Luther weaponized images of Islam to attack Catholicism as well as Turks

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

Categorization

• XREF: The internal Christian polemic — Islam as smear against fellow Christians — parallels the earlier point that ‘Turk’ rhetoric functioned within intra-Christian disputes. — connects to: Luther classed Muslims with Jews and Catholics as rejecting justification by faith — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 150; Luther portrayed Islam as a faith that spreads only by violence — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 151; Luther considered the Vatican a greater enemy than Islam — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 80 (+10 more)
• SEED: Angle: anti-Muslim rhetoric as an intra-Western weapon — the outsider image deployed to regulate the insider — a pattern with modern echoes.

Broader Connections

• Luther portrayed Islam as a faith that spreads only by violence #expands (0.70) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 151
• Sixteenth-century Catholics equated Luther’s reforms with the Turkish threat #corroborates (0.70) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 156
• Early Protestant polemicists linked Islam with Catholicism and Judaism as apocalyptic rivals. #expands (0.70) — Peter Gottschalk and Gabriel Greenberg, Common Heritage, Uncommon Fear, 99
• Luther considered the Vatican a greater enemy than Islam #contradicts (0.60) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 80
• Early Protestant writers framed Islam’s rise as divine punishment for corrupted churches. #expands (0.60) — Peter Gottschalk and Gabriel Greenberg, Common Heritage, Uncommon Fear, 108
• Colonial Protestants yoked Islam and Catholicism together as twin Antichrist powers #corroborates (0.60)
• 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.… #corroborates (0.60)
• Biblical villains were costumed as Turks in Renaissance church imagery #epitomizes (0.50)
• Medieval Christian infighting outweighed the shared threat of Islam #corroborates (0.50) — Ali Qureshi, The Fall of Constantinople, 45