PASTORS
OF TODAY ― LEADERS OF TOMORROW?
Hugh Fogelman
& John Stone
The
mass genocide of millions of Jews all over Christian Europe required enormous
participation by huge numbers of people, both Catholic and Protestants. Less than
seven decades ago in Christian Europe, millions of people who considered
themselves to be Christians participated in Hitler’s “Final Solution” as
perpetrators, collaborators, or silent bystanders. In Christian seminaries
there are still some who can remember the Holocaust; they are teaching a new
generation of pastors. With the passing
of each generation, the horrors of the Jewish extermination program ―
Hitler’s “Final Solution”― which spread from one end of
As
history has revealed, the mystery mythological religions that were rampant in
the Greek and Roman world at the time of the New Testament Jesus apparently
became the medium after which Christianity patterned itself. It led to the
beginning of the deification of Jesus, which ultimately let to the Nicean Creed
in the 4th Century.
The
Roman Emperor Constantine was steeped in mythology before he “politically”
converted to Christianity as a mechanism to solidify his vast empire.
Constantine and his council at
As
Christianity grew, the moral messages (i.e. Sermon on the Mount) attributed to
Jesus were lost as the “mystery” of his person became the prime focus. The
Church boldly staked its future on “spiritual theology” (knowing that it could
never be proven otherwise) rather than historical facts, of which they had
none! As Christianity became more Hellenized, it spread more rapidly ―
after all Christian salvation was easy, just “believe.” By the year 300 CE, the
clergy had become a distinct class organized on a hierarchical basis of
deacons, presbyter, and bishops.
The
war of the Christian Church against the Jews began with the Church Fathers’
relentless attacks on those Jews who stubbornly refused to accept Jesus as
their savior. Despite the Christian belief that Jesus’ death was necessary and
predestined, they denounced the Jews as a “condemned race; those who killed god
― committed deicide.”
Because
of the growing power of the Church, Christian theology and the Church Fathers
were to become more and more obsessed with Jewish guilt. Origen echoed the
growing hostility and blasted the Jews in his sermons. Justin Martyr along with
Hippolytus was obsessed with the belief that the Jews were receiving and would
continue to receive God’s punishment for having murdered Jesus. The teachings
of the Fathers were handed down throughout succeeding generations in
Christendom.
As
the Church came into power in the 4th century, it turned on the
synagogues with even greater intensity. Jewish civil and religious status was
deteriorating, thanks to the influence the bishops had in the political arena.
Laws were passed denying Jews from entering various professions; denied them of
all civil honors; and their autonomy of worship was being threatened.
Christians felt that this growing evidence now supported their belief in divine
punishment. Chrysostom considered to be among the most beloved and admired in
Church history wrote:
“The Jews sacrifice their children to Satan – they are worse than
wild beasts. The synagogue is a brothel, a den of scoundrels, the temple of
demons devoted to idolatrous cults. The Jews have fallen into a condition lower
than the vilest animal. The Jews had become a degenerate race because of their
“odious assassination of Christ for which crime there is no expiation possible,
no indulgence, no pardon, and for which they will always be a people without a
nation, enduring a servitude without end.”
At
another time Chrysostom was quoted as saying;
“I hate the Jews because they violate the Law. I hate the synagogue
because it has the Law and the prophets. It is the duty of all Christians to
hate the Jews.”
The
scary part of all this, besides of the slaughter of Jews throughout history by
Christians, Chrysostom’s Homilies were used in seminaries and schools for
centuries, as model sermons, with the result that his message of hate was then
passed on to succeeding generations of theologians.
And
then there were the Crusades; "onward Christian soldiers,"
slaughtering Muslims until the streets ran deep with blood. According to the History Learning Site
― 70,000 Muslims
were killed in the first crusade in 1076 CE.
In
the light of history, one can not help but wonder if the events of this last
century have had any impact on today’s Christian theology students who will be
tomorrow’s pastors and teachers? As the foundational teachings of the faith and
the writings of the Church Fathers and “great Christian theologians” are
studied, are they accepted uncritically as indisputable authority?
As
students graduate from Christian seminaries, will they go on to teach large
number of Christians who will be even less informed about what the Christian
bible and the early Church Leaders actually said and wrote about the Jews and
Judaism?
As
these new pastors stand in their pulpits ― as these new missionaries go
out onto the world and talk about “the Jews;” the Pharisees;” the crucifixion
of Jesus; the evil Muslims; and the early Church ― will they no longer be
thinking about how the Holocaust came about, the Inquisition or the
crusades? Will they remember the legion of hate and murder by their
predecessors, all in the name of Jesus?
Will
these new pastors and teachers continue the anti-Semitism and also the Muslim
hating that was handed down to every Christian generation since the New
Testament was canonized in 397 CE?
Will
it ever end? Probably not!
"With or without religion,
you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things.
But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion." Steven Weinberg
Copyright © 2004, Christianity-Revealed.com. All rights reserved.