Repudiation of Anti-Semitism

This is a burden on my heart which need to write. One of the things I find to be loathsome on this planet is the grievous sin of anti-Semitism.

Let's clear the air shall we? Coming from unbelievers it is bad, no question about that, but to come from those who claim to be followers of Jesus, I find to be even more reprehensible.

While from a Christian standpoint, both Jew and Gentile are spiritually blind and it is the case and without Christ they shall remain in darkness, This isn't a licence to harbour hatred towards them.

Anti Semitism in the NT?
As most who have followed my blog may be aware, I had responded to Uri Yosef on whether the NT puts forth an anti-Semitic agenda and it was demonstrated he had taken the verses he cited out of their original context. While he quotes scholars in his paper, most I haven't even heard of, not to mention his claim that Catholic and Lutheran lectionaries have anti-Semitic undertones, despite his failure to actually provide a quotation in his paper.

I would encourage people to look at my articles on this subject and judge for yourself. They can be found in this archive: http://answering-judaism.blogspot.co.uk/2013_12_01_archive.html

Anti-Semitism in Church Fathers
While this issue I would need to look into to see if this was the case, Let's for arguments sake grant that they were. Does that mean they were RIGHT in their hatred towards the Jews? No. I have come across people who dismiss the church fathers because of this anti-Semitism. While the church fathers said good things with respect to the Deity of Christ and the Trinity, this wouldn't justify their anti-Semitism. Take the church fathers with a pinch of salt and evaluate their writings in the same way we evaluate modern writers.

Let's grant for argument's sake this time they were not anti-Semitic, Did they have a problem the Jews inherently, or did they have a problem with Judaism's theology? That is also another issue to look into.

Jesus was not a Jew?
One claim that I find astonishing among professing Christians is Jesus was not a Jew. Firstly, what do you mean? He was born a Jewish woman, raised in a Jewish family, worshipped the Father like a Jew, kept the feasts a Jew etc. This idea that Jesus was not a Jew makes NO sense. If you are trying to say he was a Jew but simply not a Pharisaic one, I can understand the point, but if you are denying he is a Jew period, then I believe there is something wrong. Jesus of Nazareth came into this world as a Jew, died and rose again as one. He is still the God-Man in the book of Revelation and even says the following Revelation 22:16:
"16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you[a] this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”"

This should be a clear testimony to Christians that Jesus is a Jew, it's good enough to convince me and other Christians. Biblically Jesus has not ceased being man as mentioned before and he'll remain the God-Man eternally, hence he is a Jew eternally by virtue of being a human being. Let us not forget David himself was Jewish. How can any person who claims to be a Christian look at me in the eye with a straight face and claim Jesus was not a Jew?

Hatred towards Jews
One commonly abused text in the book of Revelation is often appealed to not in it's context but in the context of just attacking Jews in a nasty manner, let's read the context.

"Revelation 3:7 “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:

These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. 8 I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. 10 Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.

11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 12 The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. 13 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches."

Let's note who the speaker is, it's Jesus. Take note of what I have underlined, He is talking about a group of Jews. Remember in the early centuries of Christianity, the congregations would of comprised JEWS AND GENTILES. There is no question that the NT was written mostly to a Gentile audience, but specific books such as Matthew and Hebrews would been geared towards Jewish readers, Hebrews in particular was written as an encouragement to the Jews to hold fast to the New Covenant. Jesus is speaking of in Revelation 3:7 about unbelieving Jews, not all.

Regardless, the text gives NO justification to holding Jews in contempt as people. For that matter, in Galatians 3, we read:

"23 Before the coming of this faith,[j] we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. 24 So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.

26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise."

The Jews and Gentiles who come to faith in Christ have equal access to God and are one in Christ as to their salvation, Paul isn't saying that these groups fade out of existence because of Christ but rather these groups can come to Christ and there is no such distinction between them with respect to their relationship with Jesus Christ.

Although Rabbinic Jews do not believe in Jesus and deny him as Messiah, NO Christian has a licence to incite hateful bigotry towards them. The world already hates the Jews as it is, since Satan himself detests the Jews, because of the fact the Messiah of the Jews would crush his head and bring upon him swift destruction. Salvation is of the Jews as Jesus states in John 4, so if you think about it, If the salvation of the human race is brought by the Messiah who comes from the Jews, is it any surprise that the world has a disdain for Jews? The world loves darkness and hates light and Jesus said he was the true light, not mention even in Rabbinic Judaism, they believe Israel was to be a light to the nations.

The Jews have already had enough hell from so called Christians who murdered them in cold blood, why do they need verbal insult? Again, it's one thing to say that unbelievers have spiritual blindness, but it's another thing to just harbour bitterness towards towards them and speak of them in a contemptible manner.

The Jews are people just as are Gentiles, not a second class of citizens. I believe there have been HORRIBLE abuses of Revelation 3:7 alone would of caused severe damage.

It is not just abuses of biblical text as justification of Jew-hatred, but what about irrational hatred of Jews that is built into one's mind? What justification is there to hate Jews just for the sake of hating them? There is none.

Denial of the Holocaust
I am going to be blunt and honest here, In my opinion, those who deny the Holocaust ever happened, are truly vile individuals. Why sweep the destruction of 6 million Jews under the carpet and deny it happened? It wasn't Jews that just died I know, there were other groups, but deny that this event from ever taking place is truly a most heinous and deplorable decision that is concocted in sick minds.

YHWH isn't God?
Some so called Christians have gone as far as saying that YHWH is not even the God of the Christians but only of the Jews, or rather they say the God of the TANAKH and the God of the NT are different Gods. There are people like that today and I have encountered such an individual on Paltalk. The individual wouldn't listen to reason and ignored what I had said to him. He and individuals like him subscribe to an ancient heresy in the early church called Marcionism. Marcion completely denied the TANAKH as the word of God and held only to Luke and Paul's letters. He also saw the God of the TANAKH as evil and cruel whereas the God of the NT was kind and loving. We don't have Marcion's writings preserved, but quotations from his opponents make it possible for us to reconstruct most of what he said.

Let me be blunt and honest, If Marcion was right, Christianity is false, that is the outcome if Marcion was correct. The usage of Deuteronomy 13 would apply to us Christians rightly if this is the case:

"13 [a]If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, 2 and if the sign or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” 3 you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him. 5 That prophet or dreamer must be put to death for inciting rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. That prophet or dreamer tried to turn you from the way the Lord your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you."

If Jesus Christ came to proclaim a different God to the one found within the confines of the TANAKH, He would be a false prophet condemned to die and rightly so and the Jews will have a reason to quote this text to show Christianity to be in the wrong. However, the apostles would of rejected Marcion's false distinctions and heresies, as they themselves held to the TANAKH as the Word of God, which Marcion clearly did not.

Take into consideration that Paul himself and the other apostles and ultimately Jesus Christ went to the TANAKH and quote it copiously in their writings, especially from the book of Isaiah. Marcion would probably dismiss this and try to conjure up some poor excuse to get around this fact. Not only this when Paul spoke to Timothy, he tells him this:

"2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,"

In the context, Paul is referring to the TANAKH as the God-breathed scripture, something which refutes Marcionism. Even though it can be extended in principle to the NT and of course the NT is regarded as holy scripture as the TANAKH by Biblical Christians, This wouldn't prove Marcion's theology to be true, it would only falsify him further.

To be fair there are those who don't understand that God has two sides, Judgement and Mercy, and those people may have a misunderstanding and need to be taught correctly. However, those so called Christians who KNOW that the TANAKH's God and the NT's God are the same, but reject the truth, they are definitely in big trouble.

Conclusion
In light of I have written, I would ask one to think about these issues, even those who know me on Paltalk as a regular acquaintance. Consider the following question, Should you harbour hatred to the Jews in your heart?

I leave you with this message and for you to decide. May YHWH give you the grace to decide rightly.

Answering Judaism.