Positive Portrayal of the Jewish People

[robrecht]

The Christian New Testament has plenty of seeds of antisemitism, some more full-grown than others. And the traditional Christian interpretations of their Old Testament is decidedly warped in favor of a Christian re-interpretation. Together, these tendencies have yielded a terrible societal prejudice against Jews often resulting in terrible violent murderous treatment of Jewish people. In its origins, however, the New Testament animosity toward 'Judaism' may have developed out of some limited persecution of early Christians by Jewish authorities. That in no way excuses or minimizes the horrible Christian crimes against Jews over the centuries. But it may help us better understand some of the New Testament writings in context.