Christians Against Anti-Semitism

A report and comment on religious trends and events being covered by the media.  This week’s item is from TheBostonHerald.com, September 6, 2002 with a headline: Christian scholars group decries anti-Semitism.Two years after Jewish scholars issued a historic document that called on Jews to re-examine their understanding of Christianity, a group of leading Christian scholars issued a response yesterday saying that teaching contempt of Judaism dishonors God.The ten point statement released at Boston College represents a reversal of some traditional Christian beliefs about conversion and the validity of Jewish doctrine.“If you believe that Jews are in a relationship with God that is enduring, then for them belief in Jesus Christ is not necessary,” said Joseph Tyson of Southern Methodist University in Dallas who chairs the Christian scholars group.Jewish leaders hailed the document as an important step in counteracting the resurgence of anti-Semitism coinciding with the conflict in the Middle East.“Genuine dialog means consultation, not confrontation,” said Rabbi Gilbert Rosenthal of the National Council of Synagogues.The document needs to be taught in every seminary and parochial school throughout the world.It’s overarching theme is that ancient rivalries should not define Christian/Jewish relations today.Central to that, the scholars agreed, is an understanding that Jesus lived and died as a faithful Jew and that Christians should not target Jews for conversion, a point Jewish leaders called critical.“It is virtually impossible to engage in dialog with someone who seeks to annihilate who you are,” said Rabbi Ruth Langer of Boston College.“Israel stands at the heart of who Jews are today, and it is a heart that is being torn apart.”Tyson noted that the statement was the work of the organization, an association of Protestant and Roman Catholic biblical scholars, historians, and theologians and not the official position of any religious institution.The document was signed by 21 of the groups 22 scholars.Cunningham declined to identify the member who chose not to sign, saying only that she agreed with the essence of it, but questioned the utility of releasing such a joint statement.The document is scheduled to be published in seven languages and the group hopes, will eventually be distributed and discussed in seminaries, parochial schools, and congregations world-wide.

Tom:

Something like this Dave, gets out because this is what people want.They don’t want to hear, especially in the area of religion, they don’t want to hear anything that smacks of being intolerant, of not giving individuals their freedom to believe whatever they want to believe and certainly don’t want to bring information that might help somebody understand the errors of the religious beliefs or in effect, come to truth.Truth doesn’t seem to be on the ballot here.

Dave:

Well it relates to what we were talking about with our first question: Is God in charge or isn’t he?In all of this what is missing is: well what does God say?I mean does God have any opinions?Now he’s the Creator of the universe, he’s our judge, heaven is his home.Are you going to be in heaven?Well then you are going to be there on God’s terms.There’s not a thought about that.It’s just whether we are going to offend someone.Well we don’t want to offend someone, we wouldn’t want to say that something’s right and something else is wrong.Wait a minute!What does the Bible say?The Old Testament and the New Testament both agree that men are sinners separated from God by sin.Isaiah 53 for example, in the very heart of the Old Testament scriptures.The prophet Isaiah says, “All we (that is we Jews), like sheep have gone astray.We have turned every one to his own way, and Yahweh, the Lord of hosts, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has laid on him (someone is coming—the Messiah and he’s going to pay the penalty) has laid on him, the sins of us all.With his stripes we are healed.”If we don’t believe that, we’re lost.I mean God became a man.The Old Testament—let’s take it and here’s the prophecy of the Messiah.“His name, a virgin will conceive and bring forth a child.You will call his name Emmanuel which means God is with you, God is coming to this earth now as a man through the virgin birth, his name will be called Wonderful, counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father.”This is God who has become a man to pay the penalty for our sins.He can’t just do a white wash job.He can’t just forgive us.He would be going against his own righteousness.He said the wages of sin is death.Sin is rebellion against God.We’ve been talking about it.You get banished from God’s universe from his presence forever.Oh, but that doesn’t enter into any of this.All their talking about is well, you shouldn’t say that some other group is wrong.After all they do have a relationship with God.Do they?What’s the relationship with God?What is the basis?

Tom:

Dave, let me interject this.It began by saying there is a contempt here for Judaism that dishonors God.Now wait a minute!Jesus had a contempt for Judaism.He was Jewish, alright?But the contempt was not for the Judaism that was really the Old Testament teaching.It was what man added and developed and so on.That’s where his contempt when.

Dave:

That’s right.

Tom:

So as you said, in other words, his contempt for them was because they had changed, altered, added to God’s rules, God’s laws, what God had taught.

Dave:

That’s right.They set up their own religion. And in doing that, they denied God’s authority, his right to make the rules.That’s the problem today.We have this idea of tolerance.You mentioned this is what their aiming for—tolerance.Wait a minute, what do you mean by tolerance?Would you like the police to be tolerant of crime?You want your doctor to be tolerant of disease?An NFL football player that gets whistled down for some gross infraction of the rules, he turns to the referee and says hey, you’re being intolerant!You can’t even play a game without rules.These guys don’t want any rules; they don’t want God to have any rules.They don’t want him to decide.They just want to be tolerant of one another and we’re all taking different roads to get to the same place, I mean it’s okay, whatever we decide upon, God should go along with that.He shouldn’t be so narrow-minded and dogmatic.Okay, we already explained it.It doesn’t work in any other area of life.

Tom:

Dave, a quote from this: “If you believe that Jews are in a relationship with God that is enduring…” in other words, what is their relationship with God?God certainly has given them promises that he will keep that are independent of where they are.That’s a relationship.It’s God’s relationship to them.Well what about their relationship to him?

Dave:

Go back and read what Jeremiah had to say.Go back and read what Isaiah and all the prophets had to say.These are Jews, these are the prophets sent from God and they are indicting the Jewish people with their disobedience and rebellion against God.And because of that the judgment of God would come upon them.So this is not anti-Semitism.Let’s face the facts, let’s find out what God has said, and then let’s submit to him.