WHAT!! …Christian Antisemitism’?!?! -5

  Christian antisemitism is an oxymoron…and historically the church’s greatest sin! Christian antisemitism is simply an abomination…and to be honest--an embarrassment to my life as a Christian! However, no matter how difficult the fact of ‘Christian antisemitism’ may be---as followers of Christ, we must first face it, repent, allow the Holy Spirit to change our hearts—and then ‘act’. One small step that our church does toward accomplishing the objective of ‘to act’ is to reach out to a couple of local Rabbis at synagogues near us with Christian love. A Chinese proverb declares, “A long journey begins with the first step.”
   Now, back to more difficult facts!
   Arguably…some of the greatest ‘Christian antisemitic’ statements made in antiquity were made by a preacher named John Chrysostom (344-407AD). However, before revealing his venom, I would like to offer a silver-lining. Once again using “The Anguish of the Jews”, author Edward Flannery writes, “…apparently some of his (Chrysostom) flock were frequenting synagogues and Jewish homes…”* After reading this, it gave me hope because--if true--this is evidence there were authentic followers of Christ in antiquity whom did not bow-the-knee to the plague of “Christian antisemitism”!
  Oftentimes when reading about ‘Christian antisemitism’ it can become overwhelming because not only is it difficult for any real Christian to accept the horror of its very existence, but that horror is exponentially magnified when it’s presented in such a manner as to cause us to think that it infects Christians everywhere, from the past to the present!! However, from Flannery’s previous statement regarding Christians “frequenting Jewish synagogues” in Chrysostom’s day, we now know that ‘like’ God reminded the prophet Elijah: “I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal” (Rom11:4; 1Kgs19:18); so too, Flannery’s words on the Christians and Jews, encourage us to know that  God always has a remnant of His own who will stand against the evil in their day, including the evil of ‘Christian antisemitism’! Amen & Amen!
  Moving forward. After Chrysostom finds out about the actions of his members “frequenting Jewish synagogues”…he snaps! Chrysostom’s nickname was “Golden-mouth” which refers to his incredible speaking gift. Chrysostom also has a planning gift. So, to his shame, he turns his spirit, soul, mind, gifts, and energies to literally create a series of sermons, even breaking down each sermon into categories, to more effectively articulate his attack on the Jews!
  So….brace yourself, and buckle your seatbelt of horror!!
 
1.‘Accusations’.
“Of their rapine, their cupidity, their deception of the poor, of thieveries, and huckstering?” How can Christians dare “have the slightest converse” with Jews, “most miserable of all men”! Men who are “…lustful, rapacious, greedy, perfidious bandits.” Are they not “inveterate murderers, destroyers, men possessed by the devil” whom “debauchery and drunkenness have given them the manners of the pigs and the lusty goat. They know only one thing, so satisfy their gullets, get drunk, to kill and main one another.” Indeed, “they have surpassed the ferocity of wild beasts, for they murder their offspring and immolate them to the devil.” “They are impure and impious…”
 
2.The Synagogue. Flannery writes, “Not only is it a house of prostitution, but a cavern of brigands, a “repair of wild beasts”, a place of “shame and ridicule”, the “domicile of the devil, as is also the soul of the Jews”. Indeed Jews worship the devil; their rites are “criminal and impure;” their religion is “a disease”. Their synagogue, again is “an assembly of criminals…a den of thieves…a cavern of devils, an abyss of perdition.”
 
  Flannery continues.
3.“Why are the Jews degenerate?” “Because of their “odious assassination of Christ.” “This supreme crime lies at the roots of their degradation and woes.” “And for this decide, Chrysostom declares, there is “no expiation possible, no indulgence, no pardon.” “Vengeance is without end. Jews, moreover, will always remain without temple or nation. The rejection and dispersion of the Jews was the work of God, not the emperors: “It was done by the wrath of God and His absolute abandon of you”. “Thus will Jews live “under the yoke of servitude without end.” “God hates the Jews and always hated the Jews, and on Judgment Day He will say to Judaizers, “Depart from Me, for you have had intercourse with my murderers.” “It is the duty of Christians to hate the Jews: “He who can never love Christ enough will never be done fighting against those (Jews) who hate Him.” “Flee, then, their assemblies, flee their houses, and far from venerating the synagogue because of the books it contains hold it in hatred and aversion for the same reason.” “Chrysostom himself gives the example: “…I hate the synagogue precisely because it has the law and prophets.” “I hate the Jews also because they outrage the law…” *
  Remember, these statements represent only the ‘highlights’--maybe a better word is ‘highlows’---of his sermon series!!!
  So…what does God think about Chrysostom’s diatribe?
 
1.I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
2.God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew…
                                   -Rom11:1-2 (NAS)
 
11.I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous.
12.Now if their transgression is riches for the world and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be!
                                               Rom11:11-12
 
For You have established for Yourself Your people Israel as Your own people forever, and You, O Lord, have become their God.
                                                                       -2Sam7:24 (NAS)
 
3.For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh,
4.who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises
                                               -Rom9:3.4 (KJV)
 
Scatter & Regather
1.“So it shall be when all of these things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind in all nations where the Lord your God has banished you,
2.and you return to the Lord your God and obey Him with all your heart and soul according to all that I command you today, you and your sons,
3.then the Lord your God will restore you from captivity, and have compassion on you, and will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you.
4.“If your outcasts are at the ends of the earth, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you back.
5.“The Lord your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers.
6.“Moreover the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.
                       -Deut30:1-6 (NAS)
 
   The all-encompassing question is: Did Pastor John Chrysostom read any of these passages? Or, the literally hundreds of other passages just like them?
 
May God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ have mercy!!!
 
 
*“The Anguish of the Jews”, Andrew Flannery, pgs51-52
 
 
Quotebit
The Bible is the only book where the author must be present to understand it!
                                   -Jeremiah Ferguson, son of Pastor Collin Ferguson