ART Nicholas J. Contreraz the roots of christian anti semitism fulltext
The Roots of Christian Anti-Semitism:
Contextualizing Christian Scriptures and Church
Fathers
Nicholas J. Contreraz
Abstrak
Semangat Anti-Semitisme telah muncul sejak lama. Intolenransi
Kekristenan terhadap Judaisme telah hidup lebih dari dua ribu tahun.
Dalam rangka melakukan studi terhadap semangat anti-Semitisme ini,
kelihatannya perlu menguji akar kebencian yang terjadi sejak awal
Kekristenan. Artikel ini akan menguji kutipan-kutipan di dalam Kitab
Suci Kekristenan yang memunculkan masalah di dalam Gereja.
Menjadi keharusan untuk menguji tujuan penulis dan konteks agar
dapat mengerti alasan di balik kata-kata yang negatif terhadap umat
Yahudi. Fokus kedua tulisan ini adalah interpretasi aktual yang
dilakukan oleh Bapa-Bapa Gereja terhadap Kitab Agama Yahudi
(Hebrew) dan Kitab-Kitab Suci Kekristenan. Pada kesimpulan terlihat
bahwa akar dari Anti-Semitisme dapat ditemukan pada Kitab-Kitab
Suci Kekristenan dan refleksi terhadap kitab yang sama oleh para
peletak awal dasar Iman Kristen.
Key Words: Anti-Semitism, Contextual Theology, Christian
Scriptures, Church Fathers
While Anti-Judaism and Anti-Semitism existed long before the
presence of Christianity, such as with the Babylonians and Egyptians of
ancient times, the type of Anti-Semitism which emerged out of
Christianity was and is far more devastating to the Jewish people. The
intolerance of the Jews amongst Christians has a two-thousand year old
history, reaching back to its first members as they struggled to emerge
away from their Jewish heritage, and lasts to this day amongst many
Christians.^ While much can be done in reference to studying Christian
Anti-Semitism throughout the ages, it seems most appropriate for an
examination of its earliest roots to be done in order to understand how it
is Christians still have, what seem to be, inherent disregard for people of
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the Jewish faith, and the faith itself, regardless of Judaism being the
spiritual ancestor of Christianity.
The study to be done here will first begin with an examination of
the excerpts from the Christian Scriptures which have posed to be
troublesome for the Christian Church. It will be necessary to examine the
authors' intentions and context in order to understand the reasoning
behind their somewhat unsettling words about the people of the Jewish
faith. Then focus will shift then to the actual interpretation of the Hebrew
and Christian Scriptures done by the Christian Church fathers. It will be
evident at the conclusion of this study, that the roots of Anti-Semitism
are found in both the Christian Scriptures and in the reflections on the
same scriptures by the earliest founders of the Christian faith.
As one studies the Christian Scriptures, it will become evident the
authors of its books had a strong opinions about the Jews. In John's
Gospel, we see that he wrote, in the words of Jesus, "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." (John 8:39,
44 NRSV) In Paul's Epistle to the Romans, he writes, "Israel failed to
obtain what it sought...God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that should
not see and ears that should not hear down to this very day." (Rom 11:7-8
NRSV) These two verses and many more have been used to validate antiSemitism through out Christianity's existence. Why were these words
written? What purpose did they serve for the communities who originally
read them? In order to answer these questions, it is necessary to look at
the beginnings of the Christian church as it broke away from the Jewish
tradition.
One of the most important facets of studying the scripture for any
faith system is to understand the historical setting from which it emerged.
Christianity is no different. Ignorance to Christian Scripture's history
seems to be the main source of the anti-Semitic sentiment carried by
Christian followers. Time and time again, throughout history, Christians
have used the Bible to justify, and even encourage anti-Semitic feelings
and rhetoric. It is with this understanding that a look into the Gospel and
Epistle histories is necessary.
Chronologically, Paul the apostle was the first to write in the
Christian canon. As study is focused on the writings of Paul, and then to
the authors of the Gospels, it can be seen without much trouble that the
Jews of his time come off in a terrible light. The important thing to
remember however is Paul, whether he liked it or not, was in deed a
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Nicholas J. Contreraz, The Roots of Christian Anti-Semitism:
Jew.2) In fact, it probably doesn't occur to most Christians that when Paul
expresses his negative feelings about the Jews, that he is saying these
things about another part of his own people.3) Paul is conceived by his
readers as being "schizophrenic" when it comes to the Jewish faith. At
times he seems to be deeply concerned about the relation between
Christianity and the Jews.4) Yet he was partly responsible for the creation
of an organized movement that was entirely independent of the Jewish
community.5)
So what sense is made of the duality of Paul, when it comes to his
approach to the Jews of his time? Scripture scholars conclude there
appeared to be two camps of Jews practicing in the time of Paul's
authorship. The two camps are referred to as the traditionalists and the
revisionists. The traditionalists were what modem thinkers would refer to
as the "fundamentalists" who were doing all they could to hold on to the
old ways of Judaism.6) The revisionists, the liberal party of Jews which
Paul was a supporting member, were composed of the Jews who believed
that they had received a new vision of God in Jesus.7)
The revisionist Jews, the followers of Jesus which included not just
Paul, but also the apostles of Jesus himself, saw him as the greatest in a
long line of people who had kept the faith of the Jews open, living and
growing.8) Jesus fell in line with other members of their long history that
also had new visions of how to reform and reshape Judaism. These
figures included Abraham, Moses, Elijah and Ezekiel.9) The challenge of
Jesus to the traditionalist Jews weakened the fundamental belief that
Judaism already possessed in its orthodox formulations, the final and
complete truth of God, thus no further expansion was needed.10)
This type of theological conflict has happened, in all reality,
thousands of times in religious history, and is still occurring today. For
example, in contemporary Christian circles, there is a constant "going
back and forth" between the fundamentalists and the modernists, in
which pejoratively derogatory names are thrown from side to side.
Fundamentalists are called ignorant and closed minded security seekers
who cannot embrace reality while Modernists are called atheists, secular
humanists, and traitors to the faith.11) The reason for pointing this out is
to help explain the rhetoric one observes in Christian Scripture against
the Jews of the author's time. What one has before them, when they read
Christian Scripture, is a narrative written by the Jewish revisionist, later
to be called Christians, and who would in time open their revisionist
Jewish faith to include everyone, including the gentiles.12) The battle over
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the future of Judaism was being recorded, except the only side Christians
ever read is the side of the Revisionists!
As time continued, the revisionist Jews loosened their own ties
with Judaism, which paralleled their shift in mission to include the
gentiles.13) As the Revisionists loosened their barriers, the orthodox Jews
were strengthening and hardening theirs.14) The inevitable schism between
the two sides finally occurred in the latter part of the ninety's, of the first
century of the Common Era.15) It is at this point that the four Gospel
writers are said to have written.16)
As one reads Christian Scripture, they would have no trouble
seeing the animosity between the two groups. The hostility of the two
sides reverberates profoundly in the texts of the Gospels and Epistles,
and when these scriptures were recognized as inspired and holy; their
hostile words were moved to an entirely new status.17) What was to be
perceived as Anti-Semitism within the pages of Christian Scripture was
soon to be recognized as the "word of God", not just legitimizing and
justifying hate towards the Jews, but considering it as a holy act!18)
As the first century after the life, death and resurrection of Jesus
faded, so did the new faith's identity and membership of Jews. This was
due mostly to the large incursion of gentiles into the new faith, now
mostly attributed to Paul and his missions.19) The attitude of the Gentiles
towards the Jews was already inclined to be hostile, at the time of Paul's
missions, thus making Christian proselytizing all the more successful.20)
The conversion to Christianity only added fuel to the fire in the rift
between the Christians and Jews.21) With the loss of the Jewish
membership, and growing animosity between the two groups, so came
the loss of Jewish practices.22) This is evidenced by the new interpretations
of Pentecost in Luke, and in the words of Paul in his letter to the Romans,
which states, "Now we are discharged from the law, dead to that which
held us captive, so that we are slaves not under the old written code but
in the new life of the Spirit. (Rom. 7:6 NRSV)"
Some historians believe that as a consequence of the break-away
from Judaism, the new Christians' blames of the death of Jesus shifted
away from the government, and instead was directed to the Jews.23) As
the concept of Christ's divinity took a hold with his followers, the
charges of deicide were placed on the Jews; they were to be known as the
killers of Christ, a conspiracy of killing the Lord.24) This is evidenced in
both Matthew's Gospel as well as with Johns. Matthew writes, "So when
Pilate saw that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands
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Nicholas J. Contreraz, The Roots of Christian Anti-Semitism:
before the crowd, saying 'I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it
yourselves.' And all the people answered, 'His blood be on us and on our
children.' (Mat 27:24-25 NRSV)" The blame shift is said to have
occurred as a natural result of the Christians trying to make sense out of
the crucifixion.25) The shift moved as a result of the gentiles being
recruited, and the dangers implied by asserting blame to the Roman
government.26)
From the time of the early Christians until now, Christian Scripture
has been interpreted by gentiles who don't necessarily have a good grasp
of the Jewish history, Jewish writing styles, or of the Jewish setting from
which the Christian story emerged.2 5 The Jesus movement was identified
not as a movement made up originally of revisionist Jews, but rather a
movement of Christians with no reference at all to their Jewish
backgrounds.28) As will be addressed later, the negativity of the
revisionists will receive enormous power, due to its inclusion in Holy
Scripture. If God had rejected the Jews, as the Christian scriptures
implied, then the Christians continued rejection of the Jews would be
validated. As time has told, references in Christian Scripture would be
read as if they reflected conflicts between Jews and Christians, rather
than between the liberalizing Jews and traditionalist Jews. Sadly, the very
Jewishness of Jesus would be forgotten, but more on this later.
Once Christianity took its form in its earliest centuries, breaking its
ties with Judaism, it also took on a characteristic of "supersession." This
meant that while it was breaking all identity with Judaism, it also was
adopting its promises of salvation and truth as God's elect.29) Christian
teaching took on claims that Christianity is the owner, the exclusive
rightful possessor of the divine promise and choice, and that it has
inherited the mantle of the True Israel, which the Jews asserted, was
solely theirs.3CI) In Paul's letter to the Galatians, he supports this attitude
held by his future church. He writes, "We (believers), my brothers, are
we not like Isaac, the sons of the promise... (and thus) free?... The
covenant of Sinai gives birth to slavery. (Gal 4:28, 24 NRSV)" The
Christians sought out validation for supersession by demonstrating that
faith (not deeds) of the newly elect was integral, pure and unblemished.31)
Thus, there was an even greater push for divorcing all Christian ties to
Judaism.
This moves study to the works of the early Christian Fathers who
reflected and wrote, shortly after the Gospel. Before the Christian Church
Fathers are to be explored however, it is of importance to look first at the
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adversos Judaeos writings they authored. The adversos Judaeos writings
and the tradition which formed around them represent a continuous
tradition of Christological and anti-Judaic interpretation of the Hebrew
Scriptures; and in some cases the Christian scriptures.32) This
interpretation was the earliest form of Christian theologizing which had
two primary goals in mind. The first goal was to prove Jesus as the
Christ. The second goal was to prove the reprobation and "blindness" of
the Jews.33) Though the roots of this tradition are rooted in Paul, the
adversos Judaeos tradition took on new life as Christians broke their ties
with the Jews in the first century foloowing Christ.34) The anti-Judaic
writing of the Church Fathers, also known as the Patristics, covered a
wide range of genres, including testimonies, sermons, treaties, imaginary
dialogues, and dramas.35) It is argued that when looking at the writings of
the Patristics, the anti-Judaic rhetoric was the left hand of their
Christologics. Those that are looked to as the Church Fathers, or Patristics
include Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Origin, and later John Chrysostom, who
were among the earliest Christian writers.36)
One of the dominant themes in their adversos Judaeos writings is
that of God's rejection of the Jews and His election of the Gentiles.37)
This theme was conducted in a manner which looked at the Hebrew
Scripture as a history of the Jews viewed as a trail of crimes. Beginning
with the belief that the Jews rejected Jesus as the Christ, the writers
worked their way backward through the Hebrew Scripture accounts
wanting to prove the rejection of Jesus wasn't one misstep in time, but
rather the final and ultimate act of unforgivable defiance in a long history
of crimes.38) From this belief, stemmed the assertion that the Jews had
been ever been apostate from God.39) Following this theme, the writings
accused the Jewish people of having never heard the true message of the
prophets, having always rejected the prophets, having refused to repent at
the prophets' call, and ultimately being responsible for the killing of the
prophets.40) Allegations made alongside the theme of the Jews' history as
a trail of crimes include the Jews as idolaters, law breakers, blasphemers,
resistors of the Holy Spirit, gluttons, sensualists, adulterers, addicted to
the vices of the flesh, guilty of infanticide, cannibalism, and cosmic
regicide.41)
The adversos Judaeos writings didn't rely solely on the Hebrew
Scriptures for validation of their assertions. They also relied on the
writings of the Christian scriptures as well. An example of this can be
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Nicholas J. Contreraz, The Roots of Christian Anti-Semitism:
seen in John Chrysostom's Homilies Against the Jews in which he
comments on a verse from Matthew's Gospel (15:26):
"Although those Jews had been called to the adoption of sons, they
fell to kinship with dogs; we who were dogs received the strength
through God's grace, to put aside the irrational nature, which was ours,
and to rise to the honor of sons. How do I prove this? Christ said, 'It is
not fair to take the children's bread and to cast it to the dogs.' Christ was
speaking to the Canaanite woman when He called the Jews children and
the Gentiles dogs. But see how thereafter the order was changed about:
they became dogs, and we became the children".42)
The next theme covered in the adversos Judaeos writings looked at
the Jewish Law. The Patristics believed that the Law was given by God
in order to help the Jews overcome their evil ways.43) With the rejection
of Christ, the ultimate unforgivable act, the Jews were accused of
insisting on following the every detail of the law which was viewed as
abrogated with the coming of Christ.44-1 Their continued obedience to the
Law showed an ongoing refusal to turn to Christ and further evidence
that they were blind to God's intentions.451
As Christologies of the Patristics developed, so did their continued
interest in the Hebrew Scriptures. From their readings of the prophetic
message they found an understanding of there being not just one people
involved, but indeed there were two: the Jews and the future Church. It
was this dualistic theme which was at the heart of the adversos Judaeos
tradition. The times in which the prophets were being critical of the
people and instances of divine wrath being incurred were attributed to the
Jews.461 The times, in which traits of faith, repentance and future promise
were mentioned, they were attributed to the future Church.471 The
consequence of such an interpretation turns the self-Criticism of scripture
into a callous denunciation of the Jews and the Church is projected as
faultless.481 Augustine later followed this tradition by asserting that the
Jews unknowingly mediate the Law to the Gentiles, while testifying in
their own Scriptures to their own reprobation, leading to his doctrine of
Jewish witness.491 As this theme continued to develop, the Patristics
looked at instances of duality in the Hebrew Scriptures to verify their
belief, including the stories of Sarah and Hagar, Jacob and Esau, Cain
and Abel, and Leah and Rachel.501
The Hebrew Scriptures, in the eyes of the Patristic fathers,
validated the election of the Gentiles, along with the rejection of the
Jews.511 The end result of their interpretation was the loss of Jewish
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identity in their own texts. In a sense, the New Church was ingrafted into
the narratives. They saw that the prophets foretold that the Jewish
election was temporary and provisional until the time of their final
rejection in their killing of the Messiah.52) There was only one covenant,
promised to Abraham, foretold by the prophets, and fulfilled by the
gentile Church. Thus, the Patriarchal period (the period before Moses) is
detached from Jewish history and becomes prehistory of the gentile
Church.53) From this understanding developed the notion of a pre-Mosaic
religion which was the prehistory of Christianity.54) During the preMosaic era, there was no formal law, but a universal morality, without
any presence of idolatry.55) The people living at this time were seen as
faithful, naturally virtuous and morally superior individuals. They were
not Jews, but people from a universal race, much like the new Christian
church.56)
So what were the implications associated with the Jews of this
time? It meant that Judaism was reduced to a "Mosaic intermediate
period."57) The Mosaic Law which came out of this subordinate period
was said to assume the status of a lower morality than that of the
Patriarchal faith which was restored by Christ.58) The Mosaic Law was
not only inferior but intended by God to be restricted to a time, a place
and a use.59) Paul, and later, the Patristics, saw the Law as intended to
restore the Jewish morality level to the time of the Patriarchs, because the
Jews were morally worse than all other people. The Law was intended to
restrain all the vices the Jews had picked up while in Egypt, but was of
no real use with the coming of Christ.60) Paul declared the Law was never
intended for permanent observance; it was only a temporary measure, a
necessary yoke for a rebellious nation who were slipping away from
God's path of righteousness.61) Sadly, it seems that it is from this
understanding that terminology attributed to everything Judaic is of the
"Old Testament" or old covenant.62) In relation to the "New Testament"
or new covenant, comes three-fold supersession, ontologically,
historically and morally.63)
The final theme to be addressed is the falling of the Jewish temple
in seventieth year of the Common Era.64) Justin Martyr, one of the early
apologists, was one of the first to see the Jewish defeat to Romans as
having theological significance. He considered the political fate of the
Jews to be divine punishment for their slaying of the prophets and
Jesus.65) This is best exhibited in his work, "Dialogue with Trypho the
Jew." The Church at this time was being persecuted in its own right
136
Nicholas J. Contreraz, The Roots of Christian Anti-Semitism:
under the Roman Empire. The persecution of Christians was seen as holy
martyrdom, while the persecution of the Jews was read as divine wrath.66)
Persecuted Christians were God's beloved witnesses, while persecuted
Jews were the unrepentant sinners to whom the prophets said, "in vain
have I smitten your sons, but they did not take correction. (Jer: 2:30,
NRSV)"67) Further political events, like the adoption of Christianity
within the Roman Empire offered additional support to the Church
fathers. To the Patristics, the success of the Church in the empire was
seen as proof was on their side!68)
While there are volumes of further information supporting the roots
of Christian anti-Semitism at its beginnings, the evidence offered here
seem indisputable. There is much work to be done within the Christian
faith to fix the damage that has been done over the course of two
millenniums. I believe the first act towards reconciliation would be to
study and accept Christianity's anti-Semitic past. By accepting the sins of
the past and taking ownership of said misdeeds, I feel the members of
today's church would be able to both move forward and make sure they
aren't ever repeated. The works of the writers I have studied has changed
my view of Christian Scriptures. I don't necessarily feel they are to be
disregarded, but I do feel the knowledge and awareness of the Scriptures
authors' time and context will bring a new depth of understanding to
those that reserve the sacred status to their contents. It seems that once
the awareness is accepted, then true healing will begin.
Notes and References
Notes
1) Simonsohn, Shlomo, The Apostolic See and the Jews: History. (Toronto:
Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1991), 1
2) Simonsohn, The Apostolic, 1
3) Spong, John Shelby, The Sins of Scripture. (San Francisco: Harper Collins,
2005), 195
4) Meeks, Wayne, Breaking Away: 3 New Testament Pictures of
Christianity's Separation from the Jewish Communities. Jeremy Cohen, ed.
(New York: New York University Press, 1991), 101
5) Meeks, Breaking. 101
6) Spong, The Sins. 195
7) ibid
8) ibidi 196
137
HSflSKITA Jumal Studi Agama dan Masyarakat Vol. Ill, No. 2, Nop. 2006: 129-140
Meeks, Breaking, 103
Spong, The Sins, 195
ibidj 196
Glick, Leonard, Abraham's Heirs. (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press,
1999), 7
Stow, Kenneth, Jewish Does: An Image and Its Interpreters, (Stanford:
Stanford University Press, 2006), xix
Spong, The Sins, 196
ibid
Meeks, Breaking. 89
Spong, The Sins, 196
ibid, 197
Glick, Abraham's. 7
Blech, Arthur, The Causes of Anti-Semitism, rev. ed., (Amherst,
Pometheus Books, 2006), 327
Blech, The Causes. 327
Simonsohn, The Apostolic. 2
ibid
Blech, Causes, 329
Ruether, Rosemary, Faith and Fratricide. (Eugene: Wipf and Stock
Publishers, 1997) p. 88
Ruether, Faith, 88
Spong, The Sins, 198
ibid
Stow, Jewish. xvii
ibid, xviii
ibid, xvii
Ruether, Faith. 117
ibid
Glick, Abraham's. 7
Ruether, Faith.118
Simonsohn, The Apostolic. 230
ibid, 288
Ruether, Faith. 124
ibid
Simonsohn, The Apostolic. 288
Ruether, Faith. 125-131
Stow, Jewish. 4
Ruether, Faith. 126
ibid
ibid, 131
Ruether, Faith. 131
138
Nicholas J. Contreraz, The Roots of Christian Anti-Semitism:
47) ibid
48) ibid
49) Cohen, Jeremy, Living Letters of the Law, (Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1999), 29
50) Ruether, Faith. 133
51) Simonsohn, The Apostolic. 3
52) Ruether, Faith. 137
53) ibid, 138
54) Simonsohn, The Apostolic. 290
55) Ruether, Faith. 153
56) ibid, 163
57) ibid, 162
58) Glick, Abraham's. 7
59) ibid, 8
60) Ruether, Faith. 163
61) Glick, Abraham's. 8
62) Ruether, Faith. 164
63) ibid
64) Simonsohn, The Apostolic. 289
65) ibid
66) Ruether, Faith. 142
67) ibid, 164
68) ibid, 143
References
1. Blech, Arthur. The Causes of Anti-Semitism: A Critique of the Bible. Rev.
ed. Amherst: Prometheus Books, 2006
2.
Cohen, Jeremy. Living Letters of the Law: Ideas of the Jew in Medieval
Christianity. Berkeley : University of California Press, 1999
3.
Glick, Leonard B. Abraham's Heirs: Jews and Christians in Medieval
Europe. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1999
4.
Meeks, Wayne A. Breaking Away: Three New Testament Pictures of
Christianity's Separation from the Jewish Communities, in Essential
Papers on Judaism and Christianity in Conflict. Cohen, Jeremy ed. New
York City: New York University Press, 1991
5.
Murphy, Roldand E. The New Oxford Annotated Bible: New Revised
Standard Version. Oxford: Oxford University Press Inc., 1994
139
'WjiSKJTA, Jumal Studi Agama dan Masyarakat Vol. Ill, No. 2, Nop. 2006: 129-140
6.
Reuther, Rosemary. Faith and Fratricide: The Theological Roots of AntiSemitism. Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 1997
7.
Simonsohn, Shlomo. The Apostolic See and the Jews: History. Toronto:
Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 1991
8.
Spong, John Shelby, he Sins of Scripture. San Francisco: HarperCollins
Publishers, 2005
9.
Stow, Kenneth. Jewish Dogs: An Image and Its Interpreters. Stanford:
Stanford University Press, 2006
140
Contextualizing Christian Scriptures and Church
Fathers
Nicholas J. Contreraz
Abstrak
Semangat Anti-Semitisme telah muncul sejak lama. Intolenransi
Kekristenan terhadap Judaisme telah hidup lebih dari dua ribu tahun.
Dalam rangka melakukan studi terhadap semangat anti-Semitisme ini,
kelihatannya perlu menguji akar kebencian yang terjadi sejak awal
Kekristenan. Artikel ini akan menguji kutipan-kutipan di dalam Kitab
Suci Kekristenan yang memunculkan masalah di dalam Gereja.
Menjadi keharusan untuk menguji tujuan penulis dan konteks agar
dapat mengerti alasan di balik kata-kata yang negatif terhadap umat
Yahudi. Fokus kedua tulisan ini adalah interpretasi aktual yang
dilakukan oleh Bapa-Bapa Gereja terhadap Kitab Agama Yahudi
(Hebrew) dan Kitab-Kitab Suci Kekristenan. Pada kesimpulan terlihat
bahwa akar dari Anti-Semitisme dapat ditemukan pada Kitab-Kitab
Suci Kekristenan dan refleksi terhadap kitab yang sama oleh para
peletak awal dasar Iman Kristen.
Key Words: Anti-Semitism, Contextual Theology, Christian
Scriptures, Church Fathers
While Anti-Judaism and Anti-Semitism existed long before the
presence of Christianity, such as with the Babylonians and Egyptians of
ancient times, the type of Anti-Semitism which emerged out of
Christianity was and is far more devastating to the Jewish people. The
intolerance of the Jews amongst Christians has a two-thousand year old
history, reaching back to its first members as they struggled to emerge
away from their Jewish heritage, and lasts to this day amongst many
Christians.^ While much can be done in reference to studying Christian
Anti-Semitism throughout the ages, it seems most appropriate for an
examination of its earliest roots to be done in order to understand how it
is Christians still have, what seem to be, inherent disregard for people of
129
WftSKJTA, Jumal Studi Agama dan Masyaiakat Vol. Ill, No. 2, Nop. 2006: 129-140
the Jewish faith, and the faith itself, regardless of Judaism being the
spiritual ancestor of Christianity.
The study to be done here will first begin with an examination of
the excerpts from the Christian Scriptures which have posed to be
troublesome for the Christian Church. It will be necessary to examine the
authors' intentions and context in order to understand the reasoning
behind their somewhat unsettling words about the people of the Jewish
faith. Then focus will shift then to the actual interpretation of the Hebrew
and Christian Scriptures done by the Christian Church fathers. It will be
evident at the conclusion of this study, that the roots of Anti-Semitism
are found in both the Christian Scriptures and in the reflections on the
same scriptures by the earliest founders of the Christian faith.
As one studies the Christian Scriptures, it will become evident the
authors of its books had a strong opinions about the Jews. In John's
Gospel, we see that he wrote, in the words of Jesus, "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." (John 8:39,
44 NRSV) In Paul's Epistle to the Romans, he writes, "Israel failed to
obtain what it sought...God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that should
not see and ears that should not hear down to this very day." (Rom 11:7-8
NRSV) These two verses and many more have been used to validate antiSemitism through out Christianity's existence. Why were these words
written? What purpose did they serve for the communities who originally
read them? In order to answer these questions, it is necessary to look at
the beginnings of the Christian church as it broke away from the Jewish
tradition.
One of the most important facets of studying the scripture for any
faith system is to understand the historical setting from which it emerged.
Christianity is no different. Ignorance to Christian Scripture's history
seems to be the main source of the anti-Semitic sentiment carried by
Christian followers. Time and time again, throughout history, Christians
have used the Bible to justify, and even encourage anti-Semitic feelings
and rhetoric. It is with this understanding that a look into the Gospel and
Epistle histories is necessary.
Chronologically, Paul the apostle was the first to write in the
Christian canon. As study is focused on the writings of Paul, and then to
the authors of the Gospels, it can be seen without much trouble that the
Jews of his time come off in a terrible light. The important thing to
remember however is Paul, whether he liked it or not, was in deed a
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Jew.2) In fact, it probably doesn't occur to most Christians that when Paul
expresses his negative feelings about the Jews, that he is saying these
things about another part of his own people.3) Paul is conceived by his
readers as being "schizophrenic" when it comes to the Jewish faith. At
times he seems to be deeply concerned about the relation between
Christianity and the Jews.4) Yet he was partly responsible for the creation
of an organized movement that was entirely independent of the Jewish
community.5)
So what sense is made of the duality of Paul, when it comes to his
approach to the Jews of his time? Scripture scholars conclude there
appeared to be two camps of Jews practicing in the time of Paul's
authorship. The two camps are referred to as the traditionalists and the
revisionists. The traditionalists were what modem thinkers would refer to
as the "fundamentalists" who were doing all they could to hold on to the
old ways of Judaism.6) The revisionists, the liberal party of Jews which
Paul was a supporting member, were composed of the Jews who believed
that they had received a new vision of God in Jesus.7)
The revisionist Jews, the followers of Jesus which included not just
Paul, but also the apostles of Jesus himself, saw him as the greatest in a
long line of people who had kept the faith of the Jews open, living and
growing.8) Jesus fell in line with other members of their long history that
also had new visions of how to reform and reshape Judaism. These
figures included Abraham, Moses, Elijah and Ezekiel.9) The challenge of
Jesus to the traditionalist Jews weakened the fundamental belief that
Judaism already possessed in its orthodox formulations, the final and
complete truth of God, thus no further expansion was needed.10)
This type of theological conflict has happened, in all reality,
thousands of times in religious history, and is still occurring today. For
example, in contemporary Christian circles, there is a constant "going
back and forth" between the fundamentalists and the modernists, in
which pejoratively derogatory names are thrown from side to side.
Fundamentalists are called ignorant and closed minded security seekers
who cannot embrace reality while Modernists are called atheists, secular
humanists, and traitors to the faith.11) The reason for pointing this out is
to help explain the rhetoric one observes in Christian Scripture against
the Jews of the author's time. What one has before them, when they read
Christian Scripture, is a narrative written by the Jewish revisionist, later
to be called Christians, and who would in time open their revisionist
Jewish faith to include everyone, including the gentiles.12) The battle over
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the future of Judaism was being recorded, except the only side Christians
ever read is the side of the Revisionists!
As time continued, the revisionist Jews loosened their own ties
with Judaism, which paralleled their shift in mission to include the
gentiles.13) As the Revisionists loosened their barriers, the orthodox Jews
were strengthening and hardening theirs.14) The inevitable schism between
the two sides finally occurred in the latter part of the ninety's, of the first
century of the Common Era.15) It is at this point that the four Gospel
writers are said to have written.16)
As one reads Christian Scripture, they would have no trouble
seeing the animosity between the two groups. The hostility of the two
sides reverberates profoundly in the texts of the Gospels and Epistles,
and when these scriptures were recognized as inspired and holy; their
hostile words were moved to an entirely new status.17) What was to be
perceived as Anti-Semitism within the pages of Christian Scripture was
soon to be recognized as the "word of God", not just legitimizing and
justifying hate towards the Jews, but considering it as a holy act!18)
As the first century after the life, death and resurrection of Jesus
faded, so did the new faith's identity and membership of Jews. This was
due mostly to the large incursion of gentiles into the new faith, now
mostly attributed to Paul and his missions.19) The attitude of the Gentiles
towards the Jews was already inclined to be hostile, at the time of Paul's
missions, thus making Christian proselytizing all the more successful.20)
The conversion to Christianity only added fuel to the fire in the rift
between the Christians and Jews.21) With the loss of the Jewish
membership, and growing animosity between the two groups, so came
the loss of Jewish practices.22) This is evidenced by the new interpretations
of Pentecost in Luke, and in the words of Paul in his letter to the Romans,
which states, "Now we are discharged from the law, dead to that which
held us captive, so that we are slaves not under the old written code but
in the new life of the Spirit. (Rom. 7:6 NRSV)"
Some historians believe that as a consequence of the break-away
from Judaism, the new Christians' blames of the death of Jesus shifted
away from the government, and instead was directed to the Jews.23) As
the concept of Christ's divinity took a hold with his followers, the
charges of deicide were placed on the Jews; they were to be known as the
killers of Christ, a conspiracy of killing the Lord.24) This is evidenced in
both Matthew's Gospel as well as with Johns. Matthew writes, "So when
Pilate saw that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands
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before the crowd, saying 'I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it
yourselves.' And all the people answered, 'His blood be on us and on our
children.' (Mat 27:24-25 NRSV)" The blame shift is said to have
occurred as a natural result of the Christians trying to make sense out of
the crucifixion.25) The shift moved as a result of the gentiles being
recruited, and the dangers implied by asserting blame to the Roman
government.26)
From the time of the early Christians until now, Christian Scripture
has been interpreted by gentiles who don't necessarily have a good grasp
of the Jewish history, Jewish writing styles, or of the Jewish setting from
which the Christian story emerged.2 5 The Jesus movement was identified
not as a movement made up originally of revisionist Jews, but rather a
movement of Christians with no reference at all to their Jewish
backgrounds.28) As will be addressed later, the negativity of the
revisionists will receive enormous power, due to its inclusion in Holy
Scripture. If God had rejected the Jews, as the Christian scriptures
implied, then the Christians continued rejection of the Jews would be
validated. As time has told, references in Christian Scripture would be
read as if they reflected conflicts between Jews and Christians, rather
than between the liberalizing Jews and traditionalist Jews. Sadly, the very
Jewishness of Jesus would be forgotten, but more on this later.
Once Christianity took its form in its earliest centuries, breaking its
ties with Judaism, it also took on a characteristic of "supersession." This
meant that while it was breaking all identity with Judaism, it also was
adopting its promises of salvation and truth as God's elect.29) Christian
teaching took on claims that Christianity is the owner, the exclusive
rightful possessor of the divine promise and choice, and that it has
inherited the mantle of the True Israel, which the Jews asserted, was
solely theirs.3CI) In Paul's letter to the Galatians, he supports this attitude
held by his future church. He writes, "We (believers), my brothers, are
we not like Isaac, the sons of the promise... (and thus) free?... The
covenant of Sinai gives birth to slavery. (Gal 4:28, 24 NRSV)" The
Christians sought out validation for supersession by demonstrating that
faith (not deeds) of the newly elect was integral, pure and unblemished.31)
Thus, there was an even greater push for divorcing all Christian ties to
Judaism.
This moves study to the works of the early Christian Fathers who
reflected and wrote, shortly after the Gospel. Before the Christian Church
Fathers are to be explored however, it is of importance to look first at the
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adversos Judaeos writings they authored. The adversos Judaeos writings
and the tradition which formed around them represent a continuous
tradition of Christological and anti-Judaic interpretation of the Hebrew
Scriptures; and in some cases the Christian scriptures.32) This
interpretation was the earliest form of Christian theologizing which had
two primary goals in mind. The first goal was to prove Jesus as the
Christ. The second goal was to prove the reprobation and "blindness" of
the Jews.33) Though the roots of this tradition are rooted in Paul, the
adversos Judaeos tradition took on new life as Christians broke their ties
with the Jews in the first century foloowing Christ.34) The anti-Judaic
writing of the Church Fathers, also known as the Patristics, covered a
wide range of genres, including testimonies, sermons, treaties, imaginary
dialogues, and dramas.35) It is argued that when looking at the writings of
the Patristics, the anti-Judaic rhetoric was the left hand of their
Christologics. Those that are looked to as the Church Fathers, or Patristics
include Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Origin, and later John Chrysostom, who
were among the earliest Christian writers.36)
One of the dominant themes in their adversos Judaeos writings is
that of God's rejection of the Jews and His election of the Gentiles.37)
This theme was conducted in a manner which looked at the Hebrew
Scripture as a history of the Jews viewed as a trail of crimes. Beginning
with the belief that the Jews rejected Jesus as the Christ, the writers
worked their way backward through the Hebrew Scripture accounts
wanting to prove the rejection of Jesus wasn't one misstep in time, but
rather the final and ultimate act of unforgivable defiance in a long history
of crimes.38) From this belief, stemmed the assertion that the Jews had
been ever been apostate from God.39) Following this theme, the writings
accused the Jewish people of having never heard the true message of the
prophets, having always rejected the prophets, having refused to repent at
the prophets' call, and ultimately being responsible for the killing of the
prophets.40) Allegations made alongside the theme of the Jews' history as
a trail of crimes include the Jews as idolaters, law breakers, blasphemers,
resistors of the Holy Spirit, gluttons, sensualists, adulterers, addicted to
the vices of the flesh, guilty of infanticide, cannibalism, and cosmic
regicide.41)
The adversos Judaeos writings didn't rely solely on the Hebrew
Scriptures for validation of their assertions. They also relied on the
writings of the Christian scriptures as well. An example of this can be
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seen in John Chrysostom's Homilies Against the Jews in which he
comments on a verse from Matthew's Gospel (15:26):
"Although those Jews had been called to the adoption of sons, they
fell to kinship with dogs; we who were dogs received the strength
through God's grace, to put aside the irrational nature, which was ours,
and to rise to the honor of sons. How do I prove this? Christ said, 'It is
not fair to take the children's bread and to cast it to the dogs.' Christ was
speaking to the Canaanite woman when He called the Jews children and
the Gentiles dogs. But see how thereafter the order was changed about:
they became dogs, and we became the children".42)
The next theme covered in the adversos Judaeos writings looked at
the Jewish Law. The Patristics believed that the Law was given by God
in order to help the Jews overcome their evil ways.43) With the rejection
of Christ, the ultimate unforgivable act, the Jews were accused of
insisting on following the every detail of the law which was viewed as
abrogated with the coming of Christ.44-1 Their continued obedience to the
Law showed an ongoing refusal to turn to Christ and further evidence
that they were blind to God's intentions.451
As Christologies of the Patristics developed, so did their continued
interest in the Hebrew Scriptures. From their readings of the prophetic
message they found an understanding of there being not just one people
involved, but indeed there were two: the Jews and the future Church. It
was this dualistic theme which was at the heart of the adversos Judaeos
tradition. The times in which the prophets were being critical of the
people and instances of divine wrath being incurred were attributed to the
Jews.461 The times, in which traits of faith, repentance and future promise
were mentioned, they were attributed to the future Church.471 The
consequence of such an interpretation turns the self-Criticism of scripture
into a callous denunciation of the Jews and the Church is projected as
faultless.481 Augustine later followed this tradition by asserting that the
Jews unknowingly mediate the Law to the Gentiles, while testifying in
their own Scriptures to their own reprobation, leading to his doctrine of
Jewish witness.491 As this theme continued to develop, the Patristics
looked at instances of duality in the Hebrew Scriptures to verify their
belief, including the stories of Sarah and Hagar, Jacob and Esau, Cain
and Abel, and Leah and Rachel.501
The Hebrew Scriptures, in the eyes of the Patristic fathers,
validated the election of the Gentiles, along with the rejection of the
Jews.511 The end result of their interpretation was the loss of Jewish
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identity in their own texts. In a sense, the New Church was ingrafted into
the narratives. They saw that the prophets foretold that the Jewish
election was temporary and provisional until the time of their final
rejection in their killing of the Messiah.52) There was only one covenant,
promised to Abraham, foretold by the prophets, and fulfilled by the
gentile Church. Thus, the Patriarchal period (the period before Moses) is
detached from Jewish history and becomes prehistory of the gentile
Church.53) From this understanding developed the notion of a pre-Mosaic
religion which was the prehistory of Christianity.54) During the preMosaic era, there was no formal law, but a universal morality, without
any presence of idolatry.55) The people living at this time were seen as
faithful, naturally virtuous and morally superior individuals. They were
not Jews, but people from a universal race, much like the new Christian
church.56)
So what were the implications associated with the Jews of this
time? It meant that Judaism was reduced to a "Mosaic intermediate
period."57) The Mosaic Law which came out of this subordinate period
was said to assume the status of a lower morality than that of the
Patriarchal faith which was restored by Christ.58) The Mosaic Law was
not only inferior but intended by God to be restricted to a time, a place
and a use.59) Paul, and later, the Patristics, saw the Law as intended to
restore the Jewish morality level to the time of the Patriarchs, because the
Jews were morally worse than all other people. The Law was intended to
restrain all the vices the Jews had picked up while in Egypt, but was of
no real use with the coming of Christ.60) Paul declared the Law was never
intended for permanent observance; it was only a temporary measure, a
necessary yoke for a rebellious nation who were slipping away from
God's path of righteousness.61) Sadly, it seems that it is from this
understanding that terminology attributed to everything Judaic is of the
"Old Testament" or old covenant.62) In relation to the "New Testament"
or new covenant, comes three-fold supersession, ontologically,
historically and morally.63)
The final theme to be addressed is the falling of the Jewish temple
in seventieth year of the Common Era.64) Justin Martyr, one of the early
apologists, was one of the first to see the Jewish defeat to Romans as
having theological significance. He considered the political fate of the
Jews to be divine punishment for their slaying of the prophets and
Jesus.65) This is best exhibited in his work, "Dialogue with Trypho the
Jew." The Church at this time was being persecuted in its own right
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Nicholas J. Contreraz, The Roots of Christian Anti-Semitism:
under the Roman Empire. The persecution of Christians was seen as holy
martyrdom, while the persecution of the Jews was read as divine wrath.66)
Persecuted Christians were God's beloved witnesses, while persecuted
Jews were the unrepentant sinners to whom the prophets said, "in vain
have I smitten your sons, but they did not take correction. (Jer: 2:30,
NRSV)"67) Further political events, like the adoption of Christianity
within the Roman Empire offered additional support to the Church
fathers. To the Patristics, the success of the Church in the empire was
seen as proof was on their side!68)
While there are volumes of further information supporting the roots
of Christian anti-Semitism at its beginnings, the evidence offered here
seem indisputable. There is much work to be done within the Christian
faith to fix the damage that has been done over the course of two
millenniums. I believe the first act towards reconciliation would be to
study and accept Christianity's anti-Semitic past. By accepting the sins of
the past and taking ownership of said misdeeds, I feel the members of
today's church would be able to both move forward and make sure they
aren't ever repeated. The works of the writers I have studied has changed
my view of Christian Scriptures. I don't necessarily feel they are to be
disregarded, but I do feel the knowledge and awareness of the Scriptures
authors' time and context will bring a new depth of understanding to
those that reserve the sacred status to their contents. It seems that once
the awareness is accepted, then true healing will begin.
Notes and References
Notes
1) Simonsohn, Shlomo, The Apostolic See and the Jews: History. (Toronto:
Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1991), 1
2) Simonsohn, The Apostolic, 1
3) Spong, John Shelby, The Sins of Scripture. (San Francisco: Harper Collins,
2005), 195
4) Meeks, Wayne, Breaking Away: 3 New Testament Pictures of
Christianity's Separation from the Jewish Communities. Jeremy Cohen, ed.
(New York: New York University Press, 1991), 101
5) Meeks, Breaking. 101
6) Spong, The Sins. 195
7) ibid
8) ibidi 196
137
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Meeks, Breaking, 103
Spong, The Sins, 195
ibidj 196
Glick, Leonard, Abraham's Heirs. (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press,
1999), 7
Stow, Kenneth, Jewish Does: An Image and Its Interpreters, (Stanford:
Stanford University Press, 2006), xix
Spong, The Sins, 196
ibid
Meeks, Breaking. 89
Spong, The Sins, 196
ibid, 197
Glick, Abraham's. 7
Blech, Arthur, The Causes of Anti-Semitism, rev. ed., (Amherst,
Pometheus Books, 2006), 327
Blech, The Causes. 327
Simonsohn, The Apostolic. 2
ibid
Blech, Causes, 329
Ruether, Rosemary, Faith and Fratricide. (Eugene: Wipf and Stock
Publishers, 1997) p. 88
Ruether, Faith, 88
Spong, The Sins, 198
ibid
Stow, Jewish. xvii
ibid, xviii
ibid, xvii
Ruether, Faith. 117
ibid
Glick, Abraham's. 7
Ruether, Faith.118
Simonsohn, The Apostolic. 230
ibid, 288
Ruether, Faith. 124
ibid
Simonsohn, The Apostolic. 288
Ruether, Faith. 125-131
Stow, Jewish. 4
Ruether, Faith. 126
ibid
ibid, 131
Ruether, Faith. 131
138
Nicholas J. Contreraz, The Roots of Christian Anti-Semitism:
47) ibid
48) ibid
49) Cohen, Jeremy, Living Letters of the Law, (Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1999), 29
50) Ruether, Faith. 133
51) Simonsohn, The Apostolic. 3
52) Ruether, Faith. 137
53) ibid, 138
54) Simonsohn, The Apostolic. 290
55) Ruether, Faith. 153
56) ibid, 163
57) ibid, 162
58) Glick, Abraham's. 7
59) ibid, 8
60) Ruether, Faith. 163
61) Glick, Abraham's. 8
62) Ruether, Faith. 164
63) ibid
64) Simonsohn, The Apostolic. 289
65) ibid
66) Ruether, Faith. 142
67) ibid, 164
68) ibid, 143
References
1. Blech, Arthur. The Causes of Anti-Semitism: A Critique of the Bible. Rev.
ed. Amherst: Prometheus Books, 2006
2.
Cohen, Jeremy. Living Letters of the Law: Ideas of the Jew in Medieval
Christianity. Berkeley : University of California Press, 1999
3.
Glick, Leonard B. Abraham's Heirs: Jews and Christians in Medieval
Europe. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1999
4.
Meeks, Wayne A. Breaking Away: Three New Testament Pictures of
Christianity's Separation from the Jewish Communities, in Essential
Papers on Judaism and Christianity in Conflict. Cohen, Jeremy ed. New
York City: New York University Press, 1991
5.
Murphy, Roldand E. The New Oxford Annotated Bible: New Revised
Standard Version. Oxford: Oxford University Press Inc., 1994
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'WjiSKJTA, Jumal Studi Agama dan Masyarakat Vol. Ill, No. 2, Nop. 2006: 129-140
6.
Reuther, Rosemary. Faith and Fratricide: The Theological Roots of AntiSemitism. Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 1997
7.
Simonsohn, Shlomo. The Apostolic See and the Jews: History. Toronto:
Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 1991
8.
Spong, John Shelby, he Sins of Scripture. San Francisco: HarperCollins
Publishers, 2005
9.
Stow, Kenneth. Jewish Dogs: An Image and Its Interpreters. Stanford:
Stanford University Press, 2006
140