GOOD NEWS FOR ISRAEL
building bridges of peace between Jews and Christians
|
GOOD NEWS FOR ISRAEL building bridges of peace between Jews and Christians
|
|
|
AN HISTORICAL SKETCH ON ANTI-SEMITISM
If ever you have taken the time to read Deuteronomy 28, you will see how God intended to deal with His Covenant people. The first 14 verses detail how God promised to bless them if they were obedient to His commandments. The next 54 verses detail how God indicated He would punish them if they were disobedient to Him. You and I have the advantage of reading history, and therefore know how so much of those latter 54 verses have come to pass. it is not a nice story, but it's a story that is. What I want to focus on is not what God did to His covenant people, but rather what man has done. More to the point I want to look at what some men within the historic Church have done to those who have also been called "the elect of God". Anti-Semitism has been alive and well inside the church for a very long time. It is not my intention to lay guilt, insult or offend any particular denomination or Church group. Nor is my message intended to be a comprehensive treatment on the subject. Rather my intention is to present some facts that are not generally known which I hope will give an understanding why such a gulf has existed between Christians and Jews. It may also help you appreciate why such an organisation as Celebration Shalom has been raised up to take the stand it does. In presenting this paper I must acknowledge some of the works from which I have sourced information. These include Michael Brown's book "Our Hands are Stained with Blood", "The Road to Holocaust" by Hal Lindsey, and an article written by Clarence Wagner in a recent edition of "Jerusalem Courier." It seems to me that anti-Semitism is able to flourish because of three basic elements - Ignorance, Compromise and Misunderstanding. Now let me make it clear, I am not saying that anti-Semitism exists because of these three elements, but rather that it is able to flourish because of them. Anti-Semitism is evil and emanates from the pit of hell, but it is able to flourish and be nurtured by ignorance (of God's Word and history), compromise (of God's Word) and misunderstanding (of circumstances). One of the most powerful experiences I have ever had, has been to visit the Children's Memorial in Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem. To stand in a room lit only by six candles which have been reflected in mirrors making it look like one and a half million candles representing the one and a half million children who perished in the Holocaust is moving in itself. But then to hear the names and ages of those children continually played on tape is emotionally explosive. People who double or deny the historicity of the Holocaust (like David Irvine) have obviously never visited this memorial. Let us begin our journey. Because my subject is "Anti-Semitism within the Church, I am therefore going to start with the New Testament era. It is of course well known that Anti-Semitism was already in existence prior to that. The New Testament Church In the first century, the Church was well connected to its Jewish roots and Jesus did not intend for it to be any other way. After all, Jesus was Jewish and the basis of His teaching was consistent with the Hebrew Scriptures. It is also true that (with one exception) the writers of the New Testament were Jewish, as were the Apostles and early disciples. They worshipped on Shabbat, celebrated the feasts and attended Synagogue. The membership of the early Church in Jerusalem and surrounding Judea, Samaria and Galilee was predominately Jewish. AS far as we know, there were no non-Jewish names amongst the leadership of the Jerusalem Church until after 135 CE when a Greek name appeared. Even the congregations in other parts of the Roman Empire also had relatively strong Jewish or Hebraic roots. As we read the new Testament however, we become aware that there was strong opposition amongst the Jews with respect to this so-called sect "The Nazarenes" or as they were called in Antioch "Christians" and misunderstandings developed. It is important to realise that prior to the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, the Jewish believers in Yeshua (Hebrew name for Jesus) were considered to be just another sect within Judaism as were the Pharisees, Saducees, the Essenes etc. Within Judaism there was therefore room for debate and diversity of opinion. So what happened to cause such a split? The First Three Centuries As Christianity began to spread more and more into the Gentile world, this tended to "complicate" the history of Jewish-Christian relations. Then too the Roman wars against Jews not only destroyed the Temple but also resulted in Jerusalem relinquishing her position as a centre of Christian faith in the Roman world. Gentile Christians interpreted the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem as a sign that God had abandoned Judaism and that He had provided the Gentiles freedom to develop their own "Christian" Theology in a setting free from Jerusalem's influence. As the Church separated itself from Judaism, theological and political power moved to centres of Gentile Christian leadership such as Alexandria, Rome and Antioch. Thus its membership became increasingly non-Jewish and Greek and Roman thought began to creep in and change the orientation of Biblical interpretation, which leads to an important development. We cannot do a serious sketch of Church History and exclude Emperor Constantine. It is recorded that he was converted to Christianity in 313 CE. It was Constantine who made Christianity the official religion of the Empire. This signalled the end of the persecution of Christians, but opened the door for the persecution of the Jews. He passed "The Edict of Mila" which outlawed Synagogues and allowed the burning of Jews if convicted of breaking the law. In 321 Constantine decreed all business should cease on "the honoured day of the sun" and made Sun-day the compulsory day for worship. This caused a profound split between Gentile and Jewish believers for up until then the latter had freely maintained their observance of the Sabbath (Saturday). There are some people who believe that this particular move by Constantine was one of the most significant anti-Semitic moves in Christian history! The Middle Ages We then move to the period called "The Middle Ages" and broadly cover a time span of some 700 years, from Constantine to the First Crusade in 1096. This period is also known as the Dark Ages. Early in this period, we find examples of anti-Jewish bias in Church literature. At the end of the 4th Century another Churchman comes into focus, Bishop John Chrysostom. He has been described as "A bright cheerful gentle soul, with a sensitive heart, a temperament open to emotion and impulse: all this elevated, refined and transformed by the touch of Heaven." He was known as one of the most eloquent preachers of truth and love, and esteemed like Augustine as one of the greats of the Church Fathers. But somehow all of this compassion and all this sensitivity and gentleness were lost when dealing with the Jewish people. He wrote a series of eight sermons against the Jews. This is part of what he wrote: "The Synagogue is not only a brothel and a theatre, it is also a den of robbers and a lodging for wild beasts. No Jew adores God. I hate the Synagogue, I hate the Jews." It was the "good" man Bishop Chrysostom who decided to hold the whole Jewish race guilty for killing Jesus the Christ, hence the term "Christ-killer" which continues to this day. I need to pause and make some observations. Anti-Jewish policies and anti-Jewish actions did not have their beginning in 1933 with Adolf Hitler. It has been said by the Holocaust historian Raul Hilberg that throughout western history three consecutive policies have been applied against Jewry in its dispersion-conversion, expulsion and annihilation. First of all the missionaries of Christianity said in effect "You have no right to live among us as Jews". Second, the secular rulers who followed had proclaimed "You have no right to live among us." Finally the Nazis decreed "You have no right to live"! The Crusades Commencing in 1096, there were nine Crusades in all and this was a period of strife for the Church. Interestingly enough, originally the Crusades were military expeditions conducted by the Pope against Muslims in the Holy Land who at that time were persecuting Christians. However when the Crusaders assembled in France, there were no Muslims near at hand, so the "champions of the cross" turned their attention to the Jews who in their eyes were just as much infidels and enemies of Christianity. It is too painful to elaborate on all the "Crusades", but I will share with you some brief details. At Mayece, the Archbishop invited 1300 Jews into his Palace for refuge. This proved to be an invitation to slaughter for under his supervision, they were all killed and he even shared in the spoils confiscated from the corpses. When the Crusaders finally arrived in Jerusalem they were 600,000 strong, but besieged the city and on 15 July 1099 broke through the walls. They killed the Muslims and then herded the Jews into a Synagogue. Crusaders with shields decorated with large crosses placed wood around the Synagogue and burned alive all inside as they sang "Christ we adore Thee". Is it any wonder that the cross is a symbol of hatred and death for the Jewish people, not love, reconciliation and salvation? The cross has literally been taken and used as a sword against the Jewish people. But the Crusades were not limited to slaughtering the Jews in "Palestine" only. Terrible massacres took place in France, Germany and also in England. When Richard the Lionheart decided to take part in the third Crusade, England's Knights and Nobles became intensely zealous for religion. The cry of "Kill the Christ-killers" was sounded. At the port of Lynn most of the Jewish community were ruthlessly murdered as were those in Norwich, Stamford and the worst of all was in York. As stated already there were nine Crusades in all and thank God they finally came to an end in 1291. At that time the Muslims once again took possession of the Holy Land. The Inquisition The Spanish Inquisition had its beginnings in the mid 1400"s. Tens of thousands of Jews had been forced to be baptised, because of this they were considered to be Christians and expected to behave as such. During this period of history, nearly half a million Jews were punished in one way or another. Because these "baptised" Jews were still practicing certain Jewish customs (eg lighting candles on Friday evening at the beginning of Shabbat, abstaining from pork, observing Jewish Feasts etc) they were punished like this: "if caught but refused to repent, they were burned alive;" "if caught and did not repent, they were publicly humiliated;" "if accused even if innocent, they were tortured until they confessed, and then burned." Sundry Matters There are so many other issues that could be spoken about which have caused such anguish to the Jewish people. In passing I will mention three, but will not deal with them. There was the blood-libel hoax. That is the allegation that Jews murder non-Jews (especially Christians) in order to obtain blood for Passover or other such religious rituals. There was the desecration of the host hoax. That is Jews were accused of stealing and desecrating the wafers used by the Catholic Church in the Eucharist, which by the way resulted in many of them being burned at the stake by the Church. Then there was the catastrophe of the Black Death in Europe between 1347 and 1351 when the Jews were made scapegoats. Under torture many of them confessed that they were responsible for poisoning the wells of the cities. Each of these and many other such issues were complete fabrications. Is it any wonder that there has been such a gulf existing between Jews and Christians? Martin Luther Probably the greatest tragedy of all pertains to the great reformer Martin Luther. It was Luther who restored the doctrine of the apostles which had been lost "The just shall live by faith". In breaking away from the Catholic Church, he at first reached out sympathetically to the Jews. He emphasised that Jesus was born a Jew and condemned the persecution of the Jews and recommended a more tolerant policy toward them. "Perhaps I will attract some of the Jews to the Christian faith, "he said, "for our fools - the Popes, Bishops, Monks have treated the Jews so (badly) that if I had been a Jew and had seen such idiots and blockheads ruling and teaching the Christian religion, I would rather have been a sow than a Christian. For they have dealt with the Jews as if they were dogs and not human beings." This was written in 1523, but twenty years later when the Jews did not convert en-masse, when Luther was aged and ill, he had a change of heart. "What shall we do with this damned rejected race of Jews?" This is what he wrote: "First, set fire to their Synagogues or schools and bury and cover with dirt whatever will not burn so that no man will ever again see a stone or cinder of them. This is to be done in honour of our Lord and of Christendom. "Second, I advise that their houses also be razed and destroyed. "Third, I advise that all their prayer books and Talmudic writings, in which such idolatry, lies, cursing and blasphemy are taught, be taken from them. "Fourth, I advise that their Rabbis be forbidden to teach henceforth on pain of loss of life and limb. "Fifth, I advise that safe-conduct on the highways be abolished completely for the Jews. For they have no business in the countryside, since they are not lords, officials, tradesmen or the like. Let them stay at home. (We could ask "what home?") Sixth, I advise that usury be prohibited to them and that all cash and treasure of silver and gold be taken from them and put aside for safe keeping. "Seventh, I recommend putting flail, an axe, a hoe, a spade, a distaff or a spindle into the hands of young strong Jews and Jewesses and letting them earn their bread in the sweat of their brow." Yes all that garbage came from the pen of our great Church father Martin Luther. What a heritage we have! Five hundred years later, a man - no someone less then an animal - by name of Adolf Hitler, found some of these ideas to be justification for the treatment of the Jewish people. So it came about, the culmination of 1900 years of wrong teaching from within the Church, ignorance, compromise and misunderstanding. From Origen, Augustiine, Chrysostom, Luther to Hitler and the "Final Solution"! Germany, a country which has brought enlightenment and culture, also brought the Holocaust. This so-called Christian society stood by and watched, some even participated. Six million Jews including one and a half million children were violently murdered by Hitler and the Nazis. His final solution was to rid the world of "Jewish vermin".....just because they were Jews. Conclusion Christian friends, Hitler has gone and "The Apple of God's eye" - the Jewish people are here with us, the Nation of Israel is now a fact of history. But I want to say that anti-Semitism has not gone. It is still within the Church. Replacement Theology (the belief that the Church has replaced Israel) is alive and well. The same influence that brought about a Hitler is being taught in many schools of Theology today. Yes it is true, evil sometime comes from good people. Origen, Augustine, Chrysostom, Luther....they were not evil men. It is too simplistic to say that these "Churchmen" were not real Christians, for that is just not true. Remember the conditions that enable anti-Semitism to flourish? Ignorance (of God's Word and of history), Compromise (of God's Word) and misunderstanding (of circumstances). Beware, lest we also become guilty.
Source Material This paper was originally prepared for oral presentation at the Celebration Shalom Festival in 1993. Due to popular demand it has been reproduced for wider distribution by Celebration Shalom Inc. although no Bibliography is detailed herein, the writer wishes to acknowledge that some information has been sourced from other printed material which he stated in the original delivery and which has also been declared in the fourth paragraph of this article. CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO INFORMATION PAGE |
You have heard it said
that "truth is stranger than fiction". I have encountered the reality of that
many times particularly during my years as a Christian Minister. However never
is such a statement more real than when you come to the subject of God's
Covenant people. There are also some unusual paradoxes in history such as "Good
sometimes comes through evil people, and evil sometimes comes through good
people". Likewise, that is true in relation to God's Covenant people and as I
continue, you will understand what I mean.