THEOLOGICAL
ANTI-SEMITISM IS RAMPANT IN THE FOURTH GOSPEL
Christianity-Revealed
Theological anti-Semitism is rampant in John, the
fourth gospel; it
is outright anti-Semitic. No other NEW
testament writing has as great an anti-Judaic thrust as found in John. Its
attack against the individual Jew, “the Jews” and the Jewish observance of the
Hebrew bible all reflect the early church’s extreme anti-Semitic stance. When confronted with the question
of John’s anti-Semitism Christians do not answer, but respond with a question;
“How can the gospel of John be called anti-Semitic when Jesus and his disciples
were all Jews?”
The
Christian pulpit deliberately fails to inform their flocks of one important
fact; No one knows who wrote who wrote any of the gospels, nor when they were
written. The gospel names were simply picked/chosen/assigned by the early
church nor does anyone know the religion of any new testament writer. Therefore, the Christian rebuttal question
― that Jesus’ disciples were all Jews and the gospel writers were all
Jews ― is merely wishful speculation which can not be proven by any
stretch of the imagination. Also, when
Christians making the false claim that all the gospel writers were
Jewish, they seem to forget their own study bibles and clergy say that Luke was
a Gentile,1 not Jewish. Oops, so much for
the Christian “question defense” to the rampant anti-Semitism in John.
THE JEWS:
No one is able to explain the tremendous number of
times (70) the term “the Jews” is used in John alone. This is especially
astounding when one realizes that there are only 16 “the Jews” in all the rest of the synoptic gospels:
Mark, 6;
Matthew, 5; and
Luke, 5.
When you study John’s cry of “the Jews,” one finds
a horrible meaning embedded in that refrain. Let us take a closer look:
Reading
the book of John shows that this unknown author deliberately placed himself and
those he favorably represents as separate from the Jews. Examples are:
1.
The Passover of the Jews (John
2:13, 6:4, 11:55);
2. The
religious rules of the Jews
about purification (John 2:6);
3. A
religious festival of the Jews
(John 5:1);
4. The
Festival of Tabernacles of the Jews
(John 7:2);
5. The
Day of Preparation of the Jews
(John 19:42); and
6. The
way in which Jews prepare a body for burial (John 19:40).
The
vast majority of the 70 instances of “the
Jews” express a negative picture or attitude. When talking of Jesus
dealing with the Jewish populous, the unknown author of John shows his distain
by simply saying “the Jews.” This usage lumps everyone Jewish into one
word. To John “the Jews” can be:
1. The
Jewish people as a whole ― men, women or children;
2. The
inhabitants of Judea and/or
3. The Jewish religious leaders ― the
chief priests, the scribes, and the Pharisees.
For
John’s purpose it makes no difference; all are equally bad, guilty and evil!
After all, the New Testament fiction says "the
Jews" killed the Christian's man-god; presto, the instant invention of
DEICIDE!
Remember,
the unknown author of John separates Jesus and his disciples from “the Jews.” This tact encourages readers to see Jews as unfaithful and the
Hebrew bible as invalid. For example, when talking to “the Jews,” John’s Jesus separates himself from them by having
Jesus speak of:
1. ”Your Law” (John 7:19, 8:17, 10:34);
2. ”Your circumcision” (John 7:22); and
3. Abraham
is “your father” (John 8:56).
When
the Jews say, “Our ancestors ate manna in the desert” (John 6:31), John’s Jesus
replies, “What Moses gave you (the Jews, not “us”) was not the bread from
heaven.” (John 6:32) Later on, John had
Jesus say, “Your ancestors ate the manna
in the desert” (John 6:49). Why didn’t John’s Jesus use the word “our” instead of “your”? After all Jesus was supposed to be a Jew, so
the proper usage would have been to say “OUR ancestors
ate…”
The
Gospel of John may have been written after the year 80; three generations after
Jesus’ death.
“The
dating of John’s gospel is somewhat more complex with plausible dates ranging
from 65 to 95. 2 “…”...
evangelical scholars such as
It
was written after the destruction of the second temple and before the 2nd
major Jewish uprising (in 135 CE) when tension was very high between the Romans
and Jews because the Jews caused many Roman casualties during this period of
time. They were also hated by the Romans authorities because of the drain of
their treasury to put down the Jewish revolts. This was the atmosphere when the
unknown author of John wrote his version of Jesus’ life. Therefore, this gospel
was dripping with constant criticism directed against “the Jews,” ― the
entire nation of
All
Jews are indiscriminately attacked in John 5:15-18, John 6:41, John 7:10-13,
John 10:31, John 11:53-54, John 19:12, John 20:19. It is passages such as these
that show the true target of the gospel’s malice is all off the Jews. The
immediate impression conveyed by ‘the
Jews’ is one of unreceptively
and hostility toward Jesus. ‘The Jews’ question and misunderstand Jesus’
words (John 2.18, 20; 6.52; 7.35; 8.22); they murmur at him (6.41); they
disbelieve him (9.18; 11.37); they desire to put Jesus to death (5.16, 18; 7.1)
and even attempt to do so with their own hands (8.59; 10.31; 11.8). In the book
of John the enemies of Jesus are simply labeled ‘the Jews.’ This generalization ― “the Jews” ― shows a
calculated effort by the author of John to condemn the entire Jewish people in
the hearts and minds of his audience/readers.
John’s “the
Jews” is
part of the author’s vicious and unrelenting campaign to convince people that
the Jews are followers of the Christian devil and therefore are against, not
only Jesus, but also god ― the
Invisible Man in the Sky. Read it directly from the horse’s mouth (John
8:44-47 King James Version):
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will
do. He
was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is
no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a
liar, and the father of it.
And
because I tell you the truth, ye believe
me not.
Which
of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?
He
that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because
ye are not of God.
Indeed
John’s objective was achieved; that is exactly how Christians throughout
Just who were these “Jews” whom John described; who
were these people who hated Jesus so much that they put him to death?
Raymond E.
Brown answers; in the Anchor Bible Dictionary:
“In general, the Fourth Gospel uses ‘the Jews’ as
almost a technical title for the religious authorities, particularly those in
“Nearly
all biblical scholars extend the historical meaning of ‘the Jews’ to include
the Jewish authorities and populace of John’s own day. Thus, they were
the enemy of Jesus; just as they were also the enemy of
Christian
apologists try to hide the Jew bashing theme of the Fourth Gospel by offering
that John did not “really” mean “the
Jews” in general, therefore his references to all Jews was not really
hostile. Yeah, uh huh! You can read it yourself. You do not need an apologist
to explain that your eyes did not see what they saw.
Oh
really? Was Martin Luther just addressing the Jewish leaders, the Jewish
authorities when he viciously told his Protestant followers the method to use
to get rid of “the Jews?” Read Luther’s own words and then answer this for yourself:
Luther asked his Protestant Germans; “What shall we Christians do with this rejected and condemned
people, the Jews?” 4
· “What
shall we do with...the Jews?
I advise that all
their prayer books and Talmudic writings...are to be taken from them.”
· “What
shall we do with...the Jews?
I advise that
safe-conduct on the highways be abolished completely for the Jews.”
· “What
shall we do with...the Jews?
I advise that their
rabbis be forbidden to teach on pain of loss of life and limb.”
· “What
shall we do with...the Jews?
Set fire to their
synagogues or schools and bury and cover with dirt whatever will not burn, so
that no man will ever again see a stone or cinder of them.”
Hitler liked the
teachings of Martin Luther so much that he incorporated all seven points set
forth by Martin Luther.
These thoughts, expressions, ideas and hatred
became deeply imbedded throughout the general populace of
Many
Christian apologists ― turn a deaf ear/ignore to the actual words in
John. Instead they claim that the gospel of John is not anti-Semitism because “the
Jews” were just a “symbol.” Thus they reason, “the
Jews” do not represent “the Jews,” but is just a way to
express all opposition to accepting Jesus. Do they think people are idiots who
can not actually read what was written in the New Testament gospel of John?
These apologists illogical conclusion is the heights of stupidity. They are
saying: John’s words and term “the Jews” is not anti-Semitic
because it does not mean “the Jews.” Tell that to Martin
Luther; tell that to Hitler; tell that to the fundamentalist preachers; and
tell that to the Klu Klux Klan!
Joseph Goebbels, German
Nazi propaganda minister (1933–1945), learned the Christian
anti-Semitism well. He said:
“A Jew is for me an object of disgust. I feel
like vomiting when I see one. Christ could not possibly have been a Jew. It is
not necessary to prove that scientifically ― it is a fact.” 6
Christian
apologists white-wash “the Jews” by simply acknowledging “anti-Judaic” sentiments within the
“Fourth Gospel.” However, few will actually go so far as to honestly
acknowledge the real sentiments of the gospel of John ― “anti-Semitism.”
John’s terms/words/hatred of Jews is certainly one of the primary causes of
2,000 years of venomous Christian anti-Semitism throughout
The
unknown author of John succeeded in making Jesus no longer a member of the
Jewish people or its religion. And having succeeded in making Jesus a non-Jew,
“The Fourth Gospel” freely expressed contempt for Jews and Judaism. Also fueling these fires, perhaps why John
wrote as he did, were these words from the
Jewish bible in which supposedly god ― the Invisible Man in the Sky ― spoke ONLY to the Jews,
declaring:
And I will make of thee a great nation,
and I will bless
thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
And I will bless them that bless thee,
and curse
him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. (Genesis 12:2-3 KJV)
"For thou art an holy people unto
the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath
chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face
of the earth. The LORD did
not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than
any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: ... But because the LORD loved you..." (Deuteronomy 7:6-8 KJV)
"For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and
the LORD hath
chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the
nations that are upon the earth." (Deuteronomy
14:2 KJV)
"...ye shall be a peculiar treasure
unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me
a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation...." (Exodus 19:5-6 KJV)
The
Christians could not even join in the Sabbath, as it was exclusively for "the
Jews:"
"It [sabbath] is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever..." (Exodus 31:16-17 KJV)
The
rest of the world did not/does not like to be pictured as standing behind the
door when god dealt out his favors to only one people/nation in the world. The
rest of the world did not snooze, but in the Hebrew bible, they lose!
When
you apply the correct time frame to the author’s (of John) writings his
objectives become clear. Apparently he wrote much after the fall of
·
Non-believers
in Jesus [Jews] are condemned to hell (John 3:18)
· Did the Jews not persecute
Jesus? Meaning ALL the Jews. (John 5:16)
· Jews are of their father, the Devil (John 8:44)
· You (Jews) are not of God (John
8:47)
· The Jewish leaders picked up stones to kill him [Jesus] (John 8:59 & 31)
· If a man abide not in me ... cast
into fire. Throughout history, Christianity loved to cast non-believers
into FIRE, burning them alive. (John 15:6)
· They hated me without a cause. (John
15: 25)
· He that hate me hates the father [God] (John 15:22-25)
An
interesting quotation appears in the Encyclopedia Britannica under ‘German
Christians:’
“Protestants
who attempted to subordinate church policy to the political exigencies of Nazi
Germany. The German Christians’ Faith Movement, organized in 1932, was
nationalistic and so anti-Semitic that extremists wished to repudiate the Old
Testament and the Pauline Letters because of their Jewish authorship. In July
1933 the state territorial churches merged to form the
Little
did the NEW testament writers know the terrible effect they would have on the
Jewish people throughout the ages, even now. Hitler had no problem establishing
who the villains were in Christian Europe.
"Whenever we read the
obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the cruel and torturous
executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness, with which more than half the Bible
is filled, it would be more consistent that we called it the word of a demon
that the Word of God. It is a history of wickedness that has served to corrupt
and brutalize mankind; and for my own part, I sincerely detest it, as I detest
everything that is cruel."
-Thomas Paine (1737-1809)
“Religion is the most malevolent of all mind
viruses. We should get rid of it as quick as we can.” -Author Arthur C. Clarke
(1917-2008)
DISCLAIMER:
Citation
of Hebrew scripture and sources in articles or analyses is not in any way an
acceptance, approval or validation of the Jewish religion, its works or
scriptures. The Hebrew bible, like the Christian New
Testament and Muslim Qur’aan, is fictitious -- from a 6-day creation of
the universe; to cunning, walking, talking snakes; big fish tales; world flood
and an "Invisible Friend in the Sky" it is all fiction, a bold sham perpetrated on the world.
FOOTNOTE
1. Reverend Robert L. Brownlie; Rector, St.
Luke’s Anglican Church,
2. Reid Monaghan, The
Gospel Tradition – A Case Study, p 7-8; http://www.powerofchange.org/docs/apologetics/gospeltradition.pdf
3. Norman Baker Geisler, Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics (Grand Rapids: MI, Baker
Books, 1999); Dating of New Testament, p
529.
4. Martin Luther (1483 - 1546), On the Jews and Their Lies, 1543, Chapter XI
5. John
Cornwell, Hitler’s Pope: The Secret
History of Pius XII, September 30, 1999, Penguin Putnam
6. Louis L. Snyder, Hitler’s Elite, Shocking Profiles of the
Reich’s Most Notorious Henchmen, 1990, Berkley Books
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