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Truth forever on the scaffold,Wrong forever on the throne,Yet that scaffold sways the future,and, behind the dim unknown,Standeth God within the shadow,keeping watch above his own.

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“Liberalists & Jews” –Abraham Kuyper(English Translation from a Dutch 1878Theological Journal)December 1, 2014 in Ethnic considerations, Uncategorized with 5 Comments

Liberalists and Jews

– Dr A Kuijper (Reprinted from ‘De Standaard’) Amsterdam, JH Kruijt, 1878

(Translation by Dr. Jann Schlebusch)

FOREWORD

This article was compiled for the simple public readers of ‘De Standaard’ and therefore does not inthe least claim to be a study with a scientific character. The reason for this study is the untrue andeven thoroughly false presentation by some of the bigger newspapers, but especially by the provincialpress, about the matters discussed in this article. Almost without exception it seems that these articlespromote a movement where Christian hate against the Jews is encouraged and furthermore they keepbothering with their civil rights. Against this defaming attitude of the liberalist­Jewish press, thisarticle presents a singular, but also a sufficient argument. Also the public that do not read the ‘DeStandaard’, will now be able to judge for themselves the dreadful state of the ‘love for truth’ in manyorgans of public opinion.

In fact, what is clear from these articles is: that we said nothing against the Jews, but we had it againstthe degenerate Christians; that we reject the unkind way many Christians speak about the Jews; andthat we would resist any impounding of the rights Jews may have title to. There is furthermore noreason for the author to speak unkindly of the Jews, because, since childhood he was privileged toenjoy the company of outstanding Jewish families, whose excellent qualities he learned to appreciate,

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and he would be most ungrateful to speak unkindly in public about people who were so kind towardshim in private.

LIBERALISTS AND JEWS

CHAPTER I

Increasingly the attention of public opinion is drawn to the unbelievable influence of the Jews on thedestiny of Europe. We are discovering that, under the cloak of Liberalism, the Jews in fact havebecame lord and master in our part of the world, and they control, not only the public opinion in mostcountries, but also the international relations between the governments. Our eyes are opening to thefact that the course of events and even the development of church life and of community life, in asurprising way, can be explained by the Jewish influence – if we are prepared to open our eyes. Andthe most painful – we cannot deny the truth – is the unwillingness of our people to rectify thisirregularity. In fact, our people consider it unthinkable.

There is a natural reason why this important truth has not surfaced earlier in the public consciousnessof our time. Our people shies away from a new combat against the Jews: ‘We Christians have sinnedtoo greatly against the Jews in the early ages. For too long the Jews were the pariah’s of Europe andwere their rights and humanity trampled upon by ‘volk’[1] and rulers. Only with the Reformationcame a change in attitude for the good. Our (the Dutch’s) hospitable rulers gave the Jew a place to livea respectable life, where he could live his peculiar life, socially and religiously, with honor. Even thenthe Jews were bound to exceptional regulations according to their exceptional situation. Untileventually the French revolution eradicated all discrimination and brought unconditional equalitybetween the circumcised and the baptized.

Deeply ashamed of their own earlier unrighteousness, the Christians applauded the meaningful fruit ofthe French Revolution as one of its most excellent consequences. Because of their feeling of guilt,they missed the moral agility of an unchained, independent judgment with which only the goodconscience of the man of character is blessed. The result was the total emancipation of the Jews. Notaccording to the principles of the Gospel, but according to principles directly opposed to the principlesof the Gospel.

Once these principles are accepted, the Liberalists force the issue to the extent that an unhealthyadmiration of Jews becomes acceptable in the more civilized circles of Europe. And in compliancewith the law of logic, which expels all germs from every ideology, it finally brought us in thedefenseless position where every word spoken about Jews, other than praise, is criticized as treasonagainst the holy cause of civilization and progress.And so, unnoticed, the Jew who previously were outside the law, now became above the law; and nomore criticism of Jews exist anymore; and the Jewish element were able to continue their agendaunhindered and unpunished – safely behind the impregnable shield of historical injustice.

And even more notable: while the Jewish rule over Europe extends itself unhindered, more and moreevery year, and every resistance against it seems to be paralyzed – the spiritual awakening of theProtestant Christians works powerfully towards the same result. After all, from the awakening arise azeal for mission­work and an increased interest in the ‘latter days’. The zeal for mission­work theninitiated the Jewish mission which was driven by the English, Scottish and American Christians withnotable financial sacrifices. Christian man understood that it would be immoral and incomplete toemancipate the Jews without preaching the gospel of Jesus to them. They felt guilty because of thepast. They wanted to make up for the neglect of the previous lukewarm attitude. And so the goldflows into the offer­chest, Hebrew letters are introduced into the printing press and groups of livelyand gifted men are formed to once more resound the ancient call among Israel: “Repent ye: for thekingdom of heaven is at hand.”

This brought about that thousands started speaking of the ‘poor Jew’ with none other than compassion

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and unlimited confidence and because the proverb is true that ‘he who receives your money, alsodraws your love’, the endless collections for the cause of Jewish conversion, was an infallible meansto ensure a widely accepted kind­hardheartedness which refused to hear anything but good about anyJew. And of almost similar extent is the eschatological course on which Christianity embarked thepast few decades. The premonition is that a forceful catastrophe is awaiting and it is self evident thatthis catastrophe might well be linked to the terrible events which Jesus and His apostles announced inthe New Testament.

The early church, Roman as well as Reformed, undoubtedly dealt too superficially and lightly withthe teaching of the last days. Besides, the absence of good and solid theology about the fundamentalteachings, urges many freer spirits in this ‘high Alpine land’ with its indefinite confines, to wanderabout to their heart’s content. We particularly shouldn’t forget that if many scatter about concerningother Biblical teachings, a combined exploration on this floating and infirm terrain is a certainpossibility.

It is self­evident that this study of the eschatology, which occupies the spirit with the teaching of thelatter days, would not have found this momentum, if the meaning of Israel as ‘volk’ was not broughtto the attention of our generation again. Consequently, the attitude of charitablity, rather than mereappreciation towards the Jewish element, which already was prevalent amongst us, was given evenmore encouragement.

And finally add to all this the incalculable influence which a single convert like Da Costa with hisSemitic glow had on the attitude of our ‘volk’ towards the Jews; just think how differently we startedviewing the Jews since we offered a hearing ear and loving heart to such an Israelite; yes, when wecalculate how the orthodox confession of this baptized Israelite gave whole groups of Christians thecourage to rethink their own confession – then we are less amazed at how the Jewish element was ableto organize itself so powerfully against us, without Christian Europe suspecting anything other fromthe Jew than what is lovely and well­sounding.

CHAPTER II

Nowhere in history is there another example where such a powerful influence was exerted by such asmall group, than the contemporary Jews, which increasingly astonishes everyone who study thisphenomenon. Of the 6 – 7 million Jews (some say 10 ­12) living in the world according to the bestsources, only three and a half million live in Europe and even they are widely dispersed among themore than hundred times bigger population – consequently about 1%. And this 1% is distributed suchthat by far the most of them live in countries which do not have much influence on the bigger picture,namely Poland and Austria.

Of the three and a half million Jews, a good two and a half million live in Russia (Poland) andAustria. Consequently the real brunt of the social and political domination of Europe, more preciselyand closely viewed, is not brought about by three and a half million, but by only one million sons ofthis Semitic nation. Most of these live in Prussia (250 000); Germany (200 000) and France (110 000),while among the smaller countries our own country (Netherlands) has the biggest contingent.Conversely, in England and Italy, and also in Switzerland and Belgium, their percentage is socompletely insignificant that they compose one per thousand or even per three thousand of thepopulation at the most. And yet, this insignificant group to the point of almost being extinct sets thetone in Europe; is master of the political terrain; governs the development of general perceptions; andhas the fate of Europe in their hand. We still remember the story that was told amongst us for a shortwhile: There once was a stranger who sought legal help. He asked for a lawyer, so the hotel ownergave him the address of a Jew. The lawyer sent him to an attorney, which also was a Jew. Theattorney helped him to contact the court officer – another Jew. In the corridor he walked past thejudge, which he saw by their clothes that he was surrounded by his Jewish family. When he came tothe magistrate, he had the honour of speaking to another Jew. And eventually, in The Hague, heappealed to the minister of Justice.[2] When he got there, he was received by the Jewish secretary

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who arranged a meeting with the Jewish minister of Justice: one ‘Godefroy’! Was it any wonder thatthe astonished stranger, after this judicial adventure, asked his best Dutch acquaintances: “Has thewhole Justice department gone into the hands of Jews?”

Although this most probably is an exaggeration and dramatization of the facts, it is basically noneother than a good comparison of an alarming reality, which even more than in public office, is trueabout the media and the stock exchange. The printing press in the whole of Europe, in as far they asservants of the Revolution – be it in the liberalist or conservative direction – became the ‘privateyacht’ of the Jews. In Vienna, as in Berlin; as well as in Frankfurt and in Hamburg; and Cologne andParis alike, the most influential newspapers are in their hands. And as far as our own country isconcerned, you merely have to trace the history of our biggest newspapers, the Dagblad included, andyou will discover that also at home Jewish energy is solely in the driving seat. And not only is theeditorship of these papers, here and in the other countries under direct Jewish leadership, but also thecorps reporters, the correspondence bureau, political correspondents, etc. are, as far as it concerns thisinfluential press, almost exclusively in Jewish hands. In almost all the parliaments of Europe they arethe ones who record the speeches; take the photographs; and by their analysis quickly summarize theimpressions which will prevail in the land according to their wishes. Furthermore, because the Jewsare in the driving seat of this mighty vehicle, they also control the publication of books and thereforethe communicating of facts etc. to the extent that there are almost no competition. If you consider this,you will be able to form a picture of the message: The huge press of Europe is a monopoly in theirhands!

By this they have it in their power to place every event and occurrence in the light (perspective) theydesire; to conceal what doesn’t suit them and to write up what they like. In short, to play with lightand darkness until the ensemble leaves the impression that satisfies them. Thus, in the second half ofAugust (1878) one could read in all the foreign newspapers about “the masterful report of our localminister Kappeyne who made an undisputed end to the ‘Muckers’ and ‘Rijckschrittlers’[3], while onthe other hand, not a word is spoken about the result of our petition. Now, everyone here, even inliberalist circles knows that a petition seldom succeeds as surprisingly as our ‘Smeekschrift’ (petition)did and conversely that seldom is there so much opposition against a government report as wasagainst Kappayne’s. But of course the local Jewish correspondents know, that by their obligingpainting and officiating writing they can create a depiction on the canvas for the whole of Europe, notof the reality, but of the fantasy of the imaginative reporters. And this concerns only a passing event ina small area. But the same system of falsification of facts and of the public opinion was also forexample systematically conveyed in the press analysis of the recent events in Russia.

Such is the day to day working of this well­disciplined close­knit phalanx[4] on the public opinion; bytheir reports on the parliaments; and again on the cabinets, and eventually on the fate of all of Europe.This therefore has the result that the Jews, by this vehicle of the mighty press, prepare the onlyintellectual bread which thousands upon thousands consume and especially in all circles where thenewspaper is the only reading­matter. They have the forming of commonly accepted concepts in theirpower and therefore they are also able to cultivate the people’s spiritual mind and heart according totheir liking. Now, combine this immeasurable influence of the Jewish press with the magnificentfiscal power with which the Jewish bankers play a leading role at the stock exchanges. The nameRothschild has only to be mentioned, to enlighten the picture of this second mighty fact for anyonewho studies this phenomenon. Because indeed, in London and Paris; in Frankfurt and Vienna as wellas in Berlin, the millions and billions of the European assets are chained up in the Jewish banks insuch a perplexing way, that these few Jewish firms, with their broad following of smaller banks andoffices are able to manipulate the economic base to their every whim. In fact it is certain that no bigloan will be given in Europe if the Jewish bankers oppose it; and also they have the power to let theexchange rate of any currency rise or fall according to their command.

Now, everyone knows that a country has to borrow money to make war. Therefore it is not difficult tosee how deeply enslaved the cabinets of Europe are to the Jewish bankers to avoid being destroyed in

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the moment of impending danger. Compounding to this, no­one can deny that the liberalist handlingof the state finances and the approaching Caesarism has sent all of Europe’s budgets into turmoil.With this in mind you can imagine the pressure that the Jewish bankers exert on the monarchs and thecabinets with the eye on a huge deficit or a looming bankruptcy. If these two factors were not enoughto make the Jews almost all­powerful, it is further entrenched in a concrete way by the talents of theircoryphées[5] as well as a substantial part of Christianity’s relapse into heathendom. About both ofthese last two factors we will elaborate in a following article. I will only mention about the first, thatthe Jewish families in comparison produce a very substantial percentage of exceptionally capable,talented men in every facet of science and arts[6]. As lawyers the Jews are well sought after;increasingly more Jews become surgeons; at our universities they take up more and more lectureships;and the names of D’Israeli, of Gambetta, of Lasker and so many others has only to be mentioned tovisualise the far­reaching influence they reached on the political terrain.

Chapter III

We do not hesitate for a moment to credit a significant share of the unequal influence of the Jews totheir peculiarity and talents. A Jew is different from a Caucasian. That is immediately evident fromtheir build (frame); from their gait; from the forming of their vocal organs; from their profile; andfrom their complexion. And because we cannot deny the strong cohesion between body and soul, itfollows that the Jews’ frame of mind, thinking and worldview results in different perceptions and thatthey go about their work differently than us. The crucial difference in personality consequentlyexplains the very prominent dissimilarity between Jew and Christian which everybody notices at firstglance. Notice in their bearing and clothing; in their glance and tone; in their housing and food; intheir sympathies and antipathies; in their choice of occupation and of recreation. Even in lifeexpectancy the Jews differ from the rest of the Europeans. They make up a disproportionate largepercentage of our grey haired men and women.

And the contrast between Jew and non­Jew is not a passing phenomenon, because after eighteencenturies among all other ‘volke’, it is still evident, almost undiluted in its original severity.Everywhere the Jew, both in body and soul, that is, in his whole personality and appearance, trulyremained Jew. In all countries the Jew assembles with his tribesmen as a particular caste. Even wherethey abandoned their particular customs, the Jews remained a ‘volk’ in a much stricter sense than anyof the European ‘volke’ ever was. At the read of Revelation, it doesn’t seem strange. Indeed we knowthat the origin of Israel lies in a wondrous creation­deed of God[7]; that God set apart this ‘volk’ fromthe other ‘volke’ in a very special way to be His own; and that Israel’s calling did not end with thedestruction of Jerusalem at all.[8] Indeed, from all that we read about Israel in the Holy Scriptures, wecan prophesy what we observe today. That is: a) that they will not be wiped out; b) that they willremain a ‘volk’ with exceptional spiritual gifts; and c) that, as long as they reject Christ, they willremain allies to the enemies of the Christendom.

The denial of the Jews’ superior excellence therefore is not our charge at all, and we will not speakone word in our article that even approach the unchristian­like and thorough Jewish­like contemptwith which some German circles scorn the Jews. No, on the contrary, Israel’s continued existence;Israel’s numerical expansion; Israel’s dispersion among and influence over the ‘volke’, in spite of theway they hold on to their own ‘volks’­type, is welcome and concrete evidence even more so, of thetruth of this mysterious world, in which Scripture places us and in which Israel once was the ‘volk’ tothe glory of God.

We accordingly acknowledge wholeheartedly that the Jews proportionally have a higher intellectualcapacity than the Germanic or Latin ‘volke’. Not in the sense that our best and greatest men camefrom their midst – rather the contrary is true. The Jews have produced almost no man, who remainedJewish, of foremost greatness. And even Spinoza, whom they like to mention as an example of a firstrate philosopher, could only acquire the fame with which our younger generation are taught to honorhim, through skewed depiction and artificial idolization. No, currently the Jews have few genius ofreal merit, and therefore it is the positive sciences and not the speculative sciences which draw them –

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where not genius, but quick understanding and clarity of mind are the prize features. What the Jewsdo possess in greater measure than the Christian, is the talents of the second degree. More of theirsons do study, and they mostly make a successful career. Especially at the bar everyone acknowledgestheir dominance, where ingeniousness and cunning­ness are required. In the medical field they occupyhigh and honorable positions in many of our foremost cities. Even in the less scientific fields, wherethe Jew competes with one of us, the prize all too often goes to him because of his quickerunderstanding, tougher determination and clearer insight. In short, wherever the Jew starts to competewith the Christian, we usually have to concede that we have met an opponent too tough. And yet boththe finer tuning of their spirit and their peculiar way of life are insufficient to explain theimmeasurable influence that they have acquired. Even if we add the reaction upon their pastsuppression, it would still not be sufficient to explain this. And they surely do draw vigour from theirpast suffering. Never can you suppress a part of the population or they will become stronger for it,because the suffering exercises their moral vigour. And as time passes, the stronger moral vigourbegins to bear the fruit of stronger energy, tighter cohesion and nobler courage. We currently (1878)witness this among the Roman Catholics in Germany, as well as to a certain extent locally; and thereis no reason why this firm law would not be valid as far as Israel is concerned. But even when webring this factor of Israel’s past suffering into consideration, together with their numbers, their talentsand their resilience, the Jews would still have been unable to achieve the goal to conquer Europewithout outside assistance. The indisputable victory must mainly, if not exclusively, be attributed tothe degeneration of Christianity itself who, in her return to heathendom necessarily had to passthrough the Jewish phase and when they arrived there, naturally had to succumb before theirsuperiors.

At the life­station where the Christ is rejected, but some vague godliness is still temporarily evident,the Jew is at home; that is his forte; the Jew sets the tone; and therefore it was inevitable that thedegenerate Christianity, in the period which they call “the modern theology”, had to allow the Jewishspiritual superiority to reign over them, although unintentionally. When the modern pastorsthemselves became Jews according to the spirit, it was self­evident that their spirit had to bend beforethe spirit of our present­day Jews. A Reform­Jew [9]and a Modern Pastor is one and the same thing ifclosely scrutinised – simply two varieties of the same spiritual type.

Chapter IV

When you would dare to reveal the secrets of their birth, the Liberalist­Jewish press attacks you withintense anger. The following tale of angry polemic from the pen of the editors of our capital’sforemost newspaper Handelsblad, is public evidence:

We are on the eve of the taking up of a ‘volks­petition’ against the Jews. Indeed, the latest Standaardpublished the first part of an essay with the title: Liberalists and Jews, showing “the unbelievableinfluence which the Jews exert on the fate of Europe these days.” And the paper continues to say “themost painful is the reality that our ‘volk’ does not even consider resisting this influence to return to anacceptable balance. The mistake was that the emancipation of the Jews did not happen along theprinciples of the gospel, but because of considerations directly opposed to the gospel.” Of course thepaper refers to the French Revolution. They furthermore contend that, by profound reaction to the pastsuppression the Jews “were placed above the law almost unnoticed, where they previously stoodoutside the law” and that this is advanced by the efforts and money spent to convert the Jews toChristianity, because “who receives your money also draws your love”[10].

Now we know that according to Standaard’s conviction not even the public school is based on theGospel, but is a hellish result of the revolution. Now that the attack on the public school has failed, acrusade against the Jews is presented as variation and delight for the heavy hearted. In a followingarticle we expect a petition where the Jews will be confronted with a choice to be baptised or to losetheir citizen rights namely on education; property rights; the right to collect debts; etc and in this waylose their exaggerated influence. In their third piece on this subject, we can probably expect theStandaard to follow in the footsteps of their ‘Christian’ colleague, the Wag Weekblad,[11] namely to

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propagate Jewish emigration to Palestine. These ‘Christian’ misters are indeed admirable citizens.They seemingly do everything in their power to cultivate and promote unanimity and peace in ourbeloved fatherland according to their religious doctrine.

Now we must stress that we have until now, not uttered a word to injure the honor of the Jews. On thecontrary, we blamed the Christians and we praised the Jews. And still, this polemic! A polemic whichdoesn’t respect honesty; which, because of its maliciousness lacks the tolerance to let someone elsehave a say; and which uses the newspaper to cool its enmity. All this simply because of our badfortune of not belonging to the Liberalist­Jewish family. Not so much to refute this malicious article,but rather to prove the truth of our points, we took up this noble ‘genre’­piece in our columns.

We can simply quote Esser in his Maranatha, which would serve perfectly at refuting: This is thewords of one German High Rabbi who confirm what we endeavour to convey in this series of articlesand what the Handelsblad wishes to conceal. We quote:

“These narrow­minded and short­sighted Christians,” according to the High Rabbi, “give us troubleby making off with a soul here and there, and rejoice royally when they do. They do not noticehowever, that we do mission­work too and do have better and richer results than them. We conquerone after another of their territories. It will not be long before all that are truly civilized among theChristians will need Christ no more, and will be able to manage just as well without Christ as we do.The time is coming that the great majority of Christians will return to our God­concept, ourMonotheism. The future is ours. They convert in masses and unnoticed.”

Would the editorial staff of the Handelsblad have the courage to publish these words?[12] That isdoubtful. But even if they pass this over, soon they will not be able to avoid taking notice of ouropinion about the Jews in our country. Or rather, even if they are found refusing to do this, they willonly be able to stand with honor before their readers if they mislead them. In anticipation we will onlysay this: The Liberalist­Jewish press touched on the subject of a ‘Volks’­petition. With this theyrevealed that they plan to apply the same tactics with which they destroyed the April­movement. Thisreveals that the thought of a ‘Volks’­petition troubles these misters. And we plan to continuehammering this anvil.[13] If ever something will explode in their faces, it may well be this dauntingand unforgettable national announcement.

Chapter V

Among the Jewish ‘volk’, like in any other ‘volk’ that is bound together by blood­relationship, thereare two types: the serious kind and the frisky kind. The serious kind sometimes degenerate to surlinessand by wandering from the good track, may even acquire an unholy character. Conversely, the friskymay withdraw into the intellectual and social spheres because of their decadence.[14] But, despite thevariety, the different types have a common basic intent, according to the goal they strive for, be it thislife or the afterlife.

Among the Jews of old these opposing schools of thought were called the Pharisees and Sadducees.Both were true Jewish sects which were rooted partly in the natural, and partly in the godly ‘volks’­make­up of Israel; but in this they stood firmly opposed to each other, because the Pharisee held thatthey sought nothing from this life, and everything from the hereafter, while the Sadducee pretendedthat everything was about this life and expected nothing from the afterlife. As we all know, theSadducees denied the resurrection of the dead, and thus the reality of future life; and conversely wecould argue by the same token that the present life had no meaning in the dogmatics of the Pharisee.This confirms that the Sadducee was a Pelagian and the Pharisee slighted God’s power over man.Indeed, the serious man – even the falsified earnest – desires boundaries; the frisky spirit wants to befree from all bounds. It follows that, whether you confess or deny ‘free will’ depends directly on yourseriousness with which you view life or the absence thereof. It is hardly necessary to remind even theuninformed that the Pharisees stood firm on the tradition of the ancestors at home as well as in thetemple, while the Sadducees were against these customs and rituals, and sometimes caused a menace

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in the temple because they did not respect the tradition. If you keep this in mind, you will recognizeexactly the same alliances in the orthodox Jews and the Reformed Jews.

The orthodox Jew is deeply serious, even in our time, even though the seriousness does not follow atrue course. He suffers with patience and awaits with impenetrable calm the big catastrophe whichwill prove him right and the world wrong. And for that all­encompassing vision he sacrificeseverything. Even his own financial benefit. He sternly clings to the teachings, decrees and traditionsof his fathers. His sight is not set on his own wishes, but rather on God’s purpose in his own and inother’s life. And however amiable you are towards him, he stays an outsider, dispersed amongst the‘volke’, but without ever becoming a child of those ‘volke’.

Completely different is it with the Reformed Jews. With them there is no notion of any active, visiblefear of God. They are merely Deists, i. e. they still agree that God exists, but for the rest they do nottake Him into account. Hence their strong and exaggerated pelagianism. They are the ones who doeverything themselves, and they do it because it is their own free will, and they refuse to argue fromany other viewpoint than according to their own free will. They have no consideration for a future lifeeither. They prefer to go up in this world, they strive to progress in this world, to acquire honor in thisworld, to enjoy from this world. They do not trouble themselves with the traditions of the forefathers,and sometimes there is even a false ambition to conceal that they are Jewish. They still buildsynagogues, but rather to listen to the beautiful music and fine sermons, than to be initiated into themysteries of their fathers. In short, they simply continue the old values of the Sadducees in a morestringent form. And just like the Sadducees were able to adjust to life under the foreign rule of theRomans, they now position themselves with rare pleasure in life among the Gojim. Only in twoaspects the orthodox Jews and the Reformed Jews are inseparable: in their recognition of belonging tothe same ‘volk’; and in their strident or silent animosity towards Jesus the Messiah. The first they doopenly: Orthodox Jews and Reformed Jews still have a strong relationship. Even the Reformed Jewswant to be buried in the cemetery with the Hebrew inscription; whatever the cost, they close on theSabbath; however far they degenerate, they stay members of the synagogue or they erect their ownsynagogue; whenever a Jew is honoured, they love it. When another Jew suffers grief, they feelsorrow; and where it concerns charity to the poor, they sternly discriminate between Caucasian andSemitic blood. We know that, especially in America, in England and to a certain extent in Francethere are many examples of Jews who broke with the synagogue and pass as Christians. But theseexceptions serve to prove our point, rather than to refute it, because the mass of the orthodox andReformed Jews remain one ‘volk’.

It follows that it is futile to try to replace this ‘volks’­ unity with the unity of the world­wide church.The difference between Jews and non­Jews is of total dissimilar nature than the difference betweenLutheran and Remonstrant. Only the shallowness, which our age takes pleasure in, can deceive itselfto the extent that they allow the denotation “the volk” (this is the Jews’ title of honor, because they arethe ‘volk’ par excellence) to fall into desuetude; and to place them next to Lutherans andRemonstrants as “just another denomination”.

Secondly, their shrill or silent animosity against Jesus as Messiah needs even less argumentation. Thefacts speak for themselves. They have nothing against Jesus of Nazareth. That is evident. If we couldask for a place for Jesus amongst the Rabbi’s, what would prevent them from accepting this greatname for the glory of their ‘volk’? And to acknowledge the excellent instructions on morality whichthis Rabbi brought to light from the rabbinic treasures?The orthodox Jew might still object to thisbecause this Rabbi also denounced the traditional teachings, but not the Reformed Jews who wouldchoose Jesus’ side in this and would even leave out from what Jesus has taught, anything which theydislike. Do not be surprised if you hear the assurance from Jewish pen or Jewish lips that the Rabbi ofNazareth which the modern theology portrays, is far from despised and that they rather take pride inHim and love Him. If you, o baptized in the Name of the Lord, are prepared to discard the Christ fromyour Jesus, then you will be assured of the acclamation by the Reformed Jews. But if you do not andyou come with the real Jesus; with Jesus as “Son of God”; as the One promised to the fathers; as

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Christ – indeed as Messiah; as the Messiah who their fathers hanged on a cross and killed – be assuredthat “orthodox” and “Reformed” will be forgotten, and once more Pharisee and Sadducee will beunited in their aversion of your faith. And that this is true, we see in the tormenting of the father andmother’s soul when one of their children is baptized; consider the stern and uncompromising attitudetowards mixed marriages; and the askance looks at the converted Jew if he would dare to enter theJewish quarters. Yes, ask the English and Scottish missionaries who dared to reap under thisinteresting ‘volk’ with the gospel.

It reminds us of the Jewish child who entered a Christian church in Amsterdam and stormed up thestairs of the pulpit with an uncovered knife to kill the outstanding Dr Schwartz. Of course we don’tblame the Jewish ‘volk’ as such for this attack on Dr Schwartz, just as we don’t blame the socialistsfor Hödel’s crime. But even our most zealous Jewish friend will have to admit: if the sons of Israel’shomes had only peaceful thoughts, this dreadful incident would not have happened! It is far from us,however, to blame the Jews for this, and we wholeheartedly admit that it is impossible for them totake any other stance, except if they should convert. The coming of the Christ in this world markedtheir political, social and hierarchical downfall as a sovereign ‘volk’. The confession of the Christ is infact the complete denial of all their pretentions. And the followers of Christ have over the years, byforsaking their own principles and by pressure and fulfilment, intensified rather than appeased thiscontrast.

Therefore it was inescapable that we came to the conclusion that we did, namely:

a) that the Jews take exuberant joy in Christianity’s great apostasy from the Christ in all the countriesin Europe in various forms and names; and

b) that they joined forces with these apostate Christians and that they would exert the most extremeeffort to keep powerless those Christians who have not yet deserted the Christ and sternly pushthrough the total desecration and de­Christianisation of the public domain.

Chapter VI

The apostate Christians slide down a steep slope, so that they drift ever further away, with logicalnecessity, from what was their fathers’ glory and hope. They are apostates, with all the frivolousnessand self­indulgence which characterize the apostate. Or, if you will, renegades, with all the bitternesstowards their former brothers you would see in any history book about renegades. But thisdegeneration does not happen all at once. They go through stages. At first they keep the completeform of their ancestral faith, only denying the core of the sacred mysteries. Then they proceed bybreaking down the authority of the Scriptures. Hence the decay of negation creeps up to the sacredPerson of the Redeemer. And thus, unawares, they end up with a religion, which, free from allauthority, everyone acts as to he thinks fit. Then the Station of the Jews is arrived at. By this we meanthat they have slipped and degenerated the full distance to where the Jewry was, in its bastardizedform, when God created Christianity from it. They then still confess a living God in spiritual sense,but without knowing Him by the light He revealed; and they wander on in the deception of their ownpiety, which they created in their hearts. This is the perspective of the negation of the Christendomsince about 1848. Not so much in the church, nor in the theological classroom, but in leading circleson social, literary and political terrain.

When our Constitution was written, it was not yet a period of complete godlessness, neither of humanidolization, but of a religion, interpreted according to everyone’s own opinion. This is the reason forthe Constitution’s vagueness in reference to God. Hence the theory of “Christendom rather thanreligious division”. Hence also the eventual fatal marriage between the modern theology and politicalliberalism. The modernism in our churches was the fruit of this marriage, and the later fleeing ofmany a modern pastor to the editorial rooms of the Liberalist­Jewish newspapers is merely theembodiment of the superseding assumption that the degenerate Christianity takes refuge in the tents ofIsrael for a while. But it doesn’t end here. Beneath the Christendom is Judaism. This is the first place

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where the degenerate Christian arrives. But beneath Judaism is the Heathendom. Beneath the heathenidolatry is the heathen witchcraft. And ultimately beneath all these the lewd service of thesensuousness[15] and bestiality. We already see that the “esprits forts”, the leading minds, have leftbehind the Jewish phase and do not want to hear anything of modern theology and have alreadyerected their tents on Pagan terrain.

The whole spectrum of how the intellect is idolized; and then again the imagination; and sometimesnature; and then on another trip the arts; and still another man itself – how they ingeniously choose theobject of their worship, cannot be discussed in this short scope.

This process is also according to fixed laws; and Mister De la Sausave Jr.[16] would have done well,and would have been more scientific and more interesting, if he did not try to prove that the source ofheathen idolatry is partly to be found in Christianity; but rather the reverse: that the great degenerationof the Christendom must end up there, once they pass through the Jewish phase. That the return toPaganism correlates with the old Heathen practices of witchcraft and calling of the dead[17], isalready evident in the ‘table­, dance­ and knock­spirits’[18] as well as in the significant phenomenonof Spiritualism. And the spirit from the underworld has even pulled them down to full­fledgedbestiality, not only in scandalous circles, but alas! also in the books of esteemed authors. To ourindescribable disgrace, already witnessed in our land, books of professedly scientific men circulate, inwhich the horrors of the Astartan service and the godlessness of the old Canaanite ‘volke’ are praisedas naturally ethical and service to nature.

We are therefore aware that the current triumph of the Jews is merely temporary. Once estranged fromChrist, nations who have tasted His blessings will necessarily sink infinitely deeper than Israel, who,in their present form has not known the blessings of Christ. It might even happen that the more seriousJews will eventually defend their spiritual monotheism against the Christian apostates’ idolatry ofnature and man. For some time now, we are convinced that the Jewish phase of the degeneration willnot last. It is already passing, and with the signs of decrepitude that Liberalism increasingly shows,this all­powerful Jewish influence is on its way to its end. But for the moment – and we hope thatpeople will become deeply conscious of this – the influence is still dominating and is connected withLiberalism’s party­tyranny. Not that all Jews to a man conspire in this way. On the contrary, there arealso proud and independent spirits among them who refuse to be blindfolded by the Liberalists andwho already clearly see that the Liberalists are also leaving them behind in their rush into the arms ofthe Heathendom. These are the exceptions, however. If we do not focus on the exceptions, but on therule, it will be obvious to all, that the Liberalism is covered from head to toe in the Jewish spirit, andthat our degenerate Christians, in an evil sense, are sort of “Proselytes in waiting” in the portals ofIsrael’s Synagogues.

CHAPTER VII

We have come to the end of our series of articles and we wrap up with the following four conclusions:

1. The danger of the moment does not lie in the Jews pampering the Liberalists, but much rather inthat the Liberalists are thoroughly Jewidized.

From the outset (in hindsight nobody will deny it, although the wisdom of the passionate editors ofHandelsblad[19], Dagblad and tutti quanti falls short in their arrogance) from the outset these articlesare not aimed at the Jewdom, but at the Liberalism. What we want to make clear to our readers andpress on their hearts, was not that they would see a dangerous Liberalist in the Jew, but that theyshould discover a forged Jew in the Liberalist. We want our public to open their eyes to the fact that,according to the familiar statement of the Head­Rabbi “that the Jews have converted the Christians ingreat numbers” to estrange from the Son of God; and that the Jewish population over here is indeedalmost one million, comprising of 70000 Semites and 900000 Caucasian Jews – in descent different,but united in their spiritual beliefs and in their defiance of the Christ of God. The fact that Godefroy,the Jewish delegate, had again taken up the theological role when the Liberalists had to debate the

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spiritual character of the education law, highlights this very significant fact.

You could argue against our point that Gladstone and his followers openly opposed the Jews inEngland. But under closer scrutiny, this actually proves our point even more. Indeed, the thoroughlyunfounded habit which earlier abounded, to pretend that the English Liberals are of like mind to ourLiberalists is now rejected by all. The attitude of the English Liberals in their discussion of theeducation law already refutes this untenable view; and when Gladstone had the courage to agitateagainst the Turks, whom the European­Jewish press nurture, the gap between our Liberalists andEngland’s Liberals started to become visible for everybody, to such an extent that even Nieuws van deDag wrote a small article about it to warn against putting them on a par.

Our readers will indeed also be informed enough to know beyond any doubt, that it is in fact the anti­revolutionary element; the Christian ‘volk’ of Great Britain and especially the thoroughly PuritanScotland, which comprise the core of Gladstone’s party. If this is taken into account, the fact thatGladstone, Froude and especially Goldwin Smith shout “no Jewry” with so much force and emphasisis proof that they are not in opposition with us, and evidence that men of more impressive stature arealso disturbed by the Jewish question.

2. The Jews form a phalanx with well closed ranks despite their attempts toward reformation and thedifferent religious views among them. The aims of this coterie have a distinct, fanatically hostilecharacter towards Christ, especially by their spiritual influence on the Liberalism.

The Jews are divided. Among them you find an orthodox group which still adhere to the Thora,Talmud and Menahga. Then you find a group of Reformed Jews who only honour the spiritual core ofthe tradition. Lastly, there is a group of Libertarians who does not acquiesce to anything.Notwithstanding the differences, they still have the sense of belonging to the same national existence.This is evident not only from what we see every day in their marriages and care for their poor, butalso amongst other things not the least from their secret orders like B’nai B’rith, which endeavour tobind together everybody of Jewish origin with firm discipline in an effective organization, much likethe Free Mason lodges under strict secrecy in order to help and protect them. Such an elite body in theLiberalist camp necessarily influences the character of what they strive for. But the influence will notlast. Quite the contrary: the Liberalism is opposed to God and the Jewdom is not opposed to God assuch, they are only opposed to Christ. The deepest conviction of the Liberalist is hostile to all faith,while the Jewish murmuring only wants to destroy the faith about the Cross. That is the reason whythe Jewish­Liberalist press, over here and elsewhere, in cohorts with the modern pastors, are soresolutely opposed against the bold confessors of Christ in particular.

Members of parliament like Moens, Godefroy, De Meijier, and others, who take every opportunity toact as lay­preachers of modernism, are certainly not irreligious. No, they would actually defend thecommon faith in God against the scoffing of the “Kappeyne”[20]. But when the issue is not universalTheism, but to oppose the confession of Christ as the Anointed of God, the fanatical Jewish heart inpeople like Moens, Godefroy and Meijier come to the fore and their especial zeal against the Anti­Revolutionaries[21] knows no bounds. Once the Christendom is destroyed, the Jews will defend thefaith in God against the radicalism again. But in the meanwhile the balance leans to the negative side.In this Lion, the former editor of Dagblad, who were manhandled in unprecedented manner, wasbasically not untruthful, even though it seemed such. There is a station on the Liberalist route, wherethe Jews halt and make a right turn. And it is about this station that this competent writer prophesied,not completely without merit – even if it wasn’t always with holy inspiration.

3. There is no reason at all why Jews should be deprived of any rights they are currently guaranteedof. It is natural that we should bring this topic up.

Froude and especially Goldwin Smith do want to go this way with the English Liberals, and what isparticularly noteworthy is that the Imperial Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, the most influential manin Europe, is in favor of barring Jews from public office as well. Only recently the anti­revolutionary

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Deutshe Reichspost quoted this – not altogether without merit – comment of Bismarck:

“I am no enemy of the Jews. I even like them on many occasions. I am in favour of them having alltheir rights, only not to fill a governing position in a Christian state … I am of the opinion that theexpression ‘Christian state’ is as old as the former holy Roman Empire itself; as old as all theEuropean states; this is indeed the basis in which these states are rooted; and every state, if it wantsto secure its continued existence (or its right to exist where this is contested), must build on thereligious foundation. To me the words “by the grace of God” do not merely have an empty sound, butI understand it such that the regents who God has entrusted with bearing the sword, desire to do itaccording to God’s will.

However, I can only acknowledge as the will of God that which is revealed by the Christian gospeland I believe I am within my rights when I say that the Christian state has the duty to put theChristian doctrine into practice – yes, to realize it in everyday life. Even though it doesn’t alwaysachieve this, I believe it remains the duty of the Christian state to put Christian doctrine into practice.But that they will come closer to achieving this goal with the help of the Jews, I cannot accept. If weaccept that the foundation of the state is its religion, then our foundation can only be Christian.”

May I say without exaggeration that with this statement, the whole matter became relevant fordiscussion. So much more with the following two events:

Firstly, the assertion by our Liberalists (which their masters also put into practice) that neither “ultra­montanen”[22], nor anti­revolutionaries can be nominated for certain governmental positions. Andsecondly, the struggle of the Australians and the Californians against the Chinese. This struggle (overwhich we cannot elaborate here and about which more information can be found in the Revue desdeux Mondes of 1 September 1878) amplifies the fact that the question whether one ‘volk’ cansanction that another ‘volk’ with which they do not identify can be placed on equal footing in theirmidst, is a question which is clearly one of numbers: As soon as it is feared that the other ‘volk’ maybecome a majority, it is no longer a struggle about rights, but a struggle for survival. On top of this theHandelsblad has, with no consideration for their editorial staff and before they even knew what ourintentions were, attacked us as if we wanted to curb the citizen­rights of the Jews. We thereforeexplicitly state that every attempt to take away the existing rights of Jews will be met with our firmopposition; even if they do not have the rights yet, we would be in favour of granting it to them; andin short, we reject any combatting of the Jew which aims to create an uneven playing field on judicialterrain.

These newspapers have completely falsely presented our intentions to their readers; we thereforehasten to add our support to the literal wording of the declaration which they proposed: (a) that withthis the undeniable fact is indeed confirmed that the Jews are of the same country, but not the same‘volk’ as us; and therefore live among us as guests; and (b) that it would be a grave mistake to viewthe influence of the Jews as innocent and to turn a blind eye to their reaction against the Christendom.

4. That the only relationship the Christian should have with the Jews, is one of competing with Israelin moral solemnity, one of combating by spiritual superiority, [23]and one of mission among them ofour love, of our talents and our word.

We know the Jewish life too well not to know how the moral solemnity is deteriorating also in theirfamilies and how destruction is also caused by the sins of self­indulgence. But with this we certainlyare not blind to the fact that at least the orthodox Jews – and they are by far the majority – have thusfar been free of the sin of drinking, and by the gentle drawing of their family ties, they ensure a milieufor their younger generation that enable them to resist much evil. In this lies a moral element thatdeserves recognition and admiration from the viewpoint of ‘volks’­welfare and – why not say it? –should be envied by the Christians, who, with so much more glorious spiritual capital, achieve somuch less results.

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Therefore, in the second instance, we have to stress that only by combatting with spiritual superioritywill we stand a chance against the Jews. We strongly reject and combat the attitude towards the Jews,that still fairly commonly prevails and which gives rise to crass name­calling, like “hawker”, not solong ago by a modern pastor of the church of Amsterdam, Dr Van Ronkel.

We are not sentimental and do not in the least want to forget that there rests a holy blood­guilt uponthe Jews and that the terrible events of Gabbatha and Golgotha still have an impact today. Butprecisely for that reason we want to act, not in the spirit of the Jews, but in the spirit of our Lord andSavior who, when he was reviled, reviled not again, but blessed His persecutors.[24] It is ChristHimself who disgraces everyone who attacks the Jews with bitterness and it is in His Name that wefervidly protest against every meanness aimed at the Jews. We do want to oppose them, but in anhonest way – opposing them in the spirit. And we wish to fulfill our mission towards them: a missionwhich is not restricted to missionaries at all, but a mission every Christian must take part in. Thismission requires that we should not avoid contact with the Jews, but indeed seek contact. And in thiscontact we must still have the courage to bear witness for our Lord, both by our words and by ouractions. At the moment – why be silent about it? – our attitude instead issues a licence to the Jews towithdraw their conscience from Christ. To them we seem hard; inhuman; “children of the world”.Who knows how different the Jews would have stood towards Christ by now if they could see more ofChrist in the Christians!

POSTSCRIPTAs could be expected, especially the Dagblad of South­Holland and s’Gravenhage[25] took exceptionto our remarks about the Jewish origin of our influential newspapers. It follows that it was a ‘hot iron’for this paper.Imagine that an organization which stood at the head of the Christian­conservative coalition for yearsnow should be exposed as emanating from the Jewish­liberalist press­family who has always beenmore or less hostile towards the Christendom!

Anxiously they first printed a piece in their columns from the pen of a Jewish polemic writer[26],which was sent to The Handelsblad as a letter; and later they themselves wrote a quite mild mainarticle even with reference to the letter – to demonstrate the unfoundedness of our statements. Wehave already answered the stinging attack by De Handelsblad adequately; and about the recent mainarticle the following will suffice:

1. That the three big, influential daily newspapers (the Roman Catholic excluded), were brought totheir current status and importance by three Jewish editors, namely the Handelsblad by Mister Keyser,the N. Rott. Cour. by Mister Tels and the Dagblad by Mister Is. Lion. Tels, Keyzer and Lion, that wasthe Trio!

2. That the influential correspondence­bureau in The Hague is completely in Jewish hands;

3. That the reports of the ‘Tweede Kamer’[27] are almost exclusively compiled by Jewish journalists;and

4. That the local operating telegraphic bureau is being operated by Jews as well.

This accomplishment is to the Jews’ credit rather than to their shame. Indeed we declare that wecannot see what else to derive about them other than a testimony to the honor of the vigor and energyof the Jewish talent – if you ignore the fact as such. And indeed, the number of smaller newspapers inthe provinces, like the N. Zutfenche and the N. Arnhemsche that are not under Jewish control does notdetract anything from the dominating weight of this fourfold fact. Or are we forbidden to say that ourrivers originate in the mountains, merely because we cannot see the mountains at the point where therivers flow through the ‘Dommel­Aa’ in Den Bosch or the ‘Oude Diepte’ in Groningen? Neither doesit detract anything what percentages of these editorial bureaux still consist of Jews at this moment. Ordoes Nieuwenhuizen no longer live on in The Nut, simply because the Reformed apostates have

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driven off the Mennonites?

And finally, it detracts very little that the upcoming papers Vaderland and Nieuws van den Dag arefrom other origins. Or was it not precisely the drift of our argument to illustrate that there are twotypes of Jews in our country: The Jews of blood and the Jews of spirit?

[1] Since the English word ‘nation’ has been robbed of its original ethnic meaning of ‘kinsmen’, andbecause the word ‘people’ does not convey the ethnic meaning of the word sufficiently, I use theGermanic word ‘volk’ in the translation to convey the true meaning of the author’s intention.[2] In American terms: the secretary of Justice[3] I don’t know what this refers to.[4] A closely and well­organised unit of soldiers or organisation contending for a cause[5] Leading ballet dancers. A metaphor for the Illuminati.[6] It could also be translated as ‘ skills’[7] Rom IV: 19­21[8] Rom XI: 25,26[9] I am not sure whether our understanding of this term is quite the same as Kuijper’s.[10] Dutch saying meaning: if you spend money on someone you necessarily become more interestedin and affectionate towards that person or cause.[11] Probably anti­Semite bulletins[12] Here a footnote was added: “they did it”[13] Dutch expression meaning to keep on exploiting this subject (ride this horse)[14] Especially in the sense of self­indulgence.[15] in the sense of sinfulness[16] Kuijper probably refers to a study about this subject[17] I am not sure how to translate “dodebeswering”[18] I translated this directly, because I do not have knowledge of this.[19] Newspapers and magazines[20] Probably followers of Minister Kappeyne mentioned in Chapter 2. Probably a reckless atheistgroup.[21] ‘Anti­revolutionaries’ is the name by which the Christian politicians who opposed the liberalistinfluence of the French Revolution called themselves. Probably coined by one of the grand soldiers ofChrist: Guiliame Groen van Prinsterer[22] I don’t know this group; nor how to translate their name. Probably what today will be calledfundamentalists.[23] Lit: ‘combatting by spiritual majority’[24] I am not sure of the translation of the word ‘bad’ (which I translated with ‘bless’. I think thedirect translation should be ‘pray’). It seems that the reference is 1 Pt: 23, where there is no mentionthat Jesus prayed for His persecutors. He might refer to Rom 12:14 which teaches: Bless them whichpersecute you: bless, and curse not.[25] The Hague[26] It seems to me that there should be an English term ‘polemist’, but I can’t find it in a dictionary.[27] The ‘Tweede Kamer’ is the Dutch equivalent to the American House of Representatives and theBritish Lower House.

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5 orang menyarankan ini.Sarankan

5 Responses to ““Liberalists & Jews” –Abraham Kuyper (English Translationfrom a Dutch 1878 Theological Journal)”

1. Wheeler MacPherson December 2, 2014 at 4:36 am #

Interesting how, in the midst of his meticulous argument, Mr. Kuyper blithely assumes that thepeople who self­identify as “Jews” are the descendants of biblical Israel. The casual concedingof such a point is remarkable. And sad.

Reply

jetbrane December 3, 2014 at 7:02 am #

Mr. MacPherson,

There are other aspects about the article that are also unsatisfactory. However, just that hewas willing to deal with the issue and say a great number of things that moderns wouldconsider “anti­semitic” was worth the post in my estimation.

I’m not sure in 1878 there were any people out there doubting that Ashkenazi were thedescendants of Israel.

Reply

2. Warner December 3, 2014 at 6:54 am #

Baruch Spinoza, who lived in the 17th century Netherlands, was the first great “modern Jew”,or a subversive unbelieving Jewish intellectual. In this academic magnum opus, Jonathan I.Israel seeks to show that he played a central part in giving birth to the secularist worldview aswe know it:

http://www.amazon.com/Radical­Enlightenment­Philosophy­Modernity­1650­1750/dp/0199254567

Reply

3. Warner December 3, 2014 at 7:09 am #

And a great part of the Dutch Jews were actually Sephardim from Spain, like Spinoza was. It isnot so easy to dispute THEIR Israelite origin.

Reply

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4. Wheeler MacPherson December 3, 2014 at 6:54 pm #

“I’m not sure in 1878 there were any people out there doubting that Ashkenazi were thedescendants of Israel.”

Good point.

Reply

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