Jews in the New Testament
Encyclopedia
The presence of antisemitism in the New Testament
is a debated topic in biblical scholarship. It is argued that the New Testament
contributed toward subsequent antisemitism in the Christian
community.
must include a reexamination of basic theological attitudes toward Jews and the New Testament in order to deal effectively with antisemitism.
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.
According to Rabbi Michael J. Cook, Professor of Intertestamental and Early Christian Literature at the Hebrew Union College
, there are ten themes in the New Testament that are the greatest sources of anxiety for Jews concerning Christian anti-Semitism:
Cook believes that both contemporary Jews and contemporary Christians need to reexamine the history of early Christianity
, and the transformation of Christianity from a Jewish sect consisting of followers of a Jewish Jesus, to a separate religion often dependent on the tolerance of Rome
while proselytizing among Gentiles loyal to the Roman empire, to understand how the story of Jesus came to be recast in an anti-Jewish form as the Gospels took their final form.
Some scholars assert that critical verses in the New Testament 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 among non-Christians. Christian apologists
argue that by taking isolated verses out of context, people distort the message of Christianity.
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
.
There are some verses in the New Testament that describe Jews in a positive way, attributing to them salvation
or divine
love (Epistle to the Romans
11:28). In the story of the crucifixion
, meanwhile, Jews prompt Jesus
' execution and say "His blood be on us, and on our children" , referred to as the blood curse
. In the Book of John, Jesus calls certain Pharisees "children of the devil".
was authorized by Roman
authorities at the insistence of leading Jews (Judeans) from the Sanhedrin
.
Paul H. Jones writes:
The New Testament records that Jesus' (Jewish) disciple Judas Iscariot
, the Roman governor Pontius Pilate
along with Roman forces and Judean (Jewish) leaders and people of Jerusalem were (to varying degrees) responsible for the death of Jesus.
.
Thus, the term "Jews" in the Gospel represents those who deny the resurrection
and believe that the disciples stole Jesus's corpse
(28:13-15). Through Jesus, membership in the one people of God is extended to include the Gentiles ' onMouseout='HidePop("83118")' href="/topics/Great_Commission">Great Commission
), but they do not replace the Jews
(4:18-13:58). Both Jew and Gentile participate in God's plan for salvation.
As Matthew's narrative marches toward the passion, the anti-Jewish rhetoric increases. In chapter 21, the parable of the vineyard (to which we have already referred) is followed by the great "stone" text, an early christological midrash of Psalm 118:22-23: "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone" (Matt. 21:42). Then, in chapters 23 and 24, three successive hostile pericopes are recorded. First, a series of "woes" are pronounced against the Pharisees
: "you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets...You snakes, you brood of vipers! How can you escape being sentenced to hell?" (23:31, 33).
According to the New Testament Gospels, Jesus, on his fateful entry into Jerusalem before Passover, was received by a great crowd of people. Jesus was arrested and purportedly tried by the Sanhedrin
. After the trial, Jesus was handed over to Pontius Pilate
, who duly tried him again and, at the urging of the people, had him crucified.
Then, Jesus laments over the capital: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it...See, your house is left to you, desolate" (23:37-38). And finally, Jesus predicts the demise of the Temple: "Truly I tell you, not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down" (24:2b).
The culmination of this rhetoric, and arguably the one verse that has caused more Jewish suffering than any other second Testament passage, is the uniquely Matthean attribution to the Jewish people: "His [Jesus's] blood be on us and on our children!" (27:25). This so-called "blood guilt" text has been interpreted to mean that "all Jews, of Jesus' time and forever afterward, accept the responsibility and blame for Jesus' death." As discussed previously, the one time that the passion narratives break away from the method of "prophecy historicized" is when the Gospels assert Jewish responsibility and Roman innocence. Thus, Matthew "invented" this verse to address the fate of Jerusalem as just punishment for its rejection of Jesus
.
Shelly Matthews writes:
The pervasiveness of the accusation that Jews persecute, kill or intend to kill Christ believers in Matthew is accompanied by a dearth of specifics regarding the charges, the motives, the causes, and the specific agents of the persecution.
Douglas Hare noted that the Gospel of Matthew avoids sociological explanations for persecution:
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; instead, the plot to put him to death is always presented as coming from a small group of priests and rulers, the Sadducees
. John's gospel is thus the primary source of the image of "the Jews" acting collectively as the enemy of Jesus, which later became fixed in the Christian mind.
For example, in John 7:1-9 Jesus moves around in Galilee but avoids Judea, because "the Jews" were looking for a chance to kill him. In some said "he is a good man" whereas others said he deceives the people, but these were all "whispers", no one would speak publicly for "fear of the Jews". Jewish rejection is also recorded in , , , and . 12:42 says many did believe, but they kept it private, for fear the Pharisees
would exclude them from the Synagogue
. After the crucifixion, has the disciples
hiding behind locked doors, "for fear of the Jews".
In several places John's gospel also associates "the Jews" with darkness and with the devil
. In John 8:37-39; 44-47, Jesus says, speaking to a group of Pharisees
:
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 play
s .
However, John's use of the term 'Jews' is a complex and debated area of biblical scholarship. The author most likely considered himself Jewish and was probably speaking to a largely Jewish community. New Testament scholar J.G. Dunn writes:
Hence it is argued that "the Jews" properly refers to the Jewish religious authorities (Sanhedrin
), and not the Jewish people as a whole. It is because of this controversy that some modern English translations, such as Today's New International Version
, remove the term "Jews" and replace it with more specific terms to avoid anti-Semitic connotations. For example, the Jesus Seminar
translates this as "Judeans", i.e. residents of Judea
, in contrast to residents of Galilee
. Most critics of these translations, while conceding this point, argue that the context (since it is obvious that Jesus, John himself, and the other disciples were all Jews) makes John's true meaning sufficiently clear, and that a literal translation is preferred.
Paul Jones writes:
Some critics suggest that the text displays a shift in blame away from the Roman provincial government, which actually carried out the execution, towards the Jewish authorities, with the intention of rendering Christianity more palatable in Roman circles.
Most commentators consider that Jesus' statements refer to the specific group of Pharisees he was addressing, or possibly the Pharisaic movement as a whole, but not to the Jewish people as a whole, which would have included Jesus and all his followers. On the other hand, some retort that Rabbinic Judaism
is the heir of the Pharisees and that the verse should still be considered an attack on Judaism as a whole.
It has been argued that John's descriptions of the Jews ought to be read in context of the persecution of Christians in the New Testament
. John is commonly thought to be the "last apostle", given that eleven of the twelve original apostles met a martyr's death, having been killed in unusual circumstances. Stephen is executed by stoning. Before his conversion, Saul (who later became better known as Paul of Tarsus
) puts followers of Jesus in prison. After his conversion, Saul is whipped at various times by Jewish authorities, and is accused by Jewish authorities before Roman courts.
and Christian-Jewish reconciliation
.
As one example, the Catholic Church already denounced antisemitic views held by Christians in the past with a series of statements beginning in 1937 (cf. Mit Brennender Sorge
of Pope Pius XI
). In the decree Nostra Aetate
, Pope Paul VI
in Council declared that:
, has proposed that Christian lectionaries
remove what he calls "… the specific texts identified as most problematic …". 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.
Daniel Goldhagen
, former Associate Professor of Political Science at Harvard University
, also suggested in his book A Moral Reckoning
that the Roman Catholic Church
should change its doctrine and the accepted Biblical canon
to excise statements he labels as anti-Semitic, to indicate that "The Jews' way to God is as legitimate as the Christian way". See also Dual covenant theology.
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
is a debated topic in biblical scholarship. It is argued that the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
contributed toward subsequent antisemitism in the Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
community.
The New Testament and Christian antisemitism
A. Roy Eckardt, a pioneer 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 repentanceRepentance
Repentance is a change of thought to correct a wrong and gain forgiveness from a person who is wronged. In religious contexts it usually refers to confession to God, ceasing sin against God, and resolving to live according to religious law...
must include a reexamination of basic theological attitudes toward Jews and the New Testament in order to deal effectively with antisemitism.
The general message that scholars such as Eckardt are trying to convey is that, using the New Testament as its authoritative source, the Church
Christian Church
The Christian Church is the assembly or association of followers of Jesus Christ. The Greek term ἐκκλησία that in its appearances in the New Testament is usually translated as "church" basically means "assembly"...
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
Dehumanization
Dehumanization is to make somebody less human by taking away his or her individuality, the creative and interesting aspects of his or her personality, or his or her compassion and sensitivity towards others. Dehumanization may be directed by an organization or may be the composite of individual...
is the vehicle that formed the psychological prerequisite to the atrocities that followed.
According to Rabbi Michael J. Cook, Professor of Intertestamental and Early Christian Literature at the Hebrew Union College
Hebrew Union College
The Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion is the oldest extant Jewish seminary in the Americas and the main seminary for training rabbis, cantors, educators and communal workers in Reform Judaism.HUC-JIR has campuses in Cincinnati, New York, Los Angeles and Jerusalem.The Jerusalem...
, there are ten themes in the New Testament that are the greatest sources of anxiety for Jews concerning Christian anti-Semitism:
- The Jews are culpable for crucifying Jesus - as such they are guilty of deicideDeicideDeicide is the killing of a god. The term deicide was coined in the 17th century from medieval Latin *deicidium, from de-us "god" and -cidium "cutting, killing")...
- The tribulations of the Jewish people throughout history constitute God's punishment of them for killing Jesus
- Jesus originally came to preach only to the Jews, but when they rejected himRejection of JesusThe Canonical Gospels of the New Testament include some accounts of the rejection of Jesus in the course of his ministry. Judaism's view of Jesus, Jesus in Islam, and the view of the Historical Jesus all differ from Christian views of Jesus.-Hometown rejection:...
, he abandoned them for Gentiles instead - The Children of Israel were God's original chosen peopleChosen peopleThroughout history and even today various groups of people have considered themselves as chosen by a deity for some purpose such as to act as the deity's agent on earth. In monotheistic faiths, like Abrahamic religions, references to God are used in constructs such as "God's Chosen People"...
by virtue of an ancient covenant, but by rejecting Jesus they forfeited their chosenness - and now, by virtue of a new covenantNew CovenantThe New Covenant is a concept originally derived from the Hebrew Bible. The term "New Covenant" is used in the Bible to refer to an epochal relationship of restoration and peace following a period of trial and judgment...
(or "testament"), Christians have replaced the Jews as God's chosen people, the Church having become the "People of GodPeople of God"People of God" is a description that the Tanakh or Old Testament applies to the Jewish people and that the New Testament applies to Christians. Within the Catholic Church, it has been given greater prominence because of its employment in documents of the Second Vatican Council .-Usage in the...
." - The Jewish Bible ("Old" Testament) repeatedly portrays the opaqueness and stubbornness of the Jewish people and their disloyalty to God.
- The Jewish Bible ("Old" Testament) contains many predictions of the coming of Jesus as the Messiah (or "Christ"), yet the Jews are blind to the meaning of their own Bible.
- By the time of Jesus' ministry, Judaism had ceased to be a living faith.
- Judaism's essence is a restrictive and burdensome legalismLegalism (theology)Legalism, in Christian theology, is a sometimes-pejorative term referring to an over-emphasis on discipline of conduct, or legal ideas, usually implying an allegation of misguided rigour, pride, superficiality, the neglect of mercy, and ignorance of the grace of God or emphasizing the letter of...
. - Christianity emphasizes excessive loveAgapeAgape is one of the Greek words translated into English as love, one which became particularly appropriated in Christian theology as the love of God or Christ for mankind. In the New Testament, it refers to the fatherly love of God for humans, as well as the human reciprocal love for God; the term...
, while Judaism maintains a balance of justiceJusticeJustice is a concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, religion, or equity, along with the punishment of the breach of said ethics; justice is the act of being just and/or fair.-Concept of justice:...
, God of wrathDivine retributionDivine retribution is supernatural punishment of a person, a group of people, or all humanity by a deity in response to some human action.Many cultures have a story about how a deity exacted punishment on previous inhabitants of their land, causing their doom.An example of divine retribution is the...
and love of peace. - Judaism's oppressiveness reflects the disposition of Jesus' opponents called "PhariseesPhariseesThe Pharisees were at various times a political party, a social movement, and a school of thought among Jews during the Second Temple period beginning under the Hasmonean dynasty in the wake of...
" (predecessors of the "rabbis"), who in their teachings and behavior were hypocrites (see Woes of the PhariseesWoes of the PhariseesThe Woes of the Pharisees is a list of criticisms by Jesus against Scribes and Pharisees and Lawyers that is present in the Gospel of Luke and Gospel of Matthew...
).
Cook believes that both contemporary Jews and contemporary Christians need to reexamine the history of early Christianity
History of early Christianity
The history of early Christianity covers Christianity before the First Council of Nicaea in 325.The first part of the period, during the lifetimes of the Twelve Apostles, is traditionally believed to have been initiated by the Great Commission of Jesus , and is called the Apostolic Age...
, and the transformation of Christianity from a Jewish sect consisting of followers of a Jewish Jesus, to a separate religion often dependent on the tolerance of Rome
State church of the Roman Empire
The state church of the Roman Empire was a Christian institution organized within the Roman Empire during the 4th century that came to represent the Empire's sole authorized religion. Both the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox churches claim to be the historical continuation of this...
while proselytizing among Gentiles loyal to the Roman empire, to understand how the story of Jesus came to be recast in an anti-Jewish form as the Gospels took their final form.
Some scholars assert that critical verses in the New Testament 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
University Press of America
University Press of America is an academic book publisher based in the United States. Part of the independent Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, it was founded in 1975 and boasts of having published "more than 10,000 academic, scholarly, and biographical titles in many disciplines"...
, 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
Christian Theological Seminary
Christian Theological Seminary is an ecumenical seminary related to the Christian Church . It is located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and provides eight degree-level education courses...
), Hyam Maccoby
Hyam Maccoby
Hyam Maccoby was a British Jewish scholar and dramatist specializing in the study of the Jewish and Christian religious tradition. His grandfather and namesake was Rabbi Hyam Maccoby , better known as the "Kamenitzer Maggid," a passionate religious Zionist and advocate of vegetarianism and animal...
(The Leo Baeck Institute), Norman A. Beck
Norman A. Beck
Dr. Norman Arthur Beck is an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America pastor, and he serves as the contract pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Stockdale , Texas. He is also a Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation Professor, and writes and speaks about the relationships between Judaism, Christianity...
(Texas Lutheran College), and Michael Berenbaum
Michael Berenbaum
Michael Berenbaum is an American scholar, professor, rabbi, writer, and film-maker, who specializes in the study of the memorialization of the Holocaust...
(Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
).
Occasionally, these verses have also been used to encourage anti-Christian sentiment among non-Christians. Christian apologists
Apologetics
Apologetics is the discipline of defending a position through the systematic use of reason. Early Christian writers Apologetics (from Greek ἀπολογία, "speaking in defense") is the discipline of defending a position (often religious) through the systematic use of reason. Early Christian writers...
argue that by taking isolated verses out of context, people distort the message of Christianity.
Jewish-Christian conflict in the New Testament
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 SabbathBiblical Sabbath
Sabbath in the Bible is usually a weekly day of rest and time of worship. The Sabbath is first mentioned in the Genesis creation narrative. The seventh day is there set aside as a day of rest—the Sabbath. It is observed differently in Judaism and Christianity and informs a similar occasion in...
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
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
.
There are some verses in the New Testament that describe Jews in a positive way, attributing to them salvation
Salvation
Within religion salvation is the phenomenon of being saved from the undesirable condition of bondage or suffering experienced by the psyche or soul that has arisen as a result of unskillful or immoral actions generically referred to as sins. Salvation may also be called "deliverance" or...
or divine
Divinity
Divinity and divine are broadly applied but loosely defined terms, used variously within different faiths and belief systems — and even by different individuals within a given faith — to refer to some transcendent or transcendental power or deity, or its attributes or manifestations in...
love (Epistle to the Romans
Epistle to the Romans
The Epistle of Paul to the Romans, often shortened to Romans, is the sixth book in the New Testament. Biblical scholars agree that it was composed by the Apostle Paul to explain that Salvation is offered through the Gospel of Jesus Christ...
11:28). In the story of the crucifixion
Crucifixion
Crucifixion is an ancient method of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead...
, meanwhile, Jews prompt Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
' execution and say "His blood be on us, and on our children" , referred to as the blood curse
Blood curse
The blood curse is a New Testament passage from the verse .- Versions of the scriptural quotation :* Ιδων δε ο Πιλατος οτι ουδεν ωφελει αλλα μαλλον θορυβος γινεται, λαβων υδωρ απενιψατο τας χειρας απεναντι του οχλου, λεγων αθωος ειμι απο του αιματος του δικαιου τουτου; υμεις οψεσθε. Και αποκριθεις...
. In the Book of John, Jesus calls certain Pharisees "children of the devil".
Gospel of Mark
According to the New Testament, Jesus' crucifixionCrucifixion
Crucifixion is an ancient method of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead...
was authorized by Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
authorities at the insistence of leading Jews (Judeans) from the Sanhedrin
Sanhedrin
The Sanhedrin was an assembly of twenty-three judges appointed in every city in the Biblical Land of Israel.The Great Sanhedrin was the supreme court of ancient Israel made of 71 members...
.
Paul H. Jones writes:
The New Testament records that Jesus' (Jewish) disciple Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot was, according to the New Testament, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. He is best known for his betrayal of Jesus to the hands of the chief priests for 30 pieces of silver.-Etymology:...
, the Roman governor Pontius Pilate
Pontius Pilate
Pontius Pilatus , known in the English-speaking world as Pontius Pilate , was the fifth Prefect of the Roman province of Judaea, from AD 26–36. He is best known as the judge at Jesus' trial and the man who authorized the crucifixion of Jesus...
along with Roman forces and Judean (Jewish) leaders and people of Jerusalem were (to varying degrees) responsible for the death of Jesus.
Gospel of Matthew
Although the Gospel of Matthew is considered to be the "most Jewish" of the Gospels, it contains one of the most anti-Jewish passages found in the Second Testament. Probably located in Syrian Antioch, the Matthean community defined itself over and against the synagogueSynagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
.
Thus, the term "Jews" in the Gospel represents those who deny the resurrection
Resurrection appearances of Jesus
The major Resurrection appearances of Jesus in the Canonical gospels are reported to have occurred after his death, burial and resurrection, but prior to his Ascension. Among these primary sources, most scholars believe First Corinthians was written first, authored by Paul of Tarsus along with...
and believe that the disciples stole Jesus's corpse
Stolen body hypothesis
The stolen body hypothesis posits that the body of Jesus Christ was stolen from his burial place. His tomb was found empty not because he was resurrected, but because the body had been hidden somewhere else by the apostles or unknown persons. Both the stolen body hypothesis and the debate over it...
(28:13-15). Through Jesus, membership in the one people of God is extended to include the Gentiles ' onMouseout='HidePop("83118")' href="/topics/Great_Commission">Great Commission
Great Commission
The Great Commission, in Christian tradition, is the instruction of the resurrected Jesus Christ to his disciples, that they spread his teachings to all the nations of the world. It has become a tenet in Christian theology emphasizing missionary work, evangelism, and baptism...
), but they do not replace the Jews
Supersessionism
Supersessionism is a term for the dominant Christian view of the Old Covenant, also called fulfillment theology and replacement theology, though the latter term is disputed...
(4:18-13:58). Both Jew and Gentile participate in God's plan for salvation.
As Matthew's narrative marches toward the passion, the anti-Jewish rhetoric increases. In chapter 21, the parable of the vineyard (to which we have already referred) is followed by the great "stone" text, an early christological midrash of Psalm 118:22-23: "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone" (Matt. 21:42). Then, in chapters 23 and 24, three successive hostile pericopes are recorded. First, a series of "woes" are pronounced against the Pharisees
Woes of the Pharisees
The Woes of the Pharisees is a list of criticisms by Jesus against Scribes and Pharisees and Lawyers that is present in the Gospel of Luke and Gospel of Matthew...
: "you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets...You snakes, you brood of vipers! How can you escape being sentenced to hell?" (23:31, 33).
According to the New Testament Gospels, Jesus, on his fateful entry into Jerusalem before Passover, was received by a great crowd of people. Jesus was arrested and purportedly tried by the Sanhedrin
Sanhedrin Trial of Jesus
The Sanhedrin trial of Jesus refers to the Canonical Gospel accounts of the trial of Jesus before the Jewish Council, or Sanhedrin, following his arrest and prior to his trial before Pontius Pilate...
. After the trial, Jesus was handed over to Pontius Pilate
Pontius Pilate
Pontius Pilatus , known in the English-speaking world as Pontius Pilate , was the fifth Prefect of the Roman province of Judaea, from AD 26–36. He is best known as the judge at Jesus' trial and the man who authorized the crucifixion of Jesus...
, who duly tried him again and, at the urging of the people, had him crucified.
Then, Jesus laments over the capital: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it...See, your house is left to you, desolate" (23:37-38). And finally, Jesus predicts the demise of the Temple: "Truly I tell you, not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down" (24:2b).
The culmination of this rhetoric, and arguably the one verse that has caused more Jewish suffering than any other second Testament passage, is the uniquely Matthean attribution to the Jewish people: "His [Jesus's] blood be on us and on our children!" (27:25). This so-called "blood guilt" text has been interpreted to mean that "all Jews, of Jesus' time and forever afterward, accept the responsibility and blame for Jesus' death." As discussed previously, the one time that the passion narratives break away from the method of "prophecy historicized" is when the Gospels assert Jewish responsibility and Roman innocence. Thus, Matthew "invented" this verse to address the fate of Jerusalem as just punishment for its rejection of Jesus
Rejection of Jesus
The Canonical Gospels of the New Testament include some accounts of the rejection of Jesus in the course of his ministry. Judaism's view of Jesus, Jesus in Islam, and the view of the Historical Jesus all differ from Christian views of Jesus.-Hometown rejection:...
.
Shelly Matthews writes:
The pervasiveness of the accusation that Jews persecute, kill or intend to kill Christ believers in Matthew is accompanied by a dearth of specifics regarding the charges, the motives, the causes, and the specific agents of the persecution.
Douglas Hare noted that the Gospel of Matthew avoids sociological explanations for persecution:
Gospel of John
The Gospel of JohnGospel of John
The Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus...
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; instead, the plot to put him to death is always presented as coming from a small group of priests and rulers, the Sadducees
Sadducees
The Sadducees were a sect or group of Jews that were active in Ancient Israel during the Second Temple period, starting from the second century BC through the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. The sect was identified by Josephus with the upper social and economic echelon of Judean society...
. John's gospel is thus the primary source of the image of "the Jews" acting collectively as the enemy of Jesus, which later became fixed in the Christian mind.
For example, in John 7:1-9 Jesus moves around in Galilee but avoids Judea, because "the Jews" were looking for a chance to kill him. In some said "he is a good man" whereas others said he deceives the people, but these were all "whispers", no one would speak publicly for "fear of the Jews". Jewish rejection is also recorded in , , , and . 12:42 says many did believe, but they kept it private, for fear the Pharisees
Pharisees
The Pharisees were at various times a political party, a social movement, and a school of thought among Jews during the Second Temple period beginning under the Hasmonean dynasty in the wake of...
would exclude them from the Synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
. After the crucifixion, has the disciples
Disciple (Christianity)
In Christianity, the disciples were the students of Jesus during his ministry. While Jesus attracted a large following, the term disciple is commonly used to refer specifically to "the Twelve", an inner circle of men whose number perhaps represented the twelve tribes of Israel...
hiding behind locked doors, "for fear of the Jews".
In several places John's gospel also associates "the Jews" with darkness and with the devil
Devil
The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
. In John 8:37-39; 44-47, Jesus says, speaking to a group of Pharisees
Pharisees
The Pharisees were at various times a political party, a social movement, and a school of thought among Jews during the Second Temple period beginning under the Hasmonean dynasty in the wake of...
:
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 play
Passion play
A Passion play is a dramatic presentation depicting the Passion of Jesus Christ: his trial, suffering and death. It is a traditional part of Lent in several Christian denominations, particularly in Catholic tradition....
s .
However, John's use of the term 'Jews' is a complex and debated area of biblical scholarship. The author most likely considered himself Jewish and was probably speaking to a largely Jewish community. New Testament scholar J.G. Dunn writes:
Hence it is argued that "the Jews" properly refers to the Jewish religious authorities (Sanhedrin
Sanhedrin
The Sanhedrin was an assembly of twenty-three judges appointed in every city in the Biblical Land of Israel.The Great Sanhedrin was the supreme court of ancient Israel made of 71 members...
), and not the Jewish people as a whole. It is because of this controversy that some modern English translations, such as Today's New International Version
Today's New International Version
Today's New International Version is an English translation of the Bible developed by the Committee on Bible Translation. The CBT also developed the New International Version in the 1970s. The TNIV is based on the NIV. It is explicitly Protestant like its predecessor; the deuterocanonical books...
, remove the term "Jews" and replace it with more specific terms to avoid anti-Semitic connotations. For example, the Jesus Seminar
Jesus Seminar
The Jesus Seminar is a group of about 150 critical scholars and laymen founded in 1985 by Robert Funk under the auspices of the Westar Institute....
translates this as "Judeans", i.e. residents of Judea
Judea
Judea or Judæa was the name of the mountainous southern part of the historic Land of Israel from the 8th century BCE to the 2nd century CE, when Roman Judea was renamed Syria Palaestina following the Jewish Bar Kokhba revolt.-Etymology:The...
, in contrast to residents of Galilee
Galilee
Galilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. Traditionally divided into Upper Galilee , Lower Galilee , and Western Galilee , extending from Dan to the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, along Mount Lebanon to the...
. Most critics of these translations, while conceding this point, argue that the context (since it is obvious that Jesus, John himself, and the other disciples were all Jews) makes John's true meaning sufficiently clear, and that a literal translation is preferred.
Paul Jones writes:
Some critics suggest that the text displays a shift in blame away from the Roman provincial government, which actually carried out the execution, towards the Jewish authorities, with the intention of rendering Christianity more palatable in Roman circles.
Later commentary
Successive generations of Christians read in the Gospel of John the collective guilt of Jews, universally and in all generations, in the death of Christ. John's use of the collective expression "the Jews" is likely explained by the historical circumstances in which and audience for which he wrote. After the destruction of the Temple in the year 70, the Jewish priesthood, and thus the class of the Sadducees, no longer existed. As John wrote his Gospel after these events, for a Gentile audience, he spoke generically of Jews, rather than specifying a group within Judaism that no longer existed and that would have been unfamiliar to his readers.Most commentators consider that Jesus' statements refer to the specific group of Pharisees he was addressing, or possibly the Pharisaic movement as a whole, but not to the Jewish people as a whole, which would have included Jesus and all his followers. On the other hand, some retort that Rabbinic Judaism
Rabbinic Judaism
Rabbinic Judaism or Rabbinism has been the mainstream form of Judaism since the 6th century CE, after the codification of the Talmud...
is the heir of the Pharisees and that the verse should still be considered an attack on Judaism as a whole.
It has been argued that John's descriptions of the Jews ought to be read in context of the persecution of Christians in the New Testament
Persecution of Christians in the New Testament
The persecution of Christians in the New Testament is an important part of the Early Christian narrative which depicts the early Church as being persecuted for their heterodox beliefs by an alleged "Jewish establishment" in what was then Roman occupied Iudaea province.The New Testament, especially...
. John is commonly thought to be the "last apostle", given that eleven of the twelve original apostles met a martyr's death, having been killed in unusual circumstances. Stephen is executed by stoning. Before his conversion, Saul (who later became better known as Paul of Tarsus
Paul of Tarsus
Paul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament...
) puts followers of Jesus in prison. After his conversion, Saul is whipped at various times by Jewish authorities, and is accused by Jewish authorities before Roman courts.
New Testament use of the Prophetic Tradition
In many places in the New Testament, the Jewish nation is condemned and assigned punishment by the quotation of the prophetic literature of the Jewish scriptures in terms at least as condemnatory as the words of Jesus.Christian responses to the New Testament material
See also: Christianity and anti-SemitismChristianity and anti-Semitism
Christian attitudes to Judaism and to the Jewish people developed from the early years of Christianity, the persecution of Christians in the New Testament, and persisted over the ensuing centuries, driven by numerous factors including theological differences, competition between Church and...
and Christian-Jewish reconciliation
Christian-Jewish reconciliation
Reconciliation between Christianity and Judaism refers to the efforts that are being made to improve understanding of the Jewish people and of Judaism, to do away with Christian antisemitism and Jewish anti-Christian sentiment...
.
As one example, the Catholic Church already denounced antisemitic views held by Christians in the past with a series of statements beginning in 1937 (cf. Mit Brennender Sorge
Mit Brennender Sorge
Mit brennender Sorge is a Catholic Church encyclical of Pope Pius XI, published on 10 March 1937 . Written in German, not the usual Latin, it was read from the pulpits of all German Catholic churches on one of the Church's busiest Sundays,...
of Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI , born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, was Pope from 6 February 1922, and sovereign of Vatican City from its creation as an independent state on 11 February 1929 until his death on 10 February 1939...
). In the decree Nostra Aetate
Nostra Aetate
Nostra Aetate is the Declaration on the Relation of the Church with Non-Christian Religions of the Second Vatican Council. Passed by a vote of 2,221 to 88 of the assembled bishops, this declaration was promulgated on October 28, 1965, by Pope Paul VI.The first draft, entitled "Decretum de...
, Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI
Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...
in Council declared 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".
Proposal to remove verses from Christian lectionaries
Norman Beck, professor of theology and classical languages at Texas Lutheran UniversityTexas Lutheran University
Texas Lutheran University is an undergraduate, private, coeducational university affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The University was founded in 1891, and currently serves approximately 1,400 students each semester....
, has proposed that Christian lectionaries
Lectionary
A Lectionary is a book or listing that contains a collection of scripture readings appointed for Christian or Judaic worship on a given day or occasion.-History:...
remove what he calls "… the specific texts identified as most problematic …". 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.
Daniel Goldhagen
Daniel Goldhagen
Daniel Jonah Goldhagen is an American author and former Associate Professor of Political Science and Social Studies at Harvard University. Goldhagen reached international attention and broad criticism as the author of two controversial books about the Holocaust, Hitler's Willing Executioners and...
, former Associate Professor of Political Science at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, also suggested in his book A Moral Reckoning
A Moral Reckoning
A Moral Reckoning, by Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, who also authored Hitler's Willing Executioners, is a 2003 American non-fiction book examining the Roman Catholic Church’s role in the Holocaust...
that the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
should change its doctrine and the accepted Biblical canon
Biblical canon
A biblical canon, or canon of scripture, is a list of books considered to be authoritative as scripture by a particular religious community. The term itself was first coined by Christians, but the idea is found in Jewish sources. The internal wording of the text can also be specified, for example...
to excise statements he labels as anti-Semitic, to indicate that "The Jews' way to God is as legitimate as the Christian way". See also Dual covenant theology.
See also
- Christianity and antisemitism
- Persecution of ChristiansPersecution of ChristiansPersecution of Christians as a consequence of professing their faith can be traced both historically and in the current era. Early Christians were persecuted for their faith, at the hands of both Jews from whose religion Christianity arose, and the Roman Empire which controlled much of the land...
- Nostra AetateNostra AetateNostra Aetate is the Declaration on the Relation of the Church with Non-Christian Religions of the Second Vatican Council. Passed by a vote of 2,221 to 88 of the assembled bishops, this declaration was promulgated on October 28, 1965, by Pope Paul VI.The first draft, entitled "Decretum de...
- Christianity and Judaism
- Origins of ChristianityOrigins of ChristianityFor centuries, the traditional understanding has been that Judaism came before Christianity and that Christianity separated from Judaism some time after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE....
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