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The Southern Israelite
Page 5
Some Observations On Interchanges Of
Jewish
and Christian
Sanctuaries
so of a Christian Church by a
>ngregation and of a syna-
y a Christian Church is not
• rience that is unique with us.
r or c. nturies upon centuries such a
, would have been impossible. It
been within the last few
'bat there has come in our
a spirit such that an inter-
of this kind has been possible.
11 begin with the bold, unem-
broidered statement that Christianity
r approached the question of
? relationship to the Jew in a Chris-
spirit. I believe that there is no
hristian who can read the story
Christian’s treatment of the
.ithout a blush of shame for the
an church. Our attitudes and
onduct have been dominated by
ion and prejudice; tradition
i has misinterpreted the facts
made us believe untrue things
the past and prejudice which
s those untrue concepts with
intense feeling.
us note first that the religion
f the Hebrew people was shown to
their sacred writings, the Old
TV'tament was characterized by two
t trends. One was embodied in
ests, the other in the prophets.
The religion of the priests was for
mal. objective, external, ritualistic,
ing the necessity of sacrificing,
and ceremonies. It rested upon
h r ty, upon liberalism It was ec-
stical, static, conservative,
religion of the prophets was
e reverse. It was personal, it
ritual. It rested upon experi-
ic*\ not authority, upon ethical be
am! not upon ritualistic cor-
It found God not by blood
e bulls and goats, but by the
s of the broken and contrite
It was spiritual, plastic, liberal,
o; it looked toward the future
not the past. It was the anti-
of almost all that the priestly
cult espoused.
e two trends were not unique
daism. They are simply the
nee of two types of minds, the
ative and progressive, and Ju
dith its keen, spiritual in-
v>ith its high moral monotheis
ms, unparalleled in history,
narked, as other religions, by
these two trends.
In
a re
caup
and
sr re a
Ual
pre-
who
trar
com
He
rien
and
Jt
esse
this situation came Jesus with
ious insight born of His own
experience with God. Jesus
up the spirit of the prophets
th the flaming intensity of His
ul sought to lead His people
new* embodiment of the spirit-
ence of their faith. Jesus did
• k to break from Judaism. He
father to help Judaism to free
fitual essence from the husk
useless externals. He was a su-
religious personality for
‘he primitive, the external, the
elements in religion were
te] y sloughed off. He lived and
ught the type of religious expe-
'yhich w’as both personally felt
c-ially expressed.
never broke with the spiritual
of Judaism. He never hated
W ritten for The Southern Israelite
the Jew’s. He loved His people, and,
as John put it, “having loved His
own He loved them unto the end.” He
taught love for one’s enemies. He
lived that love as on the cross He
prayed, “Father, forgive them.”
Had the disciples of Jesus retained
Jesus’ concept of religion, had they
been true to their Master, had they
retained His spirit of forgiveness, of
charity, his daring freedom of
thought, the difference during the last
nineteen hundred years would be be
yond imagination. But they did not.
We discover them building up a new
system just as iron-clad, just as ruth
less, just as static, as that which He
had deplored. And it was not long
before this new Christian movement
made a virtue out of hating the Jews.
The whole race was held responsi
ble and it was considered that loy
alty to Jesus required enmity against
the Hebrew people. They ignored the
fact that Jesus was suckled at a Jew
ish breast, that His training was that
of a Hebrew lad, that it w’as the God
of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob to
whom He prayed, that it was the in
sight of the prophets which He inten
sified.
They forgot that it was to the syn
agogue that He loved to go to wor
ship.
They forgot that the elements
which actually led to the crucifixion
were not the factors that were pe
culiar to Jews, but marked their own
lives as well.
Jesus was crucified, not by factors
that were distinctly Jewish, but be
cause of elements political and re
ligious which marked the life and at
tributes of all people in all time.
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THE WAILING WALL
Christendom today is not free from
the very elements that led to the cru
cifixion of Jesus. The whole struc
ture of Christian persecution of Jews
has been built on a foundation of
error, of misinterpretation, of preju
dice, and of enmity and distorted
truth.
Our responsibility as Christians in
this situation today is to seek eagerly
for the historical truth regarding the
relationship of our religious move
ments. We must abolish prejudice
which is the feeling which intensifies
our ignorance into a passion.
We need also as Christians to evi
dence a group penitence for the fail
ure of our churches to reveal a Chris
tian attitude.
We must seek to appreciate the
fine values which inhere in Judaism.
We must demonstrate an attitude of
good-will, brotherly interest and co
operative endeavor. We must demon
strate to the Jewish people as well
as to the world that brotherly love,
that passion for understanding, that
desire to understand and help which
will evidence the reality of our Chris
tian discipleship.
The long and terrible treatment of
the Jews for a period of nineteen hun
dred years has been unspeakable.
Years of bloodshed and butchery—
injustice and cruelty—falsehood and
slander, prejudice and hate, social os
tracism, cruel discrimination and un
just laws. It is a terrible tale. So
terrible that for myself, I cannot
think of it without shame. And who
ever is familiar with the history will
blush with shame. We have been un
der the tyranny of tradition and
prejudice.
Tradition has taught us hate and
enmity. Let us look at Judaism in a
liberal spirit—as has not been done in
the past. The ancient Jews were di
vided into two groups—the Priestly
and the Prophetic. The Priestly group
had to do with the ritual form-custom
—outside dogma—the husks of relig
ion—The Prophets were concerned
with the inner life, the spiritual, the
prophetic, the transcendental.
The whole country was seething
with revolt against Rome.
Into this life came Jesus with the
spiritual message of prophetic life.
Jesus was not an inovator of spirit
ual truth, he was an experiencer of
it. Every message of His was the
message of the prophets. His teach
ings were taken from the Pentatuch.
The story of the prodigal son, Hosea’s
wife, the Lord’s Prayer all had their
counterpart in the Old Testament and
the Talmud. The contributions of Je
sus were not only His teachings, but
He contributed his life. He took the
teachings of the prophets and car
ried them on with his own life. His
was not only a voice but an experi
ence.
Jesus never hated the Jews. He
loved them. He was a Jew.