A Christian Day of Reflection:

The Role of Christian Theology in the History of Anti-Jewish Thought

Copyright by John August Schumacher | All Rights Reserved www.johnaugustschumacher.com

Initial Thoughts

Christians and Jews

Christianity and Judaism as known today grew out of 1st century Jewish religion The earliest strife was thus intra-Jewish The final distinction between Jew and Christian came in the late 1st century The pivotal event for both groups was the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E.

The Temple Destroyed: Jewish Perspective

With the destruction of the Temple, the centuries-old sacrificial system ended After 70 C.E., Jews were expelled from Jerusalem by the Roman government The priestly class associated with the Temple disappeared in the years after its destruction The Pharisaic movement that survived later gave way to Rabbinical Judaism, known today

The Temple Destroyed: Christian Perspective

Christians viewed the Temples destruction as divine punishment for Jewish refusal to accept Jesus as Messiah Christians came to see themselves as the New Israel: Gods new Chosen People Though themselves persecuted by the Romans, Christians showed great animosity to their Jewish neighbors

The Tide Turns: A Christianized Empire

In 312 C.E. Constantine ascended to the Roman throne His victory was attributed to a vision of a Christian symbol, which he emblazoned upon his soldiers shields In 313 C.E., Constantinenow Emperorlegalized the Christian religion Rome now became the Holy Roman Empire The formerly-persecuted Christian minority now ruled over much of the known world, including Palestine Jews now found themselves subject to a Christianized Roman Empire

Religion and Ethnicity: The Blend of Anti-Jewish Rhetoric

The original dispute between Jews and Christians was theological From a Christian perspective, Jews were a heretical burr in the saddle of a Holy Empire Over time, however, ethnicity also played a part in this dispute The set-apart People of God were seen as set apart for divine punishment Jews as religious outcasts were now seen as social deviants: aliens in a Gentile world

Religion and Ethnicity: The Blend of Anti-Jewish Rhetoric

In the Middle Ages, the portrait of Jew as alien gave way to a new portrait: Jew as monster A host of slanderous charges were leveled against Jews, such as responsibility for the Black Death

Alleged Jewish Atrocities:

Witchcraft Black magic Devil worship Desecration of Christian symbols Poisoning wells Kidnapping Murder

Christ-killers
The earliest murder charge leveled against Jews involved the death of Jesus In one New Testament depiction, a Jewish mob instructs Pilate to have Jesus crucified with the words: Let his blood be on us and on our children. (Matthew 27:25) As popularly understood, Jews were guilty of deicideliterally, killing God Throughout the Middle Ages, the Jews were progressively seen less as alien, and more as monsterless human, and more demonic

Alleged Jewish Atrocities:

1. Ritual Murder: Jews kidnapped and killed an unbaptized child of Christian parents 2. Blood Libel: Jews killed Christian children and used their blood to bake Passover bread 3. Desecration: Jews stole a consecrated host (wafer) and defiled it in their synagogues
Stories circulated that the wafer bled (Some scholars believe this was a reddish fungus growing on the bread)

Alleged Jewish Atrocities:

These and similar attacks were made possible by a Christian teaching: The Jews were replaced by the Church!

Christian Supercessionism
Supercessionism: Belief that the Christian Church has replaced the Jewish people to become the New Israel The argument goes as follows: The Jews, because they rejected Jesus as the Messiah, were rejected by God In their place, the Christians have been chosen Jews are no longer to be called Israel In their place, the Church is the New Israel

The Historical Argument

The Historical Argument: An interpretation of Genesis 49:10, seen as proof that the Church replaced the Jews as the Chosen People of God The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and the obedience of the peoples is his. (Genesis 49:10)

The Historical Argument

The exact history of the Historical Argument may never be known Its first explicit usage is in the 2nd century writings of Justin Martyr Until recent times, supercessionist teachings such as the Historical Argument remained unchallenged Only in the mid- to late-20th century have churches issued statements refuting the implications of this and similar interpretations

Definitions for Analysis

Anti-Semitism Anti-Judaism Anti-Jewish

Defining Anti-Semitism
Hatred of Jews is often called anti-Semitism. The term was coined in the 19th century by German writer (and overt racist) Wilhelm Marr. In the context of so-called scientific racism, Marr needed a term to describe hatred of Jews based on ethnicity or race Anti-Semitism is thus linked to pseudo-scientific notions of race However, the term anti-Semitism fails to discern the blending of religious animosity with ethnic hatred

Defining Anti-Judaism
Anti-Judaism: hatred of Jews (or Judaism) based on religious disagreement However, this term also fails to describe the blending of religion and ethnicity/race We must remember that anti-Semitism (racism) was built on a foundation of antiJudaism (religious bigotry)!

Defining Anti-Jewish
The term anti-Jewish combines elements of anti-Semitism and anti-Judaism History knows no clear distinction between ethnic and religious animosities Both racial and religious arguments have been used, often together, as justification for persecution and murder of Jews

Encountering the Historical Argument

Justin Martyr and the Dialogue with Trypho

Justin Martyr: Background

Justin Martyr was born in the early 2nd century, in Flavia Neapolis (modern Syria) Educated in several schools of philosophy, Justin considered himself a Neo-Platonist Around 130, Justin converted to Christianity, after which he wrote in defense of Christianity Justin was martyred around 165 C.E.

Justins Method
For Justin, Scripture meant the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) Like other Christians of his day, Justin read Scripture with certain presuppositions Central to these was the belief that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah In Justins eyes, Genesis 49:10 was proof that after Jesus coming, God had rejected the Jews in favor of the Christians

Dialogue or Diatribe?
Justins Dialogue with Trypho, a work of antiJewish rhetoric, dates to c. 150 C.E. The Dialogue supposedly records Justins twoday discussion with several Jews For Justin, however, this was more monologue than a dialogue The Dialogue vacillates between diatribe and proselytizing effort Many of Justins arguments are fueled by the Historical Argument (Genesis 49:10)

[For] neither a prophet nor a ruler failed among your race, until this Jesus Christ both was born and suffered, nor do you dare to shamelessly say [that], nor do you have proof! For the Spirit that was in the prophets both anointed and appointed kings for you. But after the manifestation and death of Jesus our Christ among your race, there has by no means been a prophet, nor is there [now]. But you also ceased to be under your own king, and your land was laid waste
(Dialogue with Trypho 52)

Justins Use of the Historical Argument

Justins Hermeneutical Principle

Hermeneutic: A method for interpreting Scripture Justins argument: Understanding of Scripture requires knowledge Such knowledge is a gift from God to Christians Jews, who lack faith in Christ, do not have this knowledge Therefore, Jews fail to understand the true meaning of their own Scriptures!

Justin: Why Do Jews Lack Faith?

Ignorance: Jews insist on the literal reading, rather than the spiritual Blindness: Jews are misled by their rabbis, who misinterpret Scripture Obstinacy: Jews do understand that Jesus is Messiah, but steadfastly refuse to accept this as the truth

Other Jewish Fallacies: Jealousy

God has hidden the truth from the Jews The Jews know this As a result, the Jews hate Christians, for knowing the truth about Jewish obstinacy:

And it is therefore no surprise if you also hate those who know these things and convict you with knowledge of your endless hardness of heart. (Dial. 39)

Other Jewish Fallacies: Fraud

Finally, Justin claimed that the rabbis had removed passages from the Hebrew Bible Per Justin, such passages contained prophecies about the coming Messiah These prophecies would clearly have pointed to Jesus of Nazareth for fulfillment

The Mosaic Law as Proscription for Jewish Sin

Per Justin: the Law of Moses was temporary, limited, and inadequate The Laws purpose was to curb Jewish sin With the coming of Christ, Jews had piled sin upon sin, by rejecting their Messiah All the while, Jews continued to place hope of salvation in the Law of Moses

Justin on the Mosaic Law

For the Law given on Horeb is already old, and yours alone; but this [Law of Christ] is simply for all. A law placed alongside another law overrides the one before it. And a covenant placed afterwards nullifies the first. And an eternal and final law which is Christhas been given to us, after which there is no law, nor order, nor commandment.
(Dial. 11)

Justins View of Circumcision

Per Justin, the Law punishes the Jews for rejecting Jesus as the Messiah For Jews, circumcision is a sign of the covenant between God and Abraham For Justin, circumcision was a mark of Cane, identifying the Jews for divine wrath

For the circumcision according to the flesh was given by Abraham to be a sign, in order that you might be separated from all nations and from us, so you alone might suffer that which you now are justly suffering your lands laid waste and your cities destroyed with fire and no one of you goes up into Jerusalem. And these things happened well and justly for you, for you killed the Just One and his prophets before him, and now you reject those who hope in him, and the one having sent him, God the Father and maker of all things, and heap insults as much as you can upon him, cursing in your synagogues those who believe in Christ. For you do not have authority to put your hands on us, because of those who now rule over you, but as often as you were able, you did this also.
(Dial. 16)

Justin on the Mosaic Law

Justins Argument: Christians do not observe the Mosaic Law, because they realize that it was given only to the Jewsto curb Jewish sin Jewish rejection of Jesus, and their reliance on the Law for salvation, only compound their sin The prophets foretold the coming of Messiah Jews do not accept these prophecies, because of ignorance, blindness, and obstinacy

After you had crucified the only sinless and just Man . . . and after you realized that he had risen from the dead and had ascended into heaven . . . you not only failed to feel remorse for your evil deed, but you even dispatched certain chosen men from Jerusalem to every land, to report the outbreak of the godless heresy of the Christians With good reason, therefore, does Isaiah cry out: Because of you my name is blasphemed among the Gentiles.
(Dial.17; quoting Isaiah 52:5, LXX)

Judaism and the New Israel

Per Justin the Church was the New Israel In order to remain part of the Chosen People, Jews would need to convert For Justin, God was withholding final judgment of the Jews for the sake of the remnant who would convert All others were lost Jewish allegiance to the Mosaic covenant was irrelevant, for salvation is in Christ

The Scepter and the Historical Argument

As stated above, Justin believed that Genesis 49:10 prophesied the replacement of the Jews as the Chosen People of God: The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and the obedience of the peoples is his. The scepter is: 1. Jewish self-rule 2. Jewish identity as the Chosen People of God

Synopsis of the Historical Argument

Jewish self-rule ended before Jesus time The messianic predictions made by the Hebrew prophets were fulfilled in Jesus Jews, however, rejected Jesus out of ignorance, blindness, and obstinacy The destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E., foretold in Genesis 49:10, is a sign of Gods wrath for Jewish sin The scepter has passed from Judah to the Church Only by conversion to Christianity can Jews hope to be saved

Synopsis of the Historical Argument

Jewish resistance to Christian conversion is further proof of their hardness of heart God foreknew that the Jews would reject Jesus The Roman sack of Jerusalem (70 C.E.) is divine judgment against the Jewish people In ignorance, blindness, and obstinacy, Jews cling to the Mosaic Law for salvation To be saved, Jews must become Christians The Jews, as Jews, are rejected by God forever

Ancient Rhetoric and Modern Genocide

From Antioch to Auschwitz

The Latin theologian, Tertullian, once asked: What has Athens to do with Jerusalem? His point was that Christian theology should have no outside influences, such as from Greek philosophy or myth Acts 11:26 reports that in Antioch, believers in Jesus were first called Christians. The question today is: What has Antioch to do with Auschwitz? In other words: Is there a connection between ancient religious animosity and modern bigotry?

From Antioch to Auschwitz

Modern Christians are inheritors of the antiJewish traditions in Christian history Jesus and his original followers were Jews Over time, however, Gentile Christians outnumbered Jewish converts On the basis of Pauls teachings, these Gentiles did not practice Jewish customs As a result, differences of religion soon gave way to other differences, based on culture and/or ethnicity

From Antioch to Auschwitz

By the late first century, Christians and Jews were separate religious traditions The destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E. cast a shadow over this schism, as each group interpreted its meaning differently For Christians, the events of 70 C.E. were final vindication of the belief that the Church had become the New Israel

From Antioch to Auschwitz

After (Gentile) Christianity ascended to power in the Roman Empire, the relationship between Jews and Christian changed forever Christians now ruled over their Jewish neighbors Over time, the issue arose of what place there was for the heretic Jew in a Christian society So began the Jewish Question

Answers to the Jewish Question

I. Persecution/Pogrom: Jews were victims of mob violence at the hands of their neighbors In the Crusades, Christians fought to free the Holy Lands from Muslim control Throughout Europe, Christians turned against the infidel next door: the Jews

Answers to the Jewish Question

II. Conversion: Jews were forcibly baptized, or given the choice between conversion and death The Inquisition aimed to root out heresy among Christians, some of whom were forcibly-converted Jews Those who refused to yield were tortured and killedJew and Christian alike

Answers to the Jewish Question

III. Expulsion: Time and again, Jews were forced from Christian-held countries Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492 In that same year, the Jews were expelled from Spain by order of the monarchy Expulsions and forced emigration only fed the myth of the Wandering Jew

Answers to the Jewish Question

IV. Separation: Jews who remained in Christian Europe were sometimes forced into ghettos Here, they lived separately from their Christian neighbors (Hitler repeated this, in the chain of events leading to the Holocaust)

Answers to the Jewish Question

V. Extermination: Hitlers Final Solution to the so-called Jewish Question called for the total eradication of the Jewish people The Holocaust stands as an omen of just how close Nazism came to that goal Yet, even with Hitler gone, the Jewish Question lives on in a world that has never fully integrated the Jewish people

Christianity and the Jewish Question

Christianity is not wholly to blame for the history of anti-Jewish thought and action However, certain Christian teachings have certainly bolstered or justified anti-Jewish animosity During the Middle Ages, the image of Jews changed from alien to monster The religious misfit had become the Devil incarnate In the process, theology gave way to racism Anti-Judaism and Anti-Semitism merged into AntiJewish sentiments, fusing religion, politics, culture

Walking the Road From Antioch to Auschwitz

For centuries, the Historical Argument has stood as theological justification for antiJewish attitudes among Christians Theology fed racism, just as bigotry bolstered superstition The Historical Argument laid a foundation upon which madness and murder were built, layer upon layer

Walking the Road From Antioch to Auschwitz

Hitler believed that history had proven the inadequacy of pogroms and expulsions as answers to the Jewish Question The long road from Antioch to Auschwitz is paved with Christian supercessionism and ethnic bigotry, with ancient rhetoric and modern racism In short: Hitler merely took centuries of hatred to its logical, homicidal end! Of all the things lost along this path, perhaps the most important is the Jewish identity of Jesus himself! This is a path that all Christians must walk, if we are to comprehend and overcome the hatred fomented by our own traditions

Final Thoughts

Where From Here?

The Jews are the Chosen People Christians, however, believe that salvation is by faith in Jesus, the Messiah How, then, do we reconcile these ideas? How shall we answer the Jewish Question?

A Proposition Based on Scripture

Romans 9-11 Paul addressed this issue on the basis of grace, remnant, and divine election Paul allegorized from Israels past, insisting that we should focus not on Gods wrath, but rather on Gods mercy Paul saw Jewish rejection of Jesus as part of a Gods design to include Gentiles in the plan of salvation

A Proposition Based on Scripture

Pauls allegory: The vine and the branches: Branches (Israel) are broken from the vine In the meantime, wild branches (Gentiles) are being grafted onto the root In the end, God will also graft the original branches onto the rootstock of Israel All of this happens because of grace, available through faith

A Proposition Based on Scripture

The idea of remnant is found throughout Scripture No matter what hardships may befall them, Gods people are never without a remnant those who will survive Paul, too, speaks of a remnant in Romans 9-11 In the shadow of Auschwitz, let us hear:

God, not human beings, will answer the Jewish Question!

I want you to understand this mystery: a hardening has come upon part of Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved As regards the gospel they are enemies of God for your sake; but as regards election they are beloved, for the sake of their ancestors; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Just as you were once disobedient to God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience, so they have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy. For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all. (Romans 11:25-32)

Questions and Discussion