Johannes Müller: Judaism, Hamburg, 1644, chapter “On the Jews’ residence: Whether Christians can with good conscience permit Jews to live in their midst”, pp. 1385–1395

Source Description

This excerpt is a passage from a reference work published in 1644 by the pastor of the church St. Petri in Hamburg, Johannes Müller (1626–1672), under the title “Judaismus oder Judenthumb” [“Judaism”]. Over a thousand pages long, this work, intended for a general audience, was published by Zacharias Hertel, a well-known bookseller from Hamburg. It reflects the dominant attitudes towards Judaism in orthodox Lutheranism of the 17th century. Hertel’s heirs reissued Müller’s “Judaismus” in 1707, and it became a standard reference work found in many private libraries in the early modern era. Even today, this book remains part of the inventory in many German university libraries. “Judaismus” is thus rightly considered the most influential of the many works published against Judaism in the 17th century. The excerpts included here come from the introduction (“The Jews’ Residence”) to the Second Part, and they show that preachers like Müller were quite occupied with the fundamental question as to whether Jews should be allowed to live among Christians.

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Recommended Citation

Johannes Müller: Judaism, Hamburg, 1644, chapter “On the Jews’ residence: Whether Christians can with good conscience permit Jews to live in their midst”, pp. 1385–1395, edited in: Key Documents of German-Jewish History, <https://dx.doi.org/10.23691/jgo:source-71.en.v1> [March 19, 2024].