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[Order Robert Spencer’s new book, ‘Antisemitism: History & Myth’: HERE.]
As Antisemitism: History and Myth shows in detail, Christian antisemitism has a long and shameful history. Yet at the same time, Christianity is alone among the four major sources of present-day antisemitism (the others are Islam, National Socialism, and international socialism) in having rejected antisemitism on a large scale.
This rejection goes back farther than many people realize. Remarkably, in 1566, the Catechism of the Council of Trentstruck a massive blow against Catholic antisemitism by denying its central claim, that Jews collectively bore the guilt for Christ’s death. Christ, it explained, died even for the Jews themselves: he“not only suffered for sinners, but even for those who were the very authors and ministers of all the torments He endured.” As he died to redeem mankind from sin, the guilt for his death was something that all sinners shared: “In this guilt are involved all those who fall frequently into sin; for, as our sins consigned Christ the Lord to the death of the cross.”
In fact, Christians bore even greater guilt than the Jews, because they had the benefit of knowing the fullness of the divine plan: “This guilt seems more enormous in us than in the Jews, since according to the testimony of the same apostle: If they had known it, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory; while we, on the contrary, professing to know Him, yet denying Him by our actions, seem in some sort to lay violent hands on Him.” Nor could the guilt for his death be laid at the feet of the Jews even if Christ had been an ordinary man whose death had no greater significance than the death of any other man, for “men of all ranks and conditions were gathered together against the Lord, and against His Christ. Gentiles and Jews were the advisers, the authors, the ministers of His Passion: Judas betrayed Him, Peter denied Him, all the rest deserted Him.”
Yet this striking statement had little effect on popular attitudes. The two attitudes — hostility to the Jews for killing Christ and charity toward them in recognition that the “guilt seems more enormous in us than in the Jews” — would continue.
By the late nineteenth century, Catholic antisemitism was alive and well in the Vatican’s two major publications, the daily newspaper L’Osservatore Romano and the biweekly La Civiltà Cattolica. In 1880, La Civiltà Cattolica urged governments to place restrictions on the rights of the Jews, calling for“exceptional laws for a race that is so exceptionally and profoundly perverse.” Eighteen years later, L’Osservatore Romano appeared nostalgic for the days when European countries were expelling the Jews en masse, warning that they“cannot and must not live among others as any other people in the world…do.”
The ambiguity of the Roman Catholic Church’s stance toward the Jews was summed up in the mid-twentieth century figure of Eugenio Pacelli, Pope Pius XII (1939-58), whom some revere for saving thousands of Jews from the National Socialists, and whom others revile for not doing enough and even, they contend, silently approving of the Germans’ genocidal activities.
Pacelli and the National Socialist regime even negotiated an agreement, officially called the “Concordat between the Holy See and the German Reich.” In his capacity as Cardinal Secretary of State, Pacelli signed this agreement in July 1933. While it lessened the National Socialists’ hostility to the Roman Catholic Church, as Catholic leaders had hoped it would do, it also restrained the Church from speaking out against Hitler’s race theories and hatred of the Jews.
Despite the Church’s Concordat with the National Socialist German Reich, in 1937, Pius XII’s predecessor, Pope Pius XI,took the unusual step of issuing an encyclical letter in German rather than the customary Latin. Entitled Mit Brennender Sorge (With Burning Sorrow), the encyclical was a strong condemnation of National Socialist antisemitism, declaring: “Whoever exalts race, or the people, or the State, or a particular form of State, or the depositories of power, or any other fundamental value of the human community—however necessary and honorable be their function in worldly things—whoever raises these notions above their standard value and divinizes them to an idolatrous level, distorts and perverts an order of the world planned and created by God; he is far from the true faith in God and from the concept of life which that faith upholds.”
The National Socialists were furious, forbade distribution of the encyclical in Germany, and even claimed that Pius XI was half-Jewish. Yet although it bore his name, Pius XI was not actually the author of Mit Brennender Sorge; it was the work of Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, the paradoxical future Pope Pius XII.
Mit Brennender Sorge, for all its ringing words against the idolatry of race and blood, had no effect on National Socialist antisemitism. Yet there wouldn’t have been as many National Socialists in Germany had it not been for centuries of Christian antisemitism that ensured that Hitler’s scapegoating and demonizing of the Jews would find a receptive audience. There were no doubt numerous professing Christians who took part in various ways in the Holocaust, and the Christians who objected to the treatment of the Jews in National Socialist Germany were few.
The horrors of the Holocaust moved the Roman Catholic Church to repudiate the fundamental basis for Christian antisemitism once again. The Second Vatican Council, which the Roman Catholic Church holds to be the twenty-first ecumenical council, reiterated the Catechism of the Council of Trent’s rejection ofthe idea that the Jews bore collective guilt for the crucifixion of Christ:
True, the Jewish authorities and those who followed their lead pressed for the death of Christ; still, what happened in His passion cannot be charged against all the Jews, without distinction, then alive, nor against the Jews of today. Although the Church is the new people of God, the Jews should not be presented as rejected or accursed by God, as if this followed from the Holy Scriptures.
Furthermore, in her rejection of every persecution against any man, the Church, mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews and moved not by political reasons but by the Gospel’s spiritual love, decries hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone.
This Vatican II statement heralded a new era in relations between the Catholic Church and the Jews. In 2000, Pope John Paul II issued an appeal to the Jews for reconciliation: “We hope that the Jewish people will acknowledge that the Church utterly condemns anti-Semitism and every form of racism as being altogether opposed to the principles of Christianity. We must work together to build a future in which there will be no more anti-Judaism among Christians or anti-Christian sentiment among Jews.” His successor, Pope Benedict XVI, in 2005 sent greetings to the Church’s “brothers and sisters of the Jewish people, to whom we are joined by a great spiritual heritage, rooted in God’s irrevocable promises.”
At Easter 2025, Christian antisemitism is resurgent. Christians would do well to revisit the reasons why these Christian authorities so firmly rejected it.
“what happened in His passion cannot be charged against all the Jews, without distinction, then alive, nor against the Jews of today.”
And yet all of mankind is guilty of Original Sin and in need of salvation for Adam and Eve’s sin against God? The irrational inconsistencies of religion are an amazing pretzel logic to behold.
Why would Christians NOT hold all Jews guilty for the death of Jesus if they’ve already been taught that they are all guilty of Original Sin?
“Consistency is a requirement of reason, not of faith.” – Ayn Rand
“Consistency is a requirement of reason, not of faith.” – Ayn Rand. Whoa….deep dude. Have no idea what that means and ultimately I don’t care.
The garbage you spend your time ruminating about is just astounding. It is no wonder you see yourself as an intellectual. But you are a lousy intellectual in practice, because we all know what you are going to say before you say it.
So we are not surprised. Simply bored by it for the one millionth time. Here’s something you can think about. How about the weekly slaughter of Christians at the hands of Islamist Boko Haram in Nigeria.
The Muslims always seem to have the weapons. The Christians don’t. Funny that, considering weapons are so hard to get in that s-hole country. Maybe the new pope will stop playing footsie with the Muslims and actually help the Christians. Islam loving Francis was useless.
Popes used to actually do that sort of thing 600 years ago, you know raising armies and going to war with Christs enemies on earth.
Your question doesn’t make sense…
Because we are all guilty of sin… we should hold all the Jews guilty of killing Jesus? What?
THX, You ARE being logical, and perhaps Mr. Spencer could have been more precise.
What happened at Christ’s death MUST be charged against all of us, including the Jews, both believing and unbelieving, including Christians and Hindus and Muslims and Buddhists and atheists. EVERYONE has culpability nailing the LORD to His cross. This is because Christ died for every one of us and not one of us is without offense before the LORD.
My husband is thoroughly absorbed in your book, Antisemitism: History & Myth. I do not understand why people who research religions and learn of the abuses of the catholic church remain in her.
It’s rather basic in my view: To be a force for good, and against those who would pervert its core principles. Never mind Europe, Asia, or Africa for the moment, just consider all the U.S. institutions (and political organizations) that have had a history of anti-Semitism (some of which practice it to this day). We can fight it from the inside or fight it from the outside, but fight it we must so that those who come after us do not have to endure this evil.
The search for the perfect church is fruitless because it is composed of sinners. Even redeemed sinners are sinners. Any church organization claiming its manifestation on earth is the “one true church” makes a false claim. The church is not a building or province belonging to one denomination. Read our LORD’s words in John 4, when the Samaritan woman asks Jesus about worship:
20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you people [Jews] say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.”
21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.
22 You [Samaritans] worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.
23 But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.
24 God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
25 The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when He comes, He will declare all things to us.”
26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”
So the Church universal exists on earth in the body of believers, in every soul saved by grace, through faith. There will always be tares among the wheat, but God knows those who are His own, and those of us who have His Spirit can often discern the same in others – and that is the true Church.
According to that Jesus guy who the jews say is boiling in shit, the only way to the father is through him. So if he isn’t lying all jews after the days of Christ who don’t bend the knee are doomed as are the fools who bend the knee to the pedo popes.
Most who read your comment ain’t gonna understand what you’re saying…
Yes… the Talmud says some nasty things… it is satanic…
I’ve met some Jews who are just as nasty and pompous as the day is long… but met other Jews who were nice and kind…
Likewise… we have a lot of Christians that are mean and cruel to Jews… while others have no idea why they support them… because of their Christian Leaders say so…
Paul in the New Testament book of Thessalonians says that the Jews killed Jesus and the Prophets..
Is it any wonder why Christians have thought unkindly to Jews over the centuries?
Of course… nowadays Jewish Hatred has taken a new course… with satanic islam at the helm…
…
Will the Jews be “doomed”? I hope not… they do worship the One True God…
The satanic catholic fake church does not represent Christianity…
satanic catholicism was built upon lies from the very beginning… changing the wording in ancient documents…
From “Church of God” to “Universal Church”…
Thus… Universal in Greek is catholic…
All lies… catholicism is satanic…
Today’s Jewish hatred isn’t because Jews killed Jesus…
It’s because… they are duped to believe the Jews are out to take over the world… and the events unfolding in Gaza are feeding this belief…
Propaganda by satanic islam…
I’ve had death threats from Neo-Nazi’s, Skin Heads and such… telling them how duped they are…
Does anyone here the foggiest clue on what’s going on with Israel and the Jews in this world?
Are the Jews out to take over the world? Who can answer that? Who dares answer that?
Should Israel be given back to satanic islam? As many Jews think?
And why do they think that?
Can we have a real discussion?
Who are the Jews that belong to the synagogue of satan? All the Jews? Just the Talmud believers?
Ever heard of such a statement?
Can anyone refute what’s being said around the world about Jews?
Do you even care?
Or… are you simple minded and believe the Easter, candy, baskets, Bunnies and Easter Eggs are just innocent things about the Death & Resurrection?
Ugh…
First of all, the death of Christ was prophesied in Isaiah 53, Psalm 22 and in Isaiah. No need to blame anyone for a prophecy that was planned and fulfilled by God.
I never understood why the Catholic Church was antisemitic. If you read the covenants to Israel, you would realize that they have a great future in and through the end of time. I had Catholic friends who continually ran down the Jews. I never understood why.
Secondly, I have many Christian friends who have nothing but love for Israel. The difference is that my friends are very familiar with the entire Bible. Any pastor or priest who encourages antisemitism, is not representing God. Those who are ignorant of the doctrines of the Bible continually make misguided statements.
Finally, there are sects in Christendom who never read or understand the Bible, but they fall under the delusion of charismatic leaders. They perpetuate false doctrines about Israel. God loves Israel and He loves Christians and gentiles. We don’t need antisemitism clothed in Christianity.
I studied in Israel, and I fell in love with the Jewish people and that beautiful country. I know there are some Hasidic Jews who don’t like Christians but that wasn’t and issue with me. Hatred is a parasite that needs a host. Everyone is vulnerable to the vile hatred of others.
The earliest attempt to demonize and delegitimize the Jewish people from their land started with the Church. The fiction of “occupation,” was first conceived between the 2nd and 4th Centuries C.E., from the writings and preachings of the early Church Fathers; like Origen of Alexandria (182–254 C.E.), and John Chrysostom (349-407CE); and many others. They established the erroneous teaching of replacement theology, also known as supersessionism which states: 1) The Jews should be charged with deicide and forever should be mistreated accordingly; and 2) The Church has replaced Israel, that all of the prophecies and covenants (i.e., Gen. 12:1-2,7; Gen. 15:18-21; Gen. 17:7; Psalm 105:1, 8-11; etc.) concerning the Jewish people are now applied to the Church; and God has no future purpose for the Jews; as they are in league with the Satan, forming a conspiratorial body bent on ruining and dominating the rest of mankind. All subsequent anti-Semitic conspiracies have their genesis in this very doctrine of supersessionism. The big problem here is that nowhere in the Bible does it say that God has replaced and disowned the Jewish people. The church never was promised a land, never occupied a land, never was cast out of that land for her sin, never was promised that she would be brought back into it. The Church is not Israel. And, yes, modern day Israel is biblical Israel.
This erroneous teaching has undergone a renaissance in recent years through several ‘Palestinian’ Christian NGO’s; such as Naim Ateek’s Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center; The Kairos Palestine Document, and Munther Isaac’s “Christ at the Checkpoint” biannual hatefest conferences. All seek to advance the fiction of a Palestinian nationalist agenda within Evangelical Christian churches, while simultaneously reviving theological anti-Semitic themes complete with deicide imagery, and supercessionist rhetoric used to demonize and delegitimize Israel and Judaism. Curiously, there are many churches in the U.S. such as the Presbyterian Church (USA), United Church of Christ, United Methodist Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and others who are allied with this movement to demonize and delegitimize Israel as a Jewish state. People, who you think, would and should have the moral clarity, courage, and integrity to stand with Israel and condemn Hamas, do not. The church leaders and pastors of these large denominations are moral cowards, and anti-Semites.