Editing Antisemitism in Christianity (section)

==From the Renaissance to the 17th century==
{{unreferenced section|date=September 2014}}

===Cum Nimis Absurdum===
On 14 July 1555, [[Pope Paul IV]] issued [[papal bull]] [[Cum nimis absurdum]] which revoked all the rights of the Jewish community and placed religious and economic restrictions on [[Jews]] in the [[Papal States]], renewed anti-Jewish legislation and subjected Jews to various degradations and restrictions on their freedom.

The bull established the [[Roman Ghetto]] and required Jews of Rome, which had existed as a community since before Christian times and which numbered about 2,000 at the time, to live in it. The Ghetto was a walled quarter with three gates that were locked at night. Jews were also restricted to one [[synagogue]] per city.

Paul IV's successor, [[Pope Pius IV]], enforced the creation of other ghettos in most Italian towns, and his successor, [[Pope Pius V]], recommended them to other bordering states.

===Protestant Reformation===
[[File:1543 On the Jews and Their Lies by Martin Luther.jpg|thumb|Luther's 1543 pamphlet ''[[On the Jews and Their Lies (Martin Luther)|On the Jews and Their Lies]]'']]
{{See also|Luther and anti-Semitism}}

[[Martin Luther]] at first made overtures towards the Jews, believing that the "evils" of [[Catholic Church|Catholicism]] had prevented their conversion to Christianity. When his call to convert to his version of Christianity was unsuccessful, he became hostile to them.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theologian.org.uk/churchhistory/lutherandthejews.html|title=Luther and the Jews|website=www.theologian.org.uk|access-date=2017-02-21}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Shaw|first=Wilhelmina Magdalena (Elmien)|date=2017|title=Theology of religions in Martin Luther|journal=HTS Theological Studies|volume=73|issue=6|pages=26–32|doi=10.4102/hts.v73i6.4839|issn=0259-9422|doi-access=free|hdl=2263/66473|hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Carty|first=Jarrett|date=2019|title=Martin Luther's Anti-Judaism and Its Political Significance|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/antistud.3.2.06|journal=Antisemitism Studies|volume=3|issue=2|pages=317–342|doi=10.2979/antistud.3.2.06|jstor=10.2979/antistud.3.2.06|s2cid=208620307}}</ref>

In his book ''[[On the Jews and Their Lies]]'', Luther excoriates them as "venomous beasts, vipers, disgusting scum, canders,{{clarify|date=October 2024}} devils incarnate."  He provided detailed recommendations for a [[pogrom]] against them, calling for their permanent [[oppression]] and expulsion, writing "Their private houses must be destroyed and devastated, they could be lodged in stables. Let the magistrates burn their synagogues and let whatever escapes be covered with sand and mud. Let them be forced to work, and if this avails nothing, we will be compelled to expel them like dogs in order not to expose ourselves to incurring divine wrath and eternal damnation from the Jews and their lies."  At one point he wrote: "...we are at fault in not slaying them..."  a passage that "may be termed the first work of modern anti-Semitism, and a giant step forward on the road to [[the Holocaust]]."<ref name=Johnson>[[Paul Johnson (writer)|Johnson, Paul]]. ''A History of the Jews'', HarperCollins Publishers, 1987, p. 242. {{ISBN|5-551-76858-9}}. [[Paul Johnson (writer)|Paul Johnson]].</ref>

Luther's harsh comments about the Jews are seen by many as a continuation of medieval Christian anti-Semitism. In his final sermon shortly before his death, however, Luther preached: "We want to treat them with Christian love and to pray for them so that they might become converted and would receive the Lord," but also in the same sermon stated that Jews were "our public enemy" and if they refused conversion were "malicious," guilty of blasphemy and would work to kill gentile believers in Christ.<ref name=Luther>[[Martin Luther|Luther, Martin]]. ''D. Martin Luthers Werke: kritische Gesamtausgabe'', Weimar: Hermann Böhlaus Nachfolger, 1920, Vol. 51, p. 195.</ref>