Antisemitism and 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.

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.^[1]^[2] 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.^[3]

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.^[4] According to Timothy Johnson, mutual slandering among competing sects was quite strong in the period when these works were composed.^[5] 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".^[6]

^ Rosemary Ruether Faith and Fratricide: The Theological Roots of Anti-Semitism, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 1996 pp.23ff.
^ John G. Gager, The Origins of Anti-Semitism: Attitudes toward Judaism in Pagan and Christian Antiquity, Oxford University Press, 1985 pp.13ff.
^ Falk pp.8ff.
^ Abel Mordechai Bibliowicz, Jews and Gentiles in the Early Jesus Movement: An Unintended Journey, Springer, 2013 p.93.
^ Lloyd Kim Polemic in the Book of Hebrews: Anti-Judaism, Anti-Semitism, Supersessionism?, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2006 p.14.
^ Guy G Strousma, 'From anti-Judaism to antisemitism in Early Christianity,' p.5:'I wish to recall that . . these texts were written in rather diverse milieus, and that therefore it is quite meaningless to speak about a single New Testament attitude.’; p.16 'The context and meaning of the rejection of the Jews in the Gospel of John, . .are vastly different from Chrysostom's anti-Jewish invective. 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'.

[1] Rosemary Ruether Faith and Fratricide: The Theological Roots of Anti-Semitism, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 1996 pp.23ff.

[2] John G. Gager, The Origins of Anti-Semitism: Attitudes toward Judaism in Pagan and Christian Antiquity, Oxford University Press, 1985 pp.13ff.

[3] Falk pp.8ff.

[4] Abel Mordechai Bibliowicz, Jews and Gentiles in the Early Jesus Movement: An Unintended Journey, Springer, 2013 p.93.

[5] Lloyd Kim Polemic in the Book of Hebrews: Anti-Judaism, Anti-Semitism, Supersessionism?, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2006 p.14.

[6] Guy G Strousma, 'From anti-Judaism to antisemitism in Early Christianity,' p.5:'I wish to recall that . . these texts were written in rather diverse milieus, and that therefore it is quite meaningless to speak about a single New Testament attitude.’; p.16 'The context and meaning of the rejection of the Jews in the Gospel of John, . .are vastly different from Chrysostom's anti-Jewish invective. 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'.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]