Historical Christian Antisemitism: From Blog Posts to Book
The purpose of “Historical Christian Antisemitism” and these blog posts is to combine them into a published book entitled Safe Schools for Jewish Students: An Educator’s Guide to Preventing Antisemitism and Strengthening Belonging.
Go here for the full Table of Contents.
Chapter 2 – Historical Christian Antisemitism
Historical Christian Antisemitism: Religious Hatred Becomes Institutional
The accusation of deicide, killing Jesus, may have begun when, in the 2nd century CE, the Christian theologian Tatian wrote in his “Diatessaron” a revision of the Gospel that put the Jews in the forefront of blame for the death of Jesus. “And he [Pilate] delivered Jesus up for the sake of crucifixion according to their desire […] And the Jews took Jesus and they went out in order to crucify him.”
This revision was adopted in the Old Syriac version of the Gospel and in Sassanian Babylonia. Though Augustine worked to correct the misplaced blame, stating that it was, in fact, the Romans soldiers who crucified Jesus, the need to blame the Jews remained throughout history, citing Matthew 27:24-25, “His blood be on us, and on our children.” The myth was even used by the Nazis to justify the Holocaust.
The Blood Libel
Emerging alongside the deicide myth was the blood libel, the claim that Jews used the blood of Christian children to make matzoh for Passover. In 1144, the Jews of Norwich, England were accused of killing William of Norwich, a boy who was found stabbed to death in the woods. The Jews of Norwich were charged with ritual murder.
Such accusations continued in Gloucester, England (1168); Blois, France (1171); Saragossa, Spain (1182); Bristol, England (1183); Fulda, Germany (1235); Lincoln, England (1255); and Munich, Germany (1286).
During the Black Death of the 14th century, the blood libel accompanied charges of Jews poisoning the wells.
In 1543, German theologian Martin Luther supported the blood libel in his book “On the Jews and their Lies.”
In Eastern Europe, blood libels frequently became violent leading to pogroms.
During the Holocaust, the Nazis incorporated the blood libel in their propaganda.
Identifying Markers
The fear of Jews often manifested in the form of having Jews wear distinctive articles of clothing.
In 1215, Pope Innocent III required non-Christians to wear identifying markers as a way to prevent Christians from having sex with Jews and Muslims. In northern Italy, Jews had to wear yellow badges in the 15th century, and yellow hats in the 16th century.
Jews who did not wear the identifying markers were often arrested. But the bigger concern for the Jews was the harassment and violence they faced by the public. As a result, Jewish communities offered to pay additional taxes to be exempt from the requirement of wearing the Jewish badges.
The Status of Christian Antisemitism Today
By the 19th century, the identifying marker laws were abolished and didn’t reemerge until Nazi Germany.
As for the antisemitic claims of deicide, in the Nostra aetate of 1965, the Catholic Church officially rejected the claim that the Jews killed Jesus. In 2011, Pope Benedict XVI reaffirmed that there’s no basis in scripture to believe the Jews were responsible.
The blood libel in different parts of the world continues to this day.
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Author Biography of Safe Schools for Jewish Students
Ezra Barany loves riveting readers with Jewish thrillers. His first two books in The Torah Codes series were award-winning international bestsellers. In his free time, he has eye-opening discussions on the art of writing novels with his wife and book coach Beth Barany. A high school physics teacher, Ezra lives in Oakland with his beloved wife and two cats working on the next book. Ezra, not the cats.
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