Mass Murderers Who Pretended To Be Devout Lutherans

John Yurich · Dec 20, 2011

Two of the most notorious mass murderers pretended to be devout Lutherans:

John Emil List who murdered his entire family in New Jersey in 1971.
Dennis Rader who was known as BTK Killer from Kansas.

Why would a mass murderer want to pretend to be a devout Lutheran?

alexnbethmom · Dec 20, 2011

how in the world would we possibly know that??

DaRev · Dec 20, 2011

That's kinda like asking why child molesters pretend to be devout Roman Catholics.

Aibrean · Dec 20, 2011

*snicker*

lutherans · Dec 20, 2011

To try to get into the mind of psychopathic killer, seems like something best left to the professionals...

If you're wondering if it reflects badly on Lutheranism...I think not.

Crazies are crazies.

doulos_tou_kuriou · Dec 20, 2011

John Yurich said:
Two of the most notorious mass murderers pretended to be devout Lutherans:

John Emil List who murdered his entire family in New Jersey in 1971.
Dennis Rader who was known as BTK Killer from Kansas.

Why would a mass murderer want to pretend to be a devout Lutheran?

The truth is we really can't speak for the pretenders. If you are wondering why Lutheran in specific my guess is they were Lutheran before succumbing to such a sad state of sin. I doubt either of them decided Lutheran was the best cover to being a murderer.

Aibrean · Dec 20, 2011

I will add that Lutherans don't believe those who fall from Christ were never saved to begin with. We don't believe in eternal security as once saved, always saved. It is therefore possible for a Christian to fall from faith, and it is possible, likewise, for them to return. The "mass murderer" wasn't necessarily pretending. They just most definitely sinned. That doesn't mean they are condemned to hell if they repent and turn from their wickedness.

We are all sinful humans.

doulos_tou_kuriou · Dec 20, 2011

Aibrean said:
I will add that Lutherans don't believe those who fall from Christ were never saved to begin with. We don't believe in eternal security as once saved, always saved. It is therefore possible for a Christian to fall from faith, and it is possible, likewise, for them to return. The "mass murderer" wasn't necessarily pretending. They just most definitely sinned. That doesn't mean they are condemned to hell if they repent and turn from their wickedness.

We are all sinful humans.

SyntheticPaper · Dec 21, 2011

This is actually something I have been curious about for a very long time, before I was a Lutheran in fact.

Were they “pretending”? I don't know, they certainly sinned and made very VERY grave mistakes in their lives, but I'm not going to say they never were Christians. As for why they were Lutheran as opposed to another denomination? I don't know, my guess is that's a denomination that they grew up in or had family in or maybe it was just the predominant denomination in their area so if they were looking for a church to hide in so to speak, it was probably just coincidence that the church was Lutheran.

I am sure if one decided to really dig in and investigate one could probably find serial killers that belonged to all different denominations and religions.

QuiltAngel · Dec 21, 2011

Why do any of us sin? Not because we are pretenders. Everyone struggles with sin daily. Some people's sins gain notoriety such as the ones listed.

alexnbethmom · Dec 21, 2011

QuiltAngel said:
Why do any of us sin? Not because we are pretenders. Everyone struggles with sin daily. Some people's sins gain notoriety such as the ones listed.

ContraMundum · Dec 22, 2011

John Yurich said:
Two of the most notorious mass murderers pretended to be devout Lutherans:

John Emil List who murdered his entire family in New Jersey in 1971.
Dennis Rader who was known as BTK Killer from Kansas.

Why would a mass murderer want to pretend to be a devout Lutheran?

Easy. To get some credibility for their actions, and in a vain attempt to win sympathy. It's delusional and indicative of a fractured reality.

People do this all the time. Hitler appealed to Luther and Christianity in an angle to win political support, and later even to justify the holocaust. This is just a tactic to borrow credibility and authority. It is a classic case of breaking of the second commandment for the purpose of breaking all the others.

MarkRohfrietsch · Dec 26, 2011

MOD HAT...

Thread closed pending review.

Mark
Staff Supervisor.

Mass Murderers Who Pretended To Be Devout Lutherans

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