Imagine, using the Church of Jesus Christ to turn upon and persecute the Jewish people! What a terrible return for all the good the Jews did us as Gentile Christians! it is worse than a slap in the face, or a rebuff, it attacking Jesus himself, who is a Jew, by perverting the Church for whom he died to raise up.
My own view of certain Church Fathers has been seriously damaged, even to a great extent, forcing me to wonder if these men were actually saved Christians despite their great renown and reputations of sanctity. They had seemingly gone mad, attacking the Jewish people so viciously as they did. But you can read the following statements yourself and make up your own mind as to what they represent. I cannot help but think, however, that such poison as we see in the following quotations must have worked its way all through the centuries up to our own time, where it is poisoning relations between Jews and Christians to this very day and hour, even influencing evangelists and church leaders in the evangelical ranks.
It is high time to become informed about this poison, and where it originates in the animus of Satan himself for the People of God, the Jews, and to repent of it and flee from it in every shape or form it takes!
For if we are still practicing Judaism, we admit that we = have not=20 received God=92s favor=85it is wrong to talk about Jesus Christ = and live like=20 Jews. For Christianity did not believe in Judaism, but Judaism in=20 Christianity.
"Epistle of Barnabas" Chapter 4vs 6-7 (between 130A.D. = and 138=20 A.D.)
Take heed to yourselves and be not like some piling up you = sins and=20 saying that the covenant is theirs as well as ours. It is ours, = but they=20 lost it completely just after Moses received it.
Justin Martyr - Dialogue with Trypho (Between 138A.D. = and 161=20 A.D.)
We too, would observe your circumcision of the flesh, your = Sabbath=20 days, and in a word, all you festivals, if we were not aware of = the reason=20 why they were imposed upon you, namely, because of your sins and = the=20 hardness of heart.
The custom of circumcising the flesh, handed down = from=20 Abraham, was given to you as a distinguishing mark, to set you off = from=20 other nations and from us Christians. The purpose of this was that = you and=20 only you might suffer the afflictions that are now justly yours; = that only=20 your land be desolated, and you cities ruined by fire, that the = fruits of=20 you land be eaten by strangers before your very eyes; that not one = of you=20 be permitted to enter your city of Jerusalem. Your circumcision of = the=20 flesh is the only mark by which you can certainly be distinguished = from=20 other men=85as I stated before it was by reason of your sins and = the sins of=20 your fathers that, among other precepts, God imposed upon you the=20 observence of the sabbath as a mark.
Origen of Alexandria (185-254 A.D.) =96 A = ecclesiastical writer=20 and teacher who contributed to the early formation of Christian=20 doctrines.
We may thus assert in utter confidence that the Jews will = not=20 return to their earlier situation, for they have committed the = most=20 abominable of crimes, in forming this conspiracy against the = Savior of the=20 human race=85hence the city where Jesus suffered was necessarily = destroyed,=20 the Jewish nation was driven from its country, and another people = was=20 called by God to the blessed election.
John Chrysostom (344-407 A.D.) =96 One of the = "greatest" of=20 church fathers; known as "The Golden Mouthed." A missionary = preacher=20 famous for his sermons and addresses.
The synagogue is worse than a brothel=85it is the den of = scoundrels=20 and the repair of wild beasts=85the temple of demons devoted to = idolatrous=20 cults=85the refuge of brigands and dabauchees, and the cavern of = devils. It=20 is a criminal assembly of Jews=85a place of meeting for the = assassins of=20 Christ=85 a house worse than a drinking shop=85a den of thieves, a = house of=20 ill fame, a dwelling of iniquity, the refuge of devils, a gulf and = a abyss=20 of perdition."=85"I would say the same things about their souls=85 = As for me,=20 I hate the synagogue=85I hate the Jews for the same = reason.
From "The Roots of Christian Anti-Semitism" by Malcolm Hay
St. Augustine (c. 354-430 A.D.), Confessions, = 12.14=20
How hateful to me are the enemies of your Scripture! How I = wish=20 that you would slay them (the Jews) with your two-edged sword, so = that=20 there should be none to oppose your word! Gladly would I have them = die to=20 themselves and live to you!
Peter the Venerable =96 known as "the meekest of men, a = model of=20 Christian charity"
Yes, you Jews. I say, do I address you; you, who till this = very=20 day, deny the Son of God. How long, poor wretches, will ye not = believe the=20 truth? Truly I doubt whether a Jew can be really human=85 I lead = out from=20 its den a monstrous animal, and show it as a laughing stock in the = amphitheater of the world, in the sight of all the people. I bring = thee=20 forward, thou Jew, thou brute beast, in the sight of all = men.
From "The Roots of Christian Anti-Semitism" by Malcolm = Hay
Martin Luther =96 1543
On The Jews and Their Lies
What then shall we Christians do with this damned, rejected = race of=20 Jews? Since they live among us and we know about their lying and = blasphemy=20 and cursing, we can not tolerate them if we do not wish to share = in their=20 lies, curses, and blasphemy. In this way we cannot quench the=20 inextinguishable fire of divine rage nor convert the Jews. We must = prayerfully and reverentially practice a merciful severity. = Perhaps we may=20 save a few from the fire and flames [of hell]. We must not seek = vengeance.=20 They are surely being punished a thousand times more than we might = wish=20 them. Let me give you my honest advice.
First, their synagogues should be set on fire, and whatever = does=20 not burn up should be covered or spread over with dirt so that no = one may=20 ever be able to see a cinder or stone of it. And this ought to be = done for=20 the honor of God and of Christianity in order that God may see = that we are=20 Christians, and that we have not wittingly tolerated or approved = of such=20 public lying, cursing, and blaspheming of His Son and His=20 Christians.
Secondly, their homes should likewise be broken down and = destroyed.=20 For they perpetrate the same things there that they do in their=20 synagogues. For this reason they ought to be put under one roof or = in a=20 stable, like gypsies, in order that they may realize that they are = not=20 masters in our land, as they boast, but miserable captives, as = they=20 complain of incessantly before God with bitter wailing.
Thirdly, they should be deprived of their prayer-books and = Talmuds=20 in which such idolatry, lies, cursing, and blasphemy are = taught.
Fourthly, their rabbis must be forbidden under threat of = death to=20 teach any more...
Fifthly, passport and traveling privileges should be = absolutely=20 forbidden to the Jews. For they have no business in the rural = districts=20 since they are not nobles, nor officials, nor merchants, nor the = like. Let=20 them stay at home...If you princes and nobles do not close the = road=20 legally to such exploiters, then some troop ought to ride against = them,=20 for they will learn from this pamphlet what the Jews are and how = to handle=20 them and that they ought not to be protected. You ought not, you = cannot=20 protect them, unless in the eyes of God you want to share all = their=20 abomination...
To sum up, dear princes and nobles who have Jews in your = domains,=20 if this advice of mine does not suit you, then find a better one = so that=20 you and we may all be free of this insufferable devilish burden - = the=20 Jews...
Let the government deal with them in this respect, as I = have=20 suggested. But whether the government acts or not, let everyone at = least=20 be guided by his own conscience and form for himself a definition = or image=20 of a Jew. When you lay eyes on or think of a Jew you must say to = yourself:=20 Alas, that mouth which I there behold has cursed and execrated and = maligned every Saturday my dear Lord Jesus Christ, who has = redeemed me=20 with his precious blood; in addition, it prayed and pleaded before = God=20 that I, my wife and children, and all Christians might be stabbed = to death=20 and perish miserably. And he himself would gladly do this if he = were able,=20 in order to appropriate our goods...
Such a desperate, thoroughly evil, poisonous, and devilish = lot are=20 these Jews, who for these fourteen hundred years have been and = still are=20 our plague, our pestilence, and our misfortune.
I have read and heard many stories about the Jews which = agree with=20 this judgment of Christ, namely, how they have poisoned wells, = made=20 assassinations, kidnapped children, as related before. I have = heard that=20 one Jew sent another Jew, and this by means of a Christian, a pot = of=20 blood, together with a barrel of wine, in which when drunk empty, = a dead=20 Jew was found. There are many other similar stories. For their = kidnapping=20 of children they have often been burned at the stake or banished = (as we=20 already heard). I am well aware that they deny all of this. = However, it=20 all coincides with the judgment of Christ which declares that they = are=20 venomous, bitter, vindictive, tricky serpents, assassins, and = children of=20 the devil, who sting and work harm stealthily wherever they cannot = do it=20 openly. For this reason, I would like to see them where there are = no=20 Christians. The Turks and other heathen do not tolerate what we = Christians=20 endure from these venomous serpents and young devils...next to the = devil,=20 a Christian has no more bitter and galling foe than a Jew. There = is no=20 other to whom we accord as many benefactions and from whom we = suffer as=20 much as we do from these base children of the devil, this brood of = vipers.
Translated by Martin H. Bertram, "On = The Jews=20 and Their Lies, Luther's Works, Volume 47"; Philadelphia: = Fortress=20 Press, 1971.
Martin Luther - 1543
Of The Unknowable Name and The Generations of=20 Christ
But your [God=92s] judgment is right, justus es Dominie. = Yes, so=20 shall Jews, but no one else be punished, who held your word and = miracles=20 in contempt and ridiculed, insulted and damned it for such a long = time=20 without interruption, so that they will not fall, like other = humans,=20 heathens and all the others, into sin and death, not up in Hell, = nor in=20 the middle of Hell but in the pit of Hell, as one cannot fall=20 deeper...
Even if they were punished in the most gruesome manner that = the=20 streets ran with their blood, that their dead would be counted, = not in the=20 hundred thousands, but in the millions, as happened under = Vespasian in=20 Jerusalem and for evil under Hadrian, still they must insist on = being=20 right even if after these 1,500 years they were in misery another = 1,500=20 years, still God must be a liar and they must be correct. In sum, = they are=20 the devil=92s children, damned to Hell...
The Jews too got what they deserved. They had been called = and=20 elected to be God=92s mouth as Jeremiah says...Open your mouth = wide and I=20 will fill it; they however, kept tightly closed their muzzles, = eyes, ears,=20 nose, whole heart and all senses, so he polluted and squirted them = so full=20 that it oozes from them in all places and devil=92s filth comes = from=20 them.
Yes, that tastes good to them, into their hearts, they = smack their=20 lips like swine. That is how they want it. Call more: =91Crucify = him,=20 crucify him.=92 Scream more: =91His blood come upon us and our = children.=92=20 (Matthew 27:25) I mean it came and found you...
Perhaps, one of the merciful Saints among us Christians may = think I=20 am behaving too crude and disdainfully against the poor, miserable = Jews in=20 that I deal with them so sarcastically and insulting. But, good = God, I am=20 much too mild in insulting such devils=85
John Calvin
A Response To Questions and Objections of a Certain = Jew
Their [the Jews] rotten and unbending stiffneckedness = deserves that=20 they be oppressed unendingly and without measure or end and that = they die=20 in their misery without the pity of anyone.
Excerpt from "Ad Quaelstiones et Objecta Juaei Cuiusdam = Responsio,"=20 by John Calvin; The Jew in Christian Theology, Gerhard Falk, = McFarland and=20 Company, Inc., Jefferson, NC and London,=20 1931.