Israel and the Christian Church: Heritage, History, and HopeDr. Robert C. Kurka, Professor of Theology and Church in Culture, Lincoln Christian UniversityOsher Lifelong Learning Institute, Bradley University2016

Lecture #3: “How Has the Church Treated the Jewish People?: Some Shameful—and Saintly Examples Let us revisit our four theological models on the nature of the

Israel/Christian Church relationship:

There is no argument that even prior to AD 70, Christianity and Judaism were at odds…

In Acts 2-5: Jewish-Christians begin to share their faith in Jesus with fellow Jews, their Jewish neighbors were not so hospitable

* Some conversions to Christianity * Persecution * Executions * Expulsion from the synagogue * Denunciation as “heretics” by Jewish leaders

Early Christian Sentiments About Judaism…

2nd century: Marcion’s New Testament(anti-Jewish) Canon: edited version of Gospel of Luke, 10 Pauline epistles [Marcion taught that the OT God and NT God were two completely different deities]

2nd century: Justin Martyr: “(Christians) are the true Israelite race, the spiritual one, that of Judah and Jacob and Abraham” (Dial. 11:5)

4th century: Roman Emperor Constantine makes Christianity the official religion of the Roman state (321). Jews are forbidden from making converts, serving in the military, holding high office

4th century: John Chrysostom: “The synagogue is a brothel and a theater…a den for unclean animals…Never has a Jew prayed to God…They are all possessed by the devil.”

6th century: Byzantine Emperor Justinian decrees that Jewish Passover must be celebrated after Easter

Does the New Testament (especially the Fourth Gospel) affirm an “Anti-Semitism”?

Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him…Yet because I tell the truth you do not believe me? Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.” –John 8:42-47

60x John refers to “the Jews” often in opposition to Jesus

John 8:42-45

Middle Ages: A Time of Christian Intolerance for the Jewish People Jews were largely excluded from the culture of European Christendom This social, economic, and ecclesiastical alienation, in turn, forced them to live

behind ghetto walls They were permitted to practice usury, however (in violation of Jewish law) which

brought charges that they were a “pariah people” from the Christian society They were forced to wear distinctive hats or patches on their clothing They were accused of having a peculiar smell—as opposed to the “odor of sanctity” They were regularly maligned as “Christ-killers” They were accused of desecrating the host, murdering Christian infants for their blood They were blamed for the “Black Plague” They were accused of poisoning wells and being “sucklers of sows”

and there is more…

During the First Crusade, numerous Jews committed mass suicides to avoid forced baptism

Towards the end of the Middle Ages, many Jews had become homeless wanderers

They faced numerous expulsions: from England (1290); from France (1306); and in subsequent years from cities in Spain, Germany, and Austria

In 1492, the Spanish Inquisition brought expulsion, thousands of tortures, burnings at the stake, and forced conversions

The Sixteenth-Century European Reformation: The “Theological Triumph” of Supersessionism

Supersessionism: Belief that Christianity has superceded (replaced)the relationship between God and Israel through its embrace of Jesus the Messiah. In other words, the Gentiles (Church) have become the true heirs of the divine promises given to Abraham in Genesis.

“The predominant scholarly view of the sixteenth century stresses the Reformation intensified a process, under way since the later Middle Ages, of more strictly defining the markers of Christian identity. Thus the Reformation did not create substantially new ideas about the limits of Christianity; it simply intensified sentiments already in place…The process of reevaluation of Christian beliefs and social arrangements led to the creation of notions of identity and defensive boundaries directed both against members of other religions and against other Christians.”

—Susan Boettcher, “Insiders and Outsiders,” in Reformation Christianity, Peter Matheson, ed.

Church replaces Israel…

Typical Reformation Era artistic image: Ecclesia et Synogoga Synagoga

and then there was Martin Luther…

In a 1523 pamphlet, Luther showed a remarkable (for his day) tolerance towards the Jews, criticizing superstitious beliefs about them, as well as persecutions against them. He had an evangelistic purpose: A more “Christ-like Church” would be more attractive to them.

However, in 1543 (he died in 1546), Luther authored the infamous work, On Jews and Their Lies, expressing sentiments like these:

“They (Jews) must be driven from our country…”“If God were to give me no other Messiah than such as the Jews wish and hope for, I would much, much rather be a sow than a human being…”“My essay, I hope, will furnish a Christian (who in any case has no desire to become a Jew) with enough material not only to defend himself against the blind, venomous Jews, but also to become the foe of the Jews…they are surely possessed by all devils…”

Johannes Reuchlin (1455-1522): A Lonely Advocate for the Jews

German humanist scholar who was Roman Catholic (but in his latter years seamed to be leaning Protestant

Championed the study of the Hebrew Bible; published a landmark Hebrew grammar and lexicon

Promoted the study of Hebrew among Christian scholars (which would lead to a more critical reading of the Vulgate and yield new, vernacular translations)

Challenged the popular notion that all Jewish books should be confiscated and burned (allegedly because they defamed Christianity)

--Most Jewish books did not attack Christianity (and those that did were not accepted by Jewish scholars)

Post-Reformation Europe was not much better for the Jews… 1648-58: 500,000 Jews are killed in Poland due to being in the middle of

a bloody revolt against the Cossacks Continued to be viewed with contempt—or persecuted—in other

European countries 19th -20th centuries: Czarist Russia conducts series of pogroms against

its large Jewish population (approx. 6 million) leaving 1000’s dead 1880-1910: More than 2 million Jews immigrate to US through New York

City

…and then along came Adolf Hitler

“ The best characterization is provided by the product of this religious education, the Jew himself. His life is only of this world, and his spirit is inwardly as alien to true Christianity as his nature two thousand years previous was to the great founder of the new doctrine. Of course, the latter made no secret of his attitude toward the Jewish people, and when necessary he even took the whip to drive from the temple of the Lord this adversary of all humanity, who then as always saw in religion nothing but an instrument for his business existence. In return, Christ was nailed to the cross, while our present-day party Christians debase themselves to begging for Jewish votes at elections and later try to arrange political swindles with atheistic Jewish parties—and this against their own nation.” --Mein Kampf (1925)

20th Century Holocaust: Did the Church Do Enough?

Pope Pius XII: Complex and conflicting responses to the Nazi anti-Semitism: Public repudiation, advocacy for Jewish refugees, providing housing to Jewish children…and silence. How much did the Vatican know about the holocaust? Opinions vary: Pius has been criticized by many Jewish scholars, defended by Catholics. However, in 2012, Pope Benedict began to slow a process that would lead to Pius’ sainthood.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer: 1933 Essay, “The Church and the Jewish Question” in which he boldly criticizes Hitler’s persecution of the Jews on the basis of human rights and political injustice but also reveals a supersessionist theology that views this as part of a conversion narrative

Practical Christian Advocacy:The Netherlands’ Ten Boom Family: Hiding Persecuted Jewish Neighbors “In this household, God’s people are always welcome” (Casper Ten

Boom)

Twentieth Century Establishment of the State of Israel… 1896: Jewish agnostic, Theodor Herzl, published Der Judenstaat (The Jewish

State)advocating that a “new” Jewish nation be created in Palestine in the belief that anti-Semitism was inescapable apart from a Jewish homeland. While his intentions were secular, the majority of Herzl’s followers were Orthodox southeastern Europeans

70,00 Jews settled in Palestine after Herzl’s death in 1904. In 1917, Britain issued the Balfour Declaration endorsing the establishment of a Jewish national home

Major episodes of Jewish persecution in the 20th century (i.e., Russian pogroms, Nazi Holocaust) contributed to wide support for a Palestinian homeland among the world’s powers (USA and USSR) and the United Nations

May 14, 1948: State of Israel was formally recognized

…and “Christian Zionism”

Growth of Dispensationalism among Protestant Conservatives in the early 20th century brought –and its belief that ethnic Israel would be restored—created a “Christian Zionism” that further argued that the Jewish people had an inherent right to the land. The establishment of national Israel in 1948 was seen as a miraculous, prophetic fulfillment.

Liberal Protestants called for the “internationalization” of the city of Jerusalem while these conservatives contended that biblically, it belonged to the Jewish people. After the 1967 Six-Day War, the National Council of Churches denounced Israel’s annexation of the old city while Christian Zionists hailed it as an act of God.

1976: Bicentennial Congress of Prophecy in Philadelphia issued a proclamation in support of Israel signed by 11 key evangelical leaders. Thousands signed this document which was presented to the Israeli ambassador to the US.

1977: Billy Graham calls for the US to rededicate itself to the safety of Israel 2006: Evangelist John Hagee forms the largest US pro-Israel organization,

“Christians United for Israel”

The State of Israel and American Conservative Christians: An On-going Coalition

However, Christian Zionism may be receding—especially among the Next Generation of Evangelicals due to concerns about peace, justice, morality, and faith… “In October 2010, the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life conducted a major survey of

evangelical leaders attending the Third Lausanne Congress of World Evangelization in Cape Town, South Africa. When asked with which side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict they sympathized, these leaders answered as follows:

All Evangelicals (Global)Sympathize with Israel—34%Sympathize with the Palestinians—11%Sympathize with Both Equally—39% American EvangelicalsSympathize with Israel—30%Sympathize with the Palestinians—13%Sympathize with Both Sides Equally—49%”--David Brog, “The End of Evangelical Support for Israel?” Middle East Quarterly Spring 2014

Restoration of Israel: Hearts…and Home

“For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God.”

--Ezekiel 36:24-28 [NIV]

Lecture #4: “Towards a Healthy Jewish-Christian Dialogue: Critically (and charitably)Affirming Points of Similarity and Difference”

Our course of study enables us to make the following observations: Christian Church is deeply indebted to Ancient Israel: Its Story, Scriptures, and

Savior come “from the Jews.” There are genuine differences between Judaism and Christianity largely centering

on the person and work of Jesus of Nazareth. For Christians, he is imperative to any discussion of the monotheistic nature of God and the goal of biblical revelation.

.“Israel” (and “Jew”?)has several layers of meaning on Scripture ( in both OT and NT): ethnicity, geographic location, spiritual condition—and these should be kept in some relation to each other

Persecution has come from both directions—although after AD 70, the overwhelming numerical (and social and political) size of Christianity has made it the major aggressor

Anti-Semitism –even in its “soft” forms—has contributed to a tolerance (and even approval) of negativity and mistreatment of the Jewish people

“Replacement” Theology has tended to foster a spiritual superiority among Christians towards their Jewish neighbors—an “acceptance” of Jewish persecution a (as a divine remedial/conversion instrument)

Christian Zionism—due to its view of predictive prophecy-- on the other hand, can tend to assess the actions of present-day Israel in an uncritical fashion by excusing its spiritual apathy and political/social injustices to its Palestinian neighbors

Biblical, balanced, and Christ-like understanding of the relationship between Israel and the Christian Church will most likely come from some “hybrid” of the “Four Views;” a delicate balance of continuity and discontinuity