Antisemitism in the New Testament

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A number of Christian scholars have concluded that the root of antisemitism in the Christian community is ultimately found within the New Testament. Some Christian theologians such as Rosemary Ruether and A. Roy Eckardt claim that the entire New Testemant is antisemitic whereas others such as Gregory Baum claim that it is not antisemitic at all.

There are some verses in the New Testament that describe Jews in a positive way, attributing to them salvation John 4:22 or divine love (Epistle to the Romans 11:28) while others have been used by antisemites. The two harshest verses are those in which Jews prompt Jesus' crucifixion and say "His blood be on us, and on our children" Matthew 27:25 and when Jesus calls certain Pharisees "children of the devil" John 8:44.

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[edit] The New Testament as the source of Christian antisemitism

A. Roy Eckardt asserted that the foundation of anti-Semitism, and the responsibility for the Holocaust, lies ultimately in the New Testament.[1] Eckardt insisted that Christian repentance must include a reexamination of basic theological attitudes toward Jewry and the New Testament in order to deal effectively with the problem of anti-Semitism and its prevention.[2]

The general message that scholars such as Eckardt are trying to convey is that, using the New Testament as its authoritative source, the Church has stereotyped the Jewish people as an icon of unredeemed humanity; they became an image of a blind, stubborn, carnal, and perverse people. According to this view, this dehumanization is the vehicle that formed the psychological prerequisite to the atrocities that followed.

James Parkes[citation needed] writes that "more than 6 million deliberate murders are the consequences of the teaching about the Jews for which the Christian church is ultimately responsible, and our attitude to Judaism which is not only maintained by all Christian churches but has its ultimate resting place in the teaching of the New Testament itself."

"The New Testament," writes Harry Kimball, "is the primary source of anti-Semitism. "The authors of the Gospels," wrote Jewish historian Heinrich Graetz, "by putting these words of violent hatred against the preservers of Judaism into the mouth of Jesus Himself, stamped Him thereby as a relentless foe of the members of His own race who did not believe in Him by clung to their original faith."

[edit] Origins of Jewish-Christian conflict

Competition for converts and other factors led to an intensification of Jewish-Christian conflict towards the end of the first century, although there is also evidence of continued Jewish-Christian interaction, including Christian participation in Sabbath worship, in some areas well beyond that. These conflicts are thought by some scholars to have had a negative impact on the writers of certain parts of the New Testament, especially the author of the Gospel of John which was compiled about this time. In several places John's gospel associates "the Jews" with darkness and with the devil. This laid the groundwork for centuries of Christian characterization of Jews as agents of the devil, a characterization which found its way into medieval popular religion and eventually into passion plays. Other parts of John's gospel associate salvation with the Jews, and link darkness with the world in general. Like the other gospels, it makes many references to the Jewish scriptures.

[edit] Passages considered antisemitic

Although the majority of the New Testament was written by Jews who became followers of Jesus, there are a number of passages in the New Testament that some see as antisemitic, or have been used for antisemitic purposes.

[edit] "Children of the devil"

John 8:37-39 and John 8:44-47 say:

Jesus speaking to a group of Pharisees: "I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me, because my word finds no place in you. I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father. They answered him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would do what Abraham did. ... You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But, because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? He who is of God hears the words of God; the reason why you do not hear them is you are not of God."


Depiction of the Wittenberg Judensau.
Depiction of the Wittenberg Judensau.

The reference to "your father the devil" has been used for antisemitic purposes. For example, Martin Luther in 1543 wrote On the Jews and Their Lies, an antisemitic tract in which he refers to Jews as "a brood of vipers and children of the devil" (from Matthew 12:34).

Most commentators consider that Jesus' statements refer to the specific group of Pharisees he was addressing, or possibly the Pharisaical movement as a whole, but not to the entire Jewish race, which would have included Jesus and all his followers. Some would contend that since Rabbinic Judaism is the heir of the Pharisees the verse should still be considered an attack on Judaism as a whole. However this was not likely to have been the original intent.

[edit] "His blood be on us, and on our children"

See also: Sanhedrin Trial of Jesus
See also: Death and resurrection of Jesus
See also: Responsibility for the death of Jesus

Perhaps the harshest verse in the New Testament used for antisemitic purposes is Matthew 27:25 in which Jews prompt Jesus' crucifixion and say "His blood be on us, and on our children".

According to the New Testament Gospels, Jesus, on his fateful entry into Jerusalem before Passover, was received by a great crowd of people. While at the Temple, Jesus had attacked the money changers. Jesus was duly arrested and purported tried by the Sanhedrin. After the trial, Jesus was handed over to Pontius Pilot, who duly tried him again and, at the urging of the people, had him crucified.

Scholars believe that "those responsible for the condemnation of Jesus were the leaders of the priestly oligarchy, belonging to the sect of Sadducees." These priests held the interests of the upper class and were rigidly orthodox. They feared Jesus as a revolutionary who was stirring the people up with his Messianic ideas. A number of historical scholars[citation needed] believe that "the movement led by Jesus was a social and political Messianism and therefore a direct threat to Roman rule, and that Jesus was arrested and condemned and crucified by the Romans as a political rebel." This view goes against the gospel accounts, which portray Jesus as rejecting a merely political view of the messiah.

Stephen speaking before a synagogue council just before his execution: "You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it." (Acts 7:51-53, NIV)
"Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie — behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and learn that I have loved you." (Revelation 3:9, NIV).[citation needed]

Some biblical scholars point out that Jesus and Stephen are presented as Jews speaking to other Jews, and that their use of broad accusation against Israel is borrowed from Moses and the later Jewish prophets (e.g. Deuteronmy 9:13-14; Deuteronmy 31:27-29; Deuteronmy 32:5, Deuteronmy 20-21; 2 Kings 17:13-14; Isaiah 1:4; Hosea 1:9; Hosea 10:9). Jesus once calls his own disciple Peter 'Satan' (Mark 8:33). Other scholars hold that verses like these reflect the Jewish-Christian tensions that were emerging in the late first or early second century, and do not originate with Jesus. Today, nearly all Christian denominations de-emphasize verses such as these, and reject their use and misuse by antisemites.[citation needed]

Drawing from the Jewish prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:31-34), the New Testament taught that with the death of Jesus a New Covenant was established which rendered obsolete, and in many respects superseded, the first covenant established by Moses (Hebrews 8:7-13; Luke 22:20). Observance of the earlier covenant traditionally characterizes Judaism. This New Testament teaching, and later variations to it, are part of what is called supersessionism. However, the early Jewish followers of Jesus continued to practice circumcision and observe dietary laws, which is why the failure to observe these laws by the first Gentile Christians became a matter of controversy and dispute some years after Jesus' death (Acts 11:3; Acts 15:1ff; Acts 16:3).[citation needed]

The New Testament records that Jesus' (Jewish) disciple Judas Iscariot (Mark 14:43-46), the Roman governor Pontius Pilate along with Roman forces (John 19:11; Acts 4:27) and Jewish leaders and people of Jerusalem were (to varying degrees) responsible for the death of Jesus (Acts 13:27); Diaspora Jews are not blamed for events which were clearly outside their control.[citation needed]

The accusation of deicide was repudiated in 1964 by the Catholic Church which, under Pope Paul VI, issued the document Nostra Aetate as a part of Vatican II, which declared, besides other things, that even though some Jewish authorities and those who followed them called for Jesus' death, the blame for this cannot be laid at the door of all those Jews present at that time, nor can the Jews in our time be held as guilty: 'the Jews should not be presented as rejected or accursed by God'. The Declaration also decries all displays of antisemitism made at any time by anyone.

[edit] Gospel of John

The Gospel of John is the only one that collectively describes the enemies of Jesus as "the Jews." In none of the other gospels do "the Jews" demand, en masse, the death of Jesus. In the other three gospels the plot to arrest Jesus and put him to death is always presented as coming from a small group of priests and rulers, the Sadducees. Whoever was the author of John's Gospel, one thing has become clear: the image of "the Jews" acting collectively as the enemy of Jesus became fixed in the Christian mind. Successive generations of Christians read in the gospels the collective guilt of the Jews in the death of Christ.

[edit] The Prophetic Tradition

If the standards applied to Jesus' sayings in the New Testament were applied to the Jewish scriptures then it would probably be concluded that they were also anti-semitic. In many places the Jews are condemned and assigned punishment by various prophets in terms at least as condemnatory as the words of Jesus. [3] Such statements are generally taken as a pronouncement on the practices of the Jews at that time, or often on the leaders of the Jews, and are never taken to indicate that the entire race for all time.

[edit] Persecution of Christians by the Jews

Main article: Persecution of Christians by the Jews

After Jesus' death, the New Testament portrays Jewish religious authorities in Jerusalem as hostile to Jesus' followers, and as occasionally using force against them. Stephen is executed by stoning (Acts 7:58). Before his conversion, Saul puts followers of Jesus in prison (Acts 8:3; Galatians 1:13-14; 1 Timothy 1:13). After his conversion, Saul is whipped at various times by Jewish authorities (2 Corinthians 11:24), and is accused by Jewish authorities before Roman courts (e.g., Acts 25:6-7).

However, opposition from Gentiles is also cited repeatedly (2 Corinthians 11:26; Acts 16:19ff; 19:23ff). More generally, there are widespread references in the New Testament to suffering experienced by Jesus' followers at the hands of others (Romans 8:35; 1 Corinthians 4:11ff; Galatians 3:4; 2 Thessalonians 1:5; Hebrews 10:32; 1 Peter 4:16; Revelation 20:4).[citation needed]

However, how those acts against Christians can be attributed to Jews of later days is not explained.

[edit] Christian views

  1. The classical Christian view, is that the verses are condemning those Jews that have not accepted Christian beliefs about God and Jesus.
  2. One claim holds that some of these verses are a critique of "Judeans", meaning specifically the Jews from Judea, as opposed to Jews from Galilee or Samaria for instance. This is based on a translation of the Greek word Ioudaioi as Judeans rather than Jews. This view is held by the Jesus Seminar.
  3. Another view is that the verses are a critique of some Jews, or specific individuals, or some aspects of Judaism at the time of Jesus, but not of all Jews, nor of the Jewish faith in general, nor of any Jews today. This view is held by the Roman Catholic Church.
  4. A third view is that these verses are a critique by the flawed and human writers of the Bible that should not be interpreted as the Word of God, but rather understood in the context of the time and the prejudices of the writers.
  5. A fourth view is that these verses are a critique of the Pharisees as the moneyed, self-righteous establishment of the Jewish community. Some modern-day liberal ministers argue that well-to-do, churchgoing Christians, not modern Jews, are the group most comparable to the Pharisees whom Jesus criticized.

For views of Christian Biblical scholars, see below.

[edit] Views of Christian Churches

There are many Christian churches which have changed or clarified their teachings on this subject. A study of these churches, the changes the made, and important documents on this issue can be found in the articles on Christianity and anti-Semitism and Christian-Jewish reconciliation.

As one example, the Catholic Church denounced antisemitic views held by Christians in the past with a series of statements beginning in 1965. In the Nostra Aetate, Pope Paul VI proclaimed that:

  • "The Church believes that by His cross Christ, Our Peace, reconciled Jews and Gentiles, making both one in Himself".
  • "God holds the Jews most dear for the sake of their Fathers; He does not repent of the gifts He makes or of the calls He issues".
  • "the death of Christ ... cannot be charged against all the Jews, without distinction, then alive, nor against the Jews of today".
  • "the Jews should not be presented as rejected or accursed by God, as if this followed from the Holy Scriptures".
  • "the Church ... decries hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone".

[edit] Use of critical verses

Some scholars assert that these verses have been used to incite prejudice and violence against Jewish people. Professor Lillian C. Freudmann, author of "Antisemitism in the New Testament" (University Press of America, 1994) has published a study of such verses and the effects that they have had in the Christian community throughout history. Similar studies have been made by both Christian and Jewish scholars, including, Professors Clark Williamsom (Christian Theological Seminary), Hyam Maccoby (The Leo Baeck Institute), Norman A. Beck (Texas Lutheran College), and Michael Berenbaum (Georgetown University).

Occasionally, these verses have also been used to encourage anti-Christian sentiment amongst non-Christians. Christian apologists argue that by taking isolated verses out of context, people distort the message of Christianity, setting up a straw man caricature to knock down.

[edit] Proposal to remove verses from Christian lectionaries

Norman Beck, professor of theology and classical languages at Texas Lutheran University, has proposed that Christian lectionaries remove what he calls "… the specific texts identified as most problematic …".[4] Beck identifies what he deems to be offensive passages in the New Testament and indicates the instances in which these texts or portions thereof are included in major lectionary series. He is however rare amongst Christians in arguing for this.

[edit] Biblical scholarship

Most of the verses in question are attributed not to Jesus but to the authors of the New Testament. Jesus' disciples, Paul, and the first Christians were Jews, including most of the authors of the New Testament. By the time the New Testament was finished Christians had already begun to view themselves as a separate religion.

Judaism itself was also undergoing significant change following the destruction of the Second Temple and the end of sacrifices, see also Council of Jamnia. During the time the New Testament was written, a number of Christians shifted their emphasis from seeking Jewish converts to seeking gentile converts. Many biblical scholars observe that different books appear to be aimed at different audiences, and suggest that the intended audience may have influenced the writers. For example, see 1 Cor 9:20-23.

Some commentators say that much of the New Testament was written for a non-Jewish audience, some time after the events they describe. Scholars of textual criticism have suggested that some things that were said or done, which may have been clear in meaning to Jewish contemporaries, would not have been quite as clear to the later Gentile authors or readers. Some[citation needed]further suggest that these later Gospels were a selective account that interpreted Jesus' life so that it would be less threatening to the Roman authorities and more congenial to Gentiles.

New Testament authors may have displayed religious or theological prejudice against Jews who remained followers of Judaism rather than become Christians, particularly since Jews claimed to be the heirs to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob's covenant with God; heirs to the covenant of Sinai; and followers of the sacred scriptures -- the very sources of Christian legitimacy. Once Christianity established itself as a new religion, Christians were no longer of particular interest to the Jewish leadership. But as long as Jews claimed to be following the same Bible that Christians believed prophesied Jesus's messianic status, they necessarily threatened Christian claims. Moreover, the fact that Jews did not recognize Jesus as the Jewish Messiah, see also Rejection of Jesus, was an implicit threat to the legitimacy of Christianity and something that Christians felt the need to explain with apologetics, as Paul did in Acts 26:2, see also New Covenant.

[edit] See also

[edit] Further reading

  • Eckhardt, A. Roy. Elder and Younger Brothers: The Encounter of Jews and Christians, Schocken Books (1973)
  • Eckhardt, A. Roy. Your People, My People: The Meeting of Christians & Jews, Crown Publishing Group (1974); ISBN 0-81290-4125
  • Freudmann, Lillian C. Antisemitism in the New Testament, University Press of America (1994); ISBN 0819192953
  • Kee, Howard Clark and Borowsky, Irvin J., Removing the Anti-Judaism from the New Testament, American Interfaith Institute, Philadelphia, PA

Here are some references where scholars have gone through parts of the New Testament in an attempt to discern the writer's (or writers') original message on Jews and Judaism:

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Eckardt, A. Roy. Elder and Younger Brothers. 
  2. ^ Eckardt, A. Roy. Your People, My People. 
  3. ^ For example: Amos 2.
  4. ^ Beck, Norman. Removing Anti-Jewish Polemic from our Christian Lectionaries: A Proposal by Prof. Norman A. Beck. Retrieved on 2007-07-18.
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