history.(John 3:36, 8:37-47, Acts 13:45,46, Romans 9:6-8, 1 Thess.1:14-16, 1 John 2:22,23. Jesus rejecting Jews were the first Anti-Christ and History has come full circle with Jews creating the most prominent Anti-Christ in History; Marxist Communism.

Unknown said...

....New Covenant changed that AFTER the "Chosen" began worshiping Baal and other strange Gods..and AFTER Moses foretold the coming of Christ -who the "Jews" rejected in favor of the Pharisees who preached blasphemy and hate..so by rejecting the prophets and scripture itself...the 'Chosen' were to be ALL peoples who accepted God in their hearts...the 'Jews' who were the followers of the blasphemous Pharisees who falsely claimed only "Jews" were God's people -despite their rejection of God's word(The 'Torah') for the slander and pornographic musings of the Pharisees(The Talmud)...This is why Judaism is actually a false 'religion'..when you hear of Jewish "Torah Study" what you are really hearing is Talmud study - reading the Torah without the rabbinical commentary is considered blasphemous for the average Jew...I think that only high ranking Jewish religious figures are authorized to read or quote directly from the OT without Talmudic narrative. .

Anonymous said...

As is the practice so common to Christian theologians and followers, Mr Jenkins, Sr takes what Leo Tolstoy wrote in 1891 out of context and he only mentions the writings of the "father" of the Protestant religion, Martin Luther, from his later period, 1543.
The early Martin Luther in 1519 wrote: "Absurd theologians defend hatred for the Jews. What Jew would consent to enter our ranks when he sees the cruelty and enmity we wreak on them—that in our behavior towards them we less resemble Christians than beasts?"
His 1523 essay titled 'That Jesus Christ Was Born a Jew' included: "If I had been a Jew and had seen such dolts and blockheads govern and teach the Christian faith, I would sooner have become a hog than a Christian. They have dealt with the Jews as if they were dogs rather than human beings".
Why was there a change? We didn't convert. So little is your understanding. To follow God, to follow Torah, we can't. It's specifically written, if you cared to read.
Which brings me to Tolstoy, who wasn't a lover of Jews. He simply wasn't a hater of Jews. If anyone has any interest, look up the entire document that Tolstoy wrote about Jews. He sees our existence, in light of all we have endured (especially at the hands of the Church), a mystery. He recognized the contributions the Jewish people have made. Without us, y'all wouldn't be here. There would be no Jesus.
Who is the religious man? That's your question, Mr Jenkins, Sr? Certainly not the one who is intolerant.

Unknown said...

Lev Tolstoy was himself a Jew