Catholic History of Antisemitism

[TMC]

Dale_M Anti-Semitism is an ambiguous phrase; could you give me your own personal definition?

Dr. R. Sungenis has written a Q&A more or less about Anti-Semitism that can explain the historic Catholic position better then I could articulate.

Please read it and we can discus your thoughts about it. I remain open minded in this matter. There are as many Jews in my family as there are Catholics. (From the Minsk area)

I agree with Dr. Sungenis, Philosemitism is running rampant in the world today. I don’t hate the Jewish faith- in fact I don’t look at them any differently then I would the Protestants… But if I say “The Jews need to accept Christ as our Mother Church teaches, least their souls will be lost” I am labeled with being an Anti-Semite, but if I say the same of the Protestants or Muslims I am just ignorant of scripture…I don’t hate any of them, I am just trying to show them the Truth of Christ.

Before any Catholic relies on anything written or said by Robert Sungenis (especially on Jews), they should be aware that Sungenis’ bishop has asked him to stop making statements about Jews and Judaism, and also asked Sungenis to remove the word “Catholic” from the name of his organization.

 

[Irish_Polock]

Before any Catholic relies on anything written or said by Robert Sungenis (especially on Jews), they should be aware that Sungenis’ bishop has asked him to stop making statements about Jews and Judaism, and also asked Sungenis to remove the word “Catholic” from the name of his organization.

Question #1: Robert, various people claim that you have defied your bishop. They say that he ordered you not to talk about the Jews but that you ignored his order. Is this true?

This is the first question he answers in the .pdf I linked. Sounds like Sungenis and his Bishop are agreeing to disagree on the issue.

 

[Disinherited]

I know this threas is old but here is my opinion: whenever the Church made laws agaisnt the Jews (such as putting them in Ghettos, making them wear a distinctive badge, etc…) it wasn’t because She was acting out of anti-semitic prejudice but it was to supress heresy. Judaism nowadays isn’t a true religion, and hwen the Church did put those restrictions on the Jews She also put them on the saracens. Was putting restricitons on the Saracens racist? No, She only wanted to supress any Muslim influence.

Rather than an act of anti-semitism or any form of racism, these restrictions on the Jews and Saracens were made to show that the CHurch wasn’t tolerant towards any religion and not as an anti-semitic prejudice, especially since Jews who became Catholics weren’t forced to live with the others in Ghettos and were given the priveleges which Catholics had.

The mob killings, while sad and totally evil, were never supported by the Church. In fact, Popes John XVIII, Alexander II, Gregory IX and even Innocent III condemned discrimination against the Jews and the silly idea of blood libels.

Then there were the expulsion of Jews from countries in Europe. The majority of these expulsions weren’t supported byt he Church or carried out by it but were mad eby monarchs such as Isabella of Castille whom the Pope Himself criticised for her fanaticism and that she acted more out of greed then sincere good will to the Catholic religion. The only Pope I remember that actually did expel Jews from the Papal states was Pope Siant Pius V, who even then made them live in the Ghettos of Rome, Ancona and Avignon. In sort though, the Church can’t be blamed for the mass expulsions fo Jews and the same goes for the murders of Jews done by the crusaders which angered the contemporary Popes of that time.

As for the infamous Spanish Inquisition, it was made SO that there wouldn’t be injustices against the Jews. People who admitted that they were practicing Jews were left alone; it was made to root out the false converts to Catholicism, and unlike the grossly exaggerated number of millions, during the whole reign of the Inquisition, although lamentable, only 3000 to 5000 people were executed. Alot of conversos, unless they were actively trying to destroy the Church from within, were pardoned after the Pope released a bull pardoning conversos.

 

[utah_rose]

MoonChild02,

Thanks for the reply. So the Church’s resistance to the holocaust was an “underground” one? I have heard things like this before and I know the Church is directly responsible for saving many lives during the holocaust.

If I am understanding you correctly, you feel that history shows that an “underground resistance” was the best way the Church could have combatted the holocaust? I remember watching a movie at school when I was in grade school. It highlighted the particular “fix” that the Vatican was in. This was a long time ago and what I remember most vividly was that a line was drawn around the borders of Vatican City. German troops patrolled the border staying in Rome and monitoring what was going in and out of the Vatican borders. It seems the Vatican was walking the fine line of not giving the Germans any reason, politically, to invade the Vatican. This had several positive results, which outweighed the negative result of not speaking out directly against the Nazi party.

Does this film sound familiar? Or at least is the situation accurate?

I struggle with the question at times… wouldn’t it have been better for the Church to speak up? We speak out on abortion and contraception (and rightfully so), and we did so with post WWII, Cold War Communism, but why not with Nazism? I don’t doubt the Church made prudent decisions, but I am curious (not skeptical) of the reasoning behind them.

Thanks again!

In some ways I believe that the Church in part was responsible for anti-Semitism in certain respects.

If I understand correctly, some counties such as Poland’s Catholics were very anti-Semitic and sadly encourage in this by the Church. So when Nazi Germany invaded their country, many Poles took advantage of the situation and turned them in, sometimes for money, sometimes out of spite. Then when Jews returned after the Holocaust many were murdered just because they returned and hadn’t died!

In the Ukraine there were Christians, not necessarily Catholic but probably Orthodox, who participated in the slaughter of Jews.

I have even begun to believe there is still a lot of anti-Semitism left especially in Poland. I wish that Blessed Pope Paul VI had addressed these issues, or if he has I’ve never heard about it.

I feel that this issue should be addressed.

 

[Rick09]

Question #1: Robert, various people claim that you have defied your bishop. They say that he ordered you not to talk about the Jews but that you ignored his order. Is this true?.. Sounds like Sungenis and his Bishop are agreeing to disagree on the issue.

His bishop told him to stop writing about Jews and that if he didn’t, he would revoke Sungenis’ privilege to use the name “Catholic”. Sungenis has admitted that. That’s why he changed the name of his organization from Catholic Apologetics International to Bellarmine Theological Forum. I doubt most people would consider that just “agreeing to disagree.”

These articles go into what happened between Sungenis and his bishop:

Bishop Rhoades and the Dual Covenant Theory

Sungenis and the Misuse of “Supersessionism”

The Real Reason Sungenis Turned on Bishop Rhoades

Sungenis vs. Sungenis vs. Jones

Using Sungenis to deny anti-Semitism in the Church is a bit too much like using David Duke to deny racism in the South. It’s just going to hurt your case.

Look at what he even did to a Jewish Catholic:

Sungenis Up to Old Tricks

Then look what at how he handled a reporter named Jared Olar who criticized him for anti-Semitism. Olar writes:

In response to my reference to his anti-Semitism and his penchant for anti-Semitic conspiracy theory, [Sungenis wrote]: ‘Here is an interesting factoid for you. ‘Olar’ is a Jewish name. So it doesnt surprise me that Mr. Olar would venture into this area.’

Yes, you read that right: Sungenis’ response to my pointing out his anti-Semitism is to shout, ‘Jew!!!’

It’s both pathetic and hilarious at the same time. For the record, sadly my father is not aware of any Jewish blood in his ancestry. As J.R.R. Tolkien wrote in 1938, ‘I can only reply that I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people.’ ‘Olar’ certainly is not a Jewish name (though there are probably a few Jewish people named Olar). It’s Romanian – an occupational surname meaning ‘a maker of pots.’ Any poor peasant who belonged to the Potters’ Guild would end up with the surname ‘Olar,’ and Jews were not allowed in the old Christian labor guilds. No, I don’t oppose anti-Semitism because I’m Jewish (I’m not) but because anti-Semitism is evil. Nor is my non-existent Jewish heritage the explanation for my column’s reference to Sungenis’ penchant for anti-Semitic conspiracy theory. The explanation is simply that I was showing the quality of intellect that is behind the pseudoscientific geocentrism conference.

This isn’t the first time Sungenis has erroneously attributed criticism of his zany ideas to nonexistent Jewish heritage on the part of his critics. Sad to say, he is entirely unaware that there can be no clearer evidence of his anti-Semitic paranoia than the ease with which he accuses his critics of being Jewish. (Setting the Record Crooked)

There’s just something really wrong there.

These are two more reasons why you don’t want to use Sungenis to help the Church in regard to anti-Semitism:

Anti-Semitism and the Catholic Right

Pope Continues to Repudiate Holocaust Revisionism Promoted by Sungenis

If you need more, just type in “Sungenis”, “Jews”, “anti-Semitism” and spend the afternoon reading.

 

[Darryl1958]

Antisemitism, and the belief that Zionism is the coming of the Age of Antichrist runs long and deep in modern Catholicism. It is the province of the superstitious and highly educated too. The fear that world Jewry in league with the devil are vying to take over the world is very much a part of the Catholic world.

It is often just below the surface in many conversations with fellow Catholics, just waiting for the opportunity to raise its ugly head.

John Paul II did his best to repent of these attitudes on behalf of his Church.While many Catholics celebrate his efforts, just as many completely ignore them.

 

[Rick09]

Whoa. Is this the same R. Sungenis who defends the geocentric theory of the universe? That the Earth is the center of the solar system, that the Sun revolves around the Earth?

Yes. He’s into all these wild conspiracy theories. He thinks NASA never landed a man on the moon and that it was all done on a Hollywood set. And he thinks NASA is out and about making crop circles and UFOS so they can get money and attack Christianity. Everyone I know is totally baffled about what led him down this weird path. It’s disconcerting.

bellarmineforum.xanga.com/702646935/question-139—what-do-you-think-of-ufos

galileowaswrong.com/galileowaswrong/features/4.pdf

 

[Rick09]

Antisemitism, and the belief that Zionism is the coming of the Age of Antichrist runs long and deep in modern Catholicism…It is often just below the surface in many conversations with fellow Catholics, just waiting for the opportunity to raise its ugly head.

I don’t know. I think that’s an exaggeration, honestly. I talk about all kinds of things like this with my Catholic friends and I only see that kind of thinking with any regularity from people who call themselves “Traditionalists”. And, to be fair, it’s really the most radical Traditionalists. I know a couple of people who came from the SSPX and they saw it commonly there. I’m not saying there aren’t any mainstream Catholics who think like that, but I just don’t see it as being that common.

 

[utah_rose]

I don’t know. I think that’s an exaggeration, honestly. I talk about all kinds of things like this with my Catholic friends and I only see that kind of thinking with any regularity from people who call themselves “Traditionalists”. And, to be fair, it’s really the most radical Traditionalists. I know a couple of people who came from the SSPX and they saw it commonly there. I’m not saying there aren’t any mainstream Catholics who think like that, but I just don’t see it as being that common.

I am a traditionist from way back but notice that many liberal Catholics are anti-Semitic. I notice that particularly those who weren’t raised among ethnic communities that had Jews, still feel that Jews are “stingy” and don’t like to spend money on charities. I have a friend like this and have pointed out that some of the greatest contributors to Catholic schools, organizations, etc. are Jews. Furthermore, being prudent with your money is not bad.

Since I associated with Jewish people, I saw the good and bad of them. I’m always sorry that I don’t have any “Jewish blood” because as a whole I think they’re great people, and in particular admire the Orthodox Jews for sticking to their “older” beliefs.

 

[Darryl1958]

I am a traditionalist from way back but notice that many liberal Catholics are anti-Semitic. I notice that particularly those who weren’t raised among ethnic communities that had Jews, still feel that Jews are “stingy” and don’t like to spend money on charities. I have a friend like this and have pointed out that some of the greatest contributors to Catholic schools, organizations, etc. are Jews. Furthermore, being prudent with your money is not bad.

Since I associated with Jewish people, I saw the good and bad of them. I’m always sorry that I don’t have any “Jewish blood” because as a whole I think they’re great people, and in particular admire the Orthodox Jews for sticking to their “older” beliefs.

Catholic antisemitism takes on a variety of forms for sure. Hearing someone express contempt towards Jews says very little about whether that person is a traditionalist or a modernist, conservative or liberal, left or right.

I am guessing though that bridging the gap between mainstream Catholicism and the SSPX will bring the theological antisemitism, with Zionism as the Antichrist, more and more to the fore.

With liberals and their more secular ways of expressing the ancient hatreds as about greedy Jews and Jew as capitalist, antisemitism becomes more acceptable to be publicly expressed once again.

 

[chosen_people]

If you call it a brothel, a den of vice, the devil’s refuge, Satan’s fortress, a place to deprave the soul, an abyss of every conceivable disaster or whatever you will, you are saying less than it deserves." - St. Jerome on the synagogue

“Henceforth let us have nothing in common with this odious people… We ought not, therefore, to have anything in common with the Jews…our worship follows a …more convenient course… we desire, dearest brethren to separate ourselves from the detestable company of the Jews… How, then, could we follow these Jews, who are almost certainly blinded.” - Council of Nicea

“The true image of the Hebrew is Judas Iscariot, who sells the Lord for silver. The Jew can never understand the Scriptures and forever will bear the guilt for the death of Jesus.” - St. Augustine

“Let no one in the priestly order nor and layman eat the unleavened bread of the Jews, nor have any familiar intercourse with them, nor summon them in illness, nor receive medicine from them, nor bathe with them; but if anyone shall take in hand to do so, if he is a cleric, let him be deposed, but if a layman, let him be cut off.” -Canon II of the Quinisext Council

"The Jews are the most worthless of all men. They are lecherous, greedy, rapacious. They are perfidious murderers of Christ . . .The Jews are the odious assassins of Christ and for killing God there is no expiation possible, no indulgence or pardon. Christian may never cease vengeance, and the Jews must live in servitude forever. God always hated the Jews. It is incumbent upon all Christians to hate the Jews. – St. John Chrysotom

“The Jews’ guilt of the crucifixion of Jesus consigned them to perpetual servitude, and like Cain, they are to be wanderers and fugitives . . . the Jews will not dare to raise their necks, bowed under the yoke of perpetual slavery, against the reverence of the Christian faith.” - Pope Innocent III

“Know Christians that next to the devil thou hast no enemy more cruel, more venomous and violent than a true Jew.” - Martin Luther

From “Jews and Judaism” Original Catholic Encyclopedia

"The obligation of wearing a distinguishing badge was of course obnoxious to the Jews. At the same time, Church authorities deemed its injunction necessary to prevent effectively moral offenses between Jews and Christian women. The decrees forbidding the Jews from appearing in public at Easter-tide may be justified on the ground that some of them mocked at the Christian processions at that time; those against baptized Jews retaining distinctly Jewish customs find their ready explanation in the necessity for the Church to maintain the purity of the Faith in its members, while those forbidding the Jews from molesting converts to Christianity are no less naturally explained by the desire of doing away with a manifest obstacle to future conversions.

It was for the laudable reason of protecting social morality and securing the maintenance of the Christian Faith, that canonical decrees were framed and repeatedly enforced against free and constant intercourse between Christians and Jews, against, for instance, bathing, living, etc., with Jews. To some extent, likewise, these were the reasons for the institution of the Ghetto or confinement of the Jews to a special quarter, for the prohibition of the Jews from exercising medicine, or other professions. The inhibition of intermarriage between Jews and Christians, which is yet in vigor, is clearly justified by reason of the obvious danger for the faith of the Christian party and for the spiritual welfare of the children born of such alliances. With regard to the special legislation against printing, circulating, etc., the Talmud, there was the particular grievance that the Talmud contained at the time scurrilous attacks upon Jesus and the Christians (cf. Pick, “The Personality of Jesus in the Talmud” in the “Monist”, January, 1910), and the permanent reason that “that extraordinary compilation, with much that is grave and noble, contains also so many puerilities, immoral precepts, and anti-social maxims, that Christian courts may well have deemed it right to resort to stringent measures to prevent Christians from being seduced into adhesion to a system so preposterous” (Catholic Dictionary, 484).

History proves indeed that church authorities exercised at times considerable pressure upon the Jews to promote their conversion;"

---

 

[crazzeto]

chosen people,

There was bad blood all around, many of the fathers you quote for instance came out of persecutions which were percipitated in part, by the Jews. Beleive it or not, back then it was Christians that were being constantly persecuted. So one can begin to understand the mistrust and bad blood.

Nothing of course, would justify later persecutions of the Jews, which was terrible and wrong, that’s not my point. My point simply is, these guys had been through a lot, not just at the hands of the pegans.

 

[chosen_people]

chosen people,

There was bad blood all around, many of the fathers you quote for instance came out of persecutions which were percipitated in part, by the Jews. Beleive it or not, back then it was Christians that were being constantly persecuted. So one can begin to understand the mistrust and bad blood.

Nothing of course, would justify later persecutions of the Jews, which was terrible and wrong, that’s not my point. My point simply is, these guys had been through a lot, not just at the hands of the pegans.

I understand from your post that you claim that the Antisemitism of the Christian Church at its inception is some how understandable and the fault of the Jews. The true problem has always been that the Roman Pagans who became the Roman Christians found themselves in the embarrassing position of having executed their messiah and decided to solve this problem by blaming it on “the Jews”.

The earliest quotes are from the 4th Century of the common era. Perhaps you could detail what persecutions you believe were being carried out by Jews against Christians at this time, and when and where they occurred .

There were in fact mass massacres of Christians at this time, but it was being done by Christians, due to infighting between Roman (Greek) Christians and Arian Christians as to the nature of the Christian god. In 325 c.e,. Jesus was elected a god at the council of Nicea by a 220 to 2 vote. However by 360 c.e. in the mutual Christian slaughters, Arianism had almost replaced Roman Christianity. Despite this, the Roman Christians managed finally to slaughter enough Arian Christians and in 381 c.e. at the Council of Constantinople, the “holy spirit” was added to the Christian godhead.

 

[crazzeto]

I understand from your post that you claim that the Antisemitism of the Christian Church at its inception is some how understandable and the fault of the Jews. The true problem has always been that the Roman Pagans who became the Roman Christians found themselves in the embarrassing position of having executed their messiah and decided to solve this problem by blaming it on “the Jews”.

The earliest quotes are from the 4th Century of the common era. Perhaps you could detail what persecutions you believe were being carried out by Jews against Christians at this time, and when and where they occurred .

There were in fact mass massacres of Christians at this time, but it was being done by Christians, due to infighting between Roman (Greek) Christians and Arian Christians as to the nature of the Christian god. In 325 c.e,. Jesus was elected a god at the council of Nicea by a 220 to 2 vote. However by 360 c.e. in the mutual Christian slaughters, Arianism had almost replaced Roman Christianity. Despite this, the Roman Christians managed finally to slaughter enough Arian Christians and in 381 c.e. at the Council of Constantinople, the “holy spirit” was added to the Christian godhead.

Whelll you can’t just blame the pegan Christians and pretend like the Jews had aboslutly nothing to do with it. We know that this isn’t the case:

Act 2:22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him, in the midst of you, as you also know:
Act 2:23 This same being delivered up, by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you by the hands of wicked men have crucified and slain.

The plain historical fact is that Pilot concented to the crusifixion of Jesus at the hands of the Jews there. Both hands were bloodied, and there was never any denial of this. The difference though, is that the Jews continued persecutions as we will see reading further into scriptures. More over, as your name suggests, these were the choosen people of God for whom the messiah, principally, was sent. Yes, as promised repeatedly Christ came also for the gentiles, but for the Jews first.

So the Jews were well involved in the crusifixion of Christ, they continued persecutiong His church and worst of all they’re the very people for whom Christ was sent. So again, not justifying any later dispicible crimes against the poor jews. But if one looks at the situation with understanding, then it’s easy to see why such things would be written.

 

[Darryl1958]

Whatever the history, Pope BenedictXVI said it best when he noted that the blood of Jesus could never be a curse on anyone.

 

[guanophore]

I understand from your post that you claim that the Antisemitism of the Christian Church at its inception is some how understandable and the fault of the Jews.

I think it is understandible, just as all human prejudice can be understood as an expression of ignorance, fear, and the projection of hostility. I think the “fault” can be equally shared. It started much sooner than you think, though. Christians were expelled from the synagogues even before the temple was destroyed, and although Saul of Tarsus was converted, there were many Jewish persecuters of Christians that were not. His rage against Christians was not an anomoly. This is also understandible.

The true problem has always been that the Roman Pagans who became the Roman Christians found themselves in the embarrassing position of having executed their messiah and decided to solve this problem by blaming it on “the Jews”.

While this is certainly one element, it is not the only one. One of the roots of Christian anti-semitism can be seen in the defense of Stephen before the Sanhedrin, long before Christianity ever got to Rome. Stephen was a Greek Christian.

The earliest quotes are from the 4th Century of the common era. Perhaps you could detail what persecutions you believe were being carried out by Jews against Christians at this time, and when and where they occurred .

I thank you for posting these, as I have not read them, and have always been curious about the anti-semitism of the Church. I find it odd, since Jesus and His Mother were Jews, John the Baptist, and all the Apostles.

However, I think the NT alone proves your premise to be false. Anti-semitism existed from the time that the Jews killed Christ. It was only exacerbated by the rejection of the Christians from the synagogues. The book of Acts is full of references to the Jews persecuting Christians.

There were in fact mass massacres of Christians at this time, but it was being done by Christians, due to infighting between Roman (Greek) Christians and Arian Christians as to the nature of the Christian god. In 325 c.e,. Jesus was elected a god at the council of Nicea by a 220 to 2 vote.

This is a misperception of historical theology, chosen. The Apostles believed that Jesus was God, and passed this on to their disciples and successors. The fact that it was made formal at Nicea does not meant it was “created” at that time.

However by 360 c.e. in the mutual Christian slaughters, Arianism had almost replaced Roman Christianity. Despite this, the Roman Christians managed finally to slaughter enough Arian Christians and in 381 c.e. at the Council of Constantinople, the “holy spirit” was added to the Christian godhead.

Christianity is not “Roman”, chosen, and the belief in the Trinity emanates from Palestine, not from Rome. In addition, the Holy Spirit was “added” to God, and is clear in the OT, before the advent of Christianity. The concept of the Trinity has been present since the teaching of Jesus in the first century, and was not “added” in 381.

This is also the case with the New Testament. The Letters and Gospels were considered to be scripture from the moment they were penned in the early 50’s BCE, they did not get “elected” as inspired and inerrant in 381 when the canon was closed.

 

[trdchubi]

Here is one good read on this topic.

“Anti-semitism is the longest and deepest hatred of human history…What other hatred has endured some twenty three centuries and survive a genocide of 6 million of its victims in its twenty-third century of existence only to find itself still intact and rich in potential for many years of life” - Rev. Edward Flannery

Father Flannery, a longtime Catholic journalist, won acclaim and a National Catholic Book Award for ‘‘The Anguish of the Jews: Twenty-three Centuries of Anti-Semitism’’ (1965, Paulist Press). In it he wrote: ‘‘This book received its first impetus from a personal experience. One evening several years ago, I walked in New York City in the company of a young Jewish couple’’ and within sight of ''the huge illuminated cross the Grand Central building displays at Christmas. The young lady declared: ‘That cross makes me shudder. It is like an evil presence.’ ‘’

Her comment made him think, he recalled. ‘‘It soon became clear that her fearful reaction was the fruit of a knowledge which she, but not I, had – a knowledge of the immense suffering undergone by her people at the hands of Christians for many centuries.’’

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

Here is the last paragraph of the book.

“The tragic story this book has unfolded ends then in the deepest chambers of the spirit. For the Christian reader—for whom it was especially written—it is a tragedy in which Jesus participates, crucified again in the person of His people at the hand of many baptized in His name. The sin of anti-Semitism contains many sins, but in the end it is a denial of Christian faith, a failure of Christian hope, and a malady of Christian love. And was not this Christianity’s supreme defection: that the Christian people to whom persecution was promised by its Master (John 16:2-4) was not the most persecuted people in Christendom, but rather was it the people from whom He came? And the ultimate scandal: that in carrying the burden of God in history the Jewish people did not find in the Christian churches an ally and defender but one of their most zealous detractors and oppressors? It is a story that calls for repentance”.

Excerpt from The Anguish of the Jews: Twenty-Three Centuries of Antisemitism . (Revised and Updated) by Edward H. Flannery, Copyright © 1985 by Edward Flannery, © 1999 by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Providence.

 

[chosen_people]

The Roman Pagans who became the Roman Catholics found themselves in the unenviable position of having previously murdered their god as an anti-Roman zealot. Their solution was to place the blame for their actions on a collective entity called “The Jews”.

The Roman prefect Pilate is depicted in the Christian scriptures as arguing against a frenzied crowd of Jews to not execute Jesus, finally “washing his hands” of the matter. However, we know that Pilate was removed from office in 36 c.e. (some sources early 37 c.e) because of extreme and excessive cruelty to the local Jewish population. This extreme and excessive cruelty included his penchant for the summary execution without trial of thousands of Jews deemed to be anti-Roman zealots.

Jewish involvement according to the Christian scriptures is also found in a trial of Jesus by the Sanhedrin. According to the Christian scriptures ,the Sanhedrin convicts Jesus of blasphemy and sentences him to death. However, they are forced to hand him over for execution as they do not have the power to execute people. There are however a “few” problems with this story of the trial. To begin with, while the Jewish trial of Jesus appears in Mark and Matthew, according to John 18:13-14, there is no trial of Jesus before the Sanhedrin, only a hearing before the High Priest. The Gospel story of the trial is also interesting because of the absolute lack of knowledge by the writers of Jewish law. Every single procedural rule is wrong. Even more incredible, the Gospel authors have Jesus being convicted of the wrong crime, that of blasphemy. Finally, the claim that the Sanhedrin could not execute criminals is contradicted by the Christian scriptures themselves as well as Josephus.

The betrayal of a demigod was a common theme in the mystery-cult religions at the time of Jesus. However, though the Gospels can’t agree on the names of the disciples, the name of the “betrayer” is significant. Judas from Judea from Jew. “Judas the betrayer” (mentioned over 30 times in the Christian scriptures) to “Jews” the “god killers”. The newly discovered Gospel of Judas paints Judas as acting according to Jesus’ plan and as trusted and devoted ally of Jesus in direct contradiction of the canonized Gospels. The story of Judas in the Christian scriptures is rife with contradictions. These include whether there was the involvement of the Devil, the source suggesting the bribe, the naming of Judas as the betrayer at the last supper, the way Judas died, whether Judas was repentant for betraying Jesus, the place where Judas died, who bought “Blood Acre”, and the meaning of the name (not to mention the confusion in Matthew 27:7-10 in citing Jeremiah 32:6-9).

Now the Sadducees are the group of Jews who hold the High Priesthood at the time of Jesus and are the ones who are in tight with the Romans and are the ones who are sticklers to the text without deviation. So why do the Christian scriptures seemingly mix up Pharisees with Sadducees, placing the emphasis and the blame on the Pharisees? The problem was that by the time the Gospels were being written, the Sadducees were gone. To blame the Jews you had to blame the Pharisees.

In condemning “the Jews” for the death of Jesus, the Gospels create the concept of “the Jews” as a unified negative force. On the one hand, it is Jesus’ popularity among the Jews that leads to his death. On the other hand it is “the Jews” as an entity who supposedly seek and are responsible for his death.

The calumnies against the Jews in the Gospels include their declaring to have the blood of Jesus on their heads, they are referred to as snakes, as liars, as the spawn of the Devil.

The Jew is painted as the enemy of God, a person who has rejected God. The Christian scriptures teach “Take my enemies, who would not have me rule over them, bring them here, and kill them before me” (Luke 19:27). Some 1,250 years after God revealed Himself at Sinai before the entire Jewish nation and made an eternal covenant between God and the Jews, a group of Roman Pagans declared themselves the “new Jews” with a “new covenant” and declared that the Jews are a malignant and immoral force.

It is this accusation that the Jews are “Christ killers” that will lead a Catholic Saint to write some 1500 years before Mein Kampf that the Jews are sub human fit only for slaughter. It is this accusation that leads to the Catholic Church blood purity laws in post Inquisition Spain and in the Jesuit order. It is this accusation which will lead the Catholic Church to place the Jews in ghettos, to make them wear clothing marking them as Jews, to prevent them from having basic civil and legal rights. It is this accusation that will culminate in 2000 years of Christian anti-Semitism in the Shoah and the murder of one in every three Jews in the world.

Since the Shoah, especially since Vatican II, the Church has taken real steps to correct attitudes toward the Jewish people. Perhaps a time will come when the Gospels will be edited free of anti-Semitism, when Jews will no longer have to bear either the false accusations or the sins of others.

 

[crazzeto]

chosen people, you have chosen to ignore everything that has been posted. You can’t contradict the scriptures, it was the jews who consipred to kill Christ. Oh yes, to be sure the gentile Pilote and his armies participated, but no… This is not all one big consipiricy just to lay blame because they don’t want to accept any for themselves.

This isn’t to say all jews, through out history are guilty mind you… And even many of the jews who were directly responsible for the blood of Christ were converted and saved, this is in scriptures as well. Those Jews, in that time, and in that place killed their messiah, as was foretold in the scriptures. This was done so that salvation could be fullfilled. This salvation was open to all, including those jews who shouted “his blood be upon us and our children”, equally to Pilot if he had accepted it, equally the gentile Roman soldier whom God converted through the power of the Holy Spirit in front of Saint Peter (btw, this guard was probably one of those whom participated in Christs death, or very well could have been).

No chosen people, this is not about a giant historical blame game… This is about simple facts which can’t be ignored. Those people, in that time and place killed the Son of the Living God, or at least his earthly body for 3 days before he rose again in glory so that we might rise with him. His salvation is open to all, so there is no need to play awkward games.

 

[Disinherited]

Exactly crazzetto. We can’t ignore historical facts and the truth. Its a shame, because definitely not all the Jews ignore historical fact and some of them feel sorry that their ancestors killed Jesus. One thing comes to my mind: it is historical fact that the Church put alot of restrictions on the Jews. I say the Church, as the Jewish massacres in the crusades, the expulsions done by Greedy monarchs and the mob killings of Jews were not supported but even condemned by the Church (which is why the Spanish Inquisition, the most corrupt and brutal of all three inquisitions, was set up). The Church made Jews wear distinctive clothing (badges and a hat, sometimes a cloak), she didn’t let them get the jobs of a painter, architect, etc… she made them live in Ghettos (some of which had poverty, some which were filled with rich Jews) but why did it put such restrictions on them? (and the Muslims. The Council of Lateran decreed the same things to Muslims as also to the Jews).

Was it anti-semitism? No, that doesn’t make any damned sense (idiot!). For one thing, racism is totally condemned by the Church and when some crazy racists made the Statute of Toledo advocating purity of blood, Pope Nicholas V condemned it… in 1449, a time when anti-semitism was starting to come out. Then we have the facts that Jesus and Mary were Jewish, the Apostles, Saint Paul, middle age saints such as Saint John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila… do I need to go on?

Rather, what made the Church take such measures? It was to suppress heresy and limit the influence of the Jews greatly. We didn’t kill them if they tried to state their opinions, nor did we not give them opportunities to prosper well (as evidenced by the fact that many Jews were very rich people) but we only tried to diminish their influence on Catholic society. Forget the anti-semitic rants of Saint John Chrysostom. He may have been a saint but like all others he certainly wasn’t perfect or infallible, even accusing the Blessed Virgin of sinning when the whole Church believed Her even at that time to be free from all sin.

The same can’t be said for the Council’s calling the Jews odious, because it didn’t mean that every Jew was Slytherin racist but it only meant in strong terms that the beliefs of the Jews were wrong (especially those of the more extreme kind who were truly racist, with their Talmud and all that, and believe me, there are definitely Jewish racists who are no better than their equally perverted white counterparts).

chosenpeople, I’d like to ask you something: you accuse the Church of putting restrictions on the Jews… so far, you are right. Then you accuse us Christians that our religion has a supposedly pagan influence (after we tried rooting out paganism:blush and then you call us anti-semitic (why not call us anti-arab too? without sounding mean) and there, you are wrong. Tell me, if the Jews were in the place of the Popes and the Catholics were in their place and Italy was under the power not of the Pope or the government of Italy but of the Jews. Not simply ethnic Jews but Jews who patterned their government on their religion and lets say also that the Catholic religion is not the true one but the Jewish one is. Would they allow Catholics to be free and still influence their Jewish society? Would they burn books such as the Bible with it’s ‘supposedly’ anti-semitic rants (as opposed to the obvious anti-Christian ones of the Talmud), would they leave false converts to Judaism alone as if they didn’t exist and would they still burn heretics?

Just grab all that and more and compare it to modern day Israel. Talk about hypocrisy when Zionist apologists with all their false sensitivity* accuse the Catholic Church for being anti-semitic and a tyranny in regards the Jews while doing even worse things in their own country. There is nothing wrong with Jews having their own state but that can’t gloss over the atrocities committed in Israel. Palestinians are mistreated, they are made to live in conditions similar to those of the apartheid, Jews are given more resources then them, etc…

Note that I said resources. It is understandable for Jews to have more privileges then Palestinians because they do want to keep their society, well, Jewish. But these privileges should be political privileges, not life related privileges. Jews under the Pope didn’t have alot of political rights but that doesn’t mean that they weren’t provided with resources and all that. There are other things that can be said but I will stop here. Just do some research chosenpeople and check unbiased sources.

*I say this in regards to some, as other Zionists and alto of staunch Jews are honest and straightforward in their beliefs, without pretension or rituals. In fact, alot of the most accurate information I gathered came from the Jewish and Catholic encyclopedias, wikipedia and other unbiased sources.