Luther and the Reformers saw the Turk as a sharper Antichrist than the Pope

Evidence

Luther, like many other Protestant reformers, invoked negative images of Islam not only to garner support for a war against the Turks but also to attack his opponents. … Luther was quite fond of tarring both Islam and Catholicism with the same brush. He often used the language of the “Antichrist” when referring to both Muhammad and the pope, though eventually he concluded that the title was more deserving of the pope. Still, Muhammad and the pope were two sides of the same coin: — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 154 (#epitomizes, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Luther conflated the Pope and the Turk as twin Anti-Christs despite thin resemblance; Sixteenth-century Catholics equated Luther’s reforms with the Turkish threat — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 156; Luther equated the Papacy and Islam as the twin corrupters of Christian ritual — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 2438 (+15 more)

Related

• Luther conflated the Pope and the Turk as twin Anti-Christs despite thin resemblance (similarity 0.97)
• Luther weaponized images of Islam to attack Catholicism as well as Turks (similarity 0.92)
• The Reformation reframed Islam as a fellow schism against papal authority (similarity 0.89)
• Sixteenth-century Catholics equated Luther’s reforms with the Turkish threat (similarity 0.87)
• Luther equated the Papacy and Islam as the twin corrupters of Christian ritual (similarity 0.87)
• Luther portrayed Islam as a faith that spreads only by violence (similarity 0.86)
• Luther considered the Vatican a greater enemy than Islam (similarity 0.85)
• Luther classed Muslims with Jews and Catholics as rejecting justification by faith (similarity 0.85)
• Anti-papal writers dated the rise of pope and prophet to the same moment (similarity 0.84)
• Luther located the final Antichrist inside the Church, not in Islam. (similarity 0.83)
• In colonial America, many Protestants associated Islam and Catholicism with the Antichrist. Indeed, Prideaux related the rise of Muhammad and the bishop of Rome’s claim to reign over all churches.… (similarity 0.83)
• Lutheran Reformers mapped Islam onto Antichrist prophecy to delegitimize it (similarity 0.82)
• Protestant apologists drew forced parallels between Islam and Lutheranism (similarity 0.82)
• Since the early medieval period, Christendom largely viewed Islam as a Christian heresy and Muhammad as a false prophet, a servant of Satan, or the Antichrist. (similarity 0.81)
• Early Protestant polemicists linked Islam with Catholicism and Judaism as apocalyptic rivals. (similarity 0.81)

Broader Connections

• Luther conflated the Pope and the Turk as twin Anti-Christs despite thin resemblance #qualifies (0.85)
• Luther weaponized images of Islam to attack Catholicism as well as Turks #epitomizes (0.85) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 154
• Sixteenth-century Catholics equated Luther’s reforms with the Turkish threat #contradicts (0.80) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 156
• Luther equated the Papacy and Islam as the twin corrupters of Christian ritual #contradicts (0.80) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 2438
• Protestant apologists drew forced parallels between Islam and Lutheranism #epitomizes (0.80) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 2438
• In colonial America, many Protestants associated Islam and Catholicism with the Antichrist. Indeed, Prideaux related the rise of Muhammad and the bishop of Rome’s claim to reign over all churches.… #expands (0.80)
• Colonial Protestants yoked Islam and Catholicism together as twin Antichrist powers #expands (0.80)
• Prideaux related the rise of Muhammad and the bishop of Rome’s claim to reign over all churches. Hence, the Antichrist seems at this time to have set both his Feet upon Christendom together, the… #expands (0.80)
• Luther located the final Antichrist inside the Church, not in Islam. #contradicts (0.80) — R. W. Southern, Western Views of Islam in the Middle…, 572
• Thirteenth-century anti-Islamic polemics were still recycled by Luther and later eras #expands (0.75) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 63
• Luther classed Muslims with Jews and Catholics as rejecting justification by faith #expands (0.75) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 150
• The Crusades introduced the figure of Muhammad as the anti-Christ into European thought #expands (0.75) — Chris Allen, Islamophobia, 179
• Christians processed Islam by slotting it into pre-existing heresy and Antichrist frameworks. #expands (0.75) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 416
• Renaissance polemicists computed the number 666 from Muhammad’s and the Pope’s names #expands (0.75)
• Polemicists compared the Pope to Muhammad via the number of the Beast #expands (0.75) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 2439