Jews in the New Testament
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
The neutrality or factuality of this article or section may be compromised by weasel words. You can help Wikipedia by improving weasel-worded statements. |
The verses the following article is referring to are found namely in Matthew, Mark, Luke and Acts (called by biblical scholars Luke-Acts), John, and books believed to have been written by Paul of Tarsus.
Contents |
[edit] Christian views
- The classical Christian view, is that the verses are condemning those Jews that have not accepted Christian beliefs about God and Jesus.
- One claim holds that some of these verses are a critique of "Judeans", meaning specifically the Jews from Judea, as opposed to Jews from Galilee or Samaria for instance. This is based on a translation of the Greek word Ioudaioi as Judeans rather than Jews. This view is held by the Jesus Seminar.
- Another view is that the verses are a critique of some Jews, or specific individuals, or some aspects of Judaism at the time of Jesus, but not of all Jews, nor of the Jewish faith in general, nor of any Jews today. This view is held by the Roman Catholic Church.
- A third view is that these verses are a critique by the flawed and human writers of the Bible that should not be interpreted as the Word of God, but rather understood in the context of the time and the prejudices of the writers.
- A fourth view is that these verses are a critique of the Pharisees as the moneyed, self-righteous establishment of the Jewish community. Some modern-day liberal ministers argue that well-to-do, churchgoing Christians, not modern Jews, are the group most comparable to the Pharisees whom Jesus criticized.
For views of Christian Biblical scholars, see below.
[edit] Views of Christian Churches
There are many Christian churches which have changed or clarified their teachings on this subject. A study of these churches, the changes the made, and important documents on this issue can be found in the entries on Christianity and anti-Semitism and Christian-Jewish reconciliation.
As one example, the Catholic Church denounced anti-judaistic views held by Christians in the past with a series of statements beginning in 1965. In the Nostra Aetate, Pope Paul VI proclaimed that:
- "The Church believes that by His cross Christ, Our Peace, reconciled Jews and Gentiles. making both one in Himself".
- "God holds the Jews most dear for the sake of their Fathers; He does not repent of the gifts He makes or of the calls He issues".
- "the death of Christ ... cannot be charged against all the Jews, without distinction, then alive, nor against the Jews of today".
- "the Jews should not be presented as rejected or accursed by God, as if this followed from the Holy Scriptures".
- "the Church ... decries hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone".
[edit] Jewish views
Most Jewish scholars and rabbis today consider themselves to be the heirs of the Pharisees. Thus, verses critical of the Pharisees are taken to be critical of Judaism itself. Historically, verses from the New Testament have been used as justification for discrimination and violence against Jews. Accusations such as the blood libel were drawn, in part, from the idea that Jews were responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus, the Christian Messiah. Such accusations have also incited pogroms. The New Testament itself is not of major concern, it is what's done with the verses within that is cause for concern.
[edit] Use of critical verses
These verses have been used to incite prejudice and violence against Jewish people. Professor Lillian C. Freudmann, author of "Antisemitism in the New Testament" (University Press of America, 1994) has published a study of such verses and the effects that they have had in the Christian community throughout history. Similar studies have been made by both Christian and Jewish scholars, including, Professors Clark Williamsom (Christian Theological Seminary), Hyam Maccoby (The Leo Baeck Institute), Norman A. Beck (Texas Lutheran College), and Michael Berenbaum (Georgetown University).
Occasionally, these verses have also been used to encourage anti-Christian sentiment amongst non-Christians. Christian apologists argue that by taking isolated verses out of context, people distort the message of Christianity, setting up a straw man caricature to knock down.
[edit] Biblical scholarship
Most of the verses in question are attributed not to Jesus but to the authors of the New Testament. Jesus' disciples, Paul, and the first Christians were Jews, including the authors of the New Testament. By the time the New Testament was finished Christians had already begun to view themselves as a separate religion. Judaism itself was also undergoing significant change following the second destruction of the Temple and the end of animal sacrifices. During the time the New Testament was written, a number of Christians shifted their emphasis from seeking Jewish converts to seeking gentile converts. Many biblical scholars observe that different books appear to be aimed at different audiences, and suggest that the intended audience may have influenced the writers. For example, see 1 Cor 9:20-23.
Some of the New Testament was written for a non-Jewish audience, some time after the events they describe. Scholars of textual criticism have suggested that some things that were said or done, which were clear in meaning to Jewish contemporaries, would not have been quite as clear to the later Gentile authors or readers. They further suggest that these later Gospels were a selective account that interpreted Jesus' life so that it would be less threatening to the Roman authorities and more congenial to Gentiles.
New Testament authors may have displayed religious or theological prejudice against Jews who remained followers of Judaism rather than become Christians, particularly since Jews claimed to be the heirs to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob's covenant with God; heirs to the covenant of Sinai; and followers of the sacred scriptures -- the very sources of Christian legitimacy. Once Christianity established itself as a new religion, Christians were no longer of particular interest to the Jewish leadership. But as long as Jews claimed to be following the same Bible that Christians believed prophesied Jesus's messianic status, they necessarily threatened Christian claims. Moreover, the fact that Jews did not recognize Jesus as the Messiah was an implicit threat to the legitimacy of Christianity and something that Christians felt the need to explain with apologetics, as Paul did in Acts 26:2.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] Detailed interpretations
Here are some references where scholars have gone through parts of the New Testament in an attempt to discern the writer's (or writers') original message on Jews and Judaism:
- The Gospel of John and the Jews, by Alan T. Davies
- Intolerance in the Bible from the Skeptic's Annotated Bible
- Jews in the New Testament - article in the meta-wikipedia
