Antisemitism and the New Testament

Many verses in the New Testament (NT) can be seen as critical of Jews, in particular the Pharisees , the form of Judaism that became dominant after the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E. The most famous verse in this respect is Matthew 27:25, which states "Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children". Other notable passages ascribe blame for Jesus' execution to the Jewish Sanhedrin (dominated by another group of Jews, the Saducees ) and portray the Roman procurator Pontius Pilate as an unwilling authority forced to comply with the desires of a Jewish crowd. Other episodes in the New Testament paint a more positive picture of the Jews. Many Jews are portrayed as following Jesus and converting to Christianity, and it is said that "salvation is of the Jews" ( John , 4:23).

The presence of antisemitism in the New Testament is a debated topic in biblical scholarship, though there is a growing trend to prefer the term Anti-Judaism to anti-Semitism . It is also argued that the New Testament contributed toward subsequent antisemitism in the Christian community. Most authorities concur that Christianity began as a Jewish sect in Israel. While at one level this is simply a truism, its various implications have not always been fully appreciated. The very earliest groups of those who confessed Jesus as the Christ (Messiah) are now generally seen and studied as religious movements within Judaism. They observed the Mosaic commandments; they worshipped in the Jerusalem temple; and they saw in Jesus the long-anticipated prophet, teacher, and messiah, . .as is usual with reformist or revitalizing movements, these early followers of Jesus generated considerable controversy within the various circles or parties of Palestinian Judaism. This was no more true of the Jesus movement than it was of other Jewish sects of the time – the covenanter of Qumran, the Zealots, and the Pharisees, to name but the most prominent . .while we must treat the early Jesus movement in Palestine as intra-Jewish/phenomenon in every respect, we cannot ignore its peculiar character as a minority movement under sharp attack on a variety of social and religious grounds. In time, however, and for a variety of reasons, certain Christian groups began to define themselves in opposition to Judaism, while insisting that they had replaced historical Judaism as the true Israel. Jews and Christians: the parting of the ways, A.D. 70 to 135. The question we must face, then, is whether such attitudes are already inseparable from the scriptures on which they were based. ... in terms of the present inquiry, Does the attitude to Jews in the post-70 NT documents indicate that the final breach, the decisive parting of the ways between Christianity and (rabbinic) Judaism, has already happened?'

It has been argued that the New Testament contributed toward subsequent antisemitism in the Christian community. Roy Eckardt has asserted that the foundation of antisemitism and responsibility for the Holocaust lies ultimately in the New Testament. Jews and Christians: the parting of the ways, CE 70 to 135. The question we must face, then, is whether such attitudes are already inseparable from the scriptures on which they were based. ... in terms of the present inquiry, Does the attitude to Jews in the post-70 NT documents indicate that the final breach, the decisive parting of the ways between Christianity and (rabbinic) Judaism, has already happened?' Eckardt, A. Elder and Younger Brothers .

Christian views of Judaism in the New Testament Antisemitism and the New Testament is the discussion of how Christian views of Judaism in the New Testament have contributed to discrimination against Jewish people throughout history and in the present day. Roy Eckardt , a writer in the field of Jewish-Christian relations , asserted that the foundation of antisemitism and responsibility for the Holocaust lies ultimately in the New Testament. Eckardt insisted that Christian repentance must include a reexamination of basic theological attitudes toward Jews and the New Testament in order to deal effectively with antisemitism. Other historians, such as Richard Steigmann-Gall, have argued that Nazism as a whole was either unrelated to Christianity or actively opposed to it. James Dunn has argued that the New Testament contributed toward subsequent antisemitism in the Christian community. According to Louis Feldman , the term "antisemitism" is an "absurdity which the Jews took over from the Germans." He thinks the proper term is anti-Judaism . The distinction between anti-Judaism and antisemitism is often made, or challenged, with regard to early Christian hostility to Jews: some, notably Gavin I. Langmuir , prefer anti-Judaism, which implies a theological enmity. They say that the concept of antisemitism "makes little sense" in the nascent days of the Christian religion and that it would not emerge until later. In this context, the term antisemitism implies the secular biological race theories of modern times. Peter Schäfer prefers the word Judaeophobia for pagan hostility to Jews, but considers the word antisemitism, even if anachronistic, synonymous with this term, while adding that Christian anti-Judaism eventually was crucial to what later became antisemitism. Dunn argues that the various New Testament expressions of anger and hurt by a minority puzzled by the refusal of a majority to accept their claims about Jesus the Jew reflect inner tensions between Jewish communities not yet unified by rabbinical Judaism , and a Christianity not yet detached from Judaism . The Greek word Ioudaioi used throughout the New Testament could refer either to Jews or, more restrictively, to Judeans alone. The idea that the New Testament is antisemitic is a controversy that has emerged in the aftermath of the Holocaust and is often associated with a thesis put forward by Rosemary Ruether . Debates surrounding various positions partly revolve around how antisemitism is defined, and on scholarly disagreements over whether antisemitism has a monolithic continuous history or is instead an umbrella term covering many distinct kinds of hostility to Jews over history. Factional agendas underpin the writing of the canonical texts, and the various New Testament documents are windows into the conflict and debates of that period. According to Timothy Johnson, mutual slandering among competing sects was quite strong in the period when these works were composed. The New Testament moreover is an ensemble of texts written over decades and "it is quite meaningless to speak about a single New Testament attitude". The Encounter of Jews and Christians, Scribner New York, 1967 Eckardt, A. The Holy Reich: Nazi Conceptions of Christianity . Dunn, ‘Jews and Christians: the parting of the ways, CE 70 to 135. Pp.176-211 p 179. 'The challenge thus posed to Christian NT scholars in particular cannot therefore be ducked... There was no such thing in antiquity, since its basis, the Machic family tree, was hardly known outside the circles of the Jews themselves, until the rise of Christianity, which could not well be hostile to the race of its savior. We cannot speak of a single early Christian or Patristic attitude toward Jews and Judaism, or imply its existence. Both the relationship of Christianity to Judaism and the Christians' perceptions of Jews were totally different at the end of the fourth century than they had been three hundred years previously'.

Christian views of Judaism in the New Testament Antisemitism and the New Testament is the discussion of how some Christians' views of Judaism in the New Testament have contributed to discrimination against Jewish people throughout history and in the present day. The idea that the New Testament is antisemitic is a controversy that has emerged in the aftermath of the Holocaust and is often associated with a thesis put forward by Rosemary Ruether . Debates surrounding various positions partly revolve around how antisemitism is defined, and on scholarly disagreements over whether antisemitism has a monolithic continuous history or is instead an umbrella term covering many distinct kinds of hostility to Jews over history. Factional agendas underpin the writing of the canonical texts, and the various New Testament documents are windows into the conflict and debates of that period. According to Timothy Johnson, mutual slandering among competing sects was quite strong in the period when these works were composed. The New Testament moreover is an ensemble of texts written over decades and "it is quite meaningless to speak about a single New Testament attitude". We cannot speak of a single early Christian or Patristic attitude toward Jews and Judaism, or imply its existence. Both the relationship of Christianity to Judaism and the Christians' perceptions of Jews were totally different at the end of the fourth century than they had been three hundred years previously'.