'Mission at Nuremberg' by Tim Townsend (SPCK, 308 pages, available from the publisher for £12.99 + FREE UK delivery)
This book tells the compelling story of Lutheran minister Henry Gerecke, the army chaplain who was sent to save the souls of the Nazis incarcerated at Nuremberg. In what was the most difficult mission that Gerecke was recruited to fulfil, he ministered to 21 Nazi leaders as they awaited trial, leaders such as Goering, Keitel, and von Ribbentrop.
Scrupulous Research
Townsend has clearly undertaken a large amount of scrupulous research and he includes many first-hand accounts, including interviews with still-living participants. In some ways his approach is rather 'bitty' but he does engage us in the events by taking us inside the Nuremberg Palace of Justice, into the cells of the accused and into the courtroom itself as the drama unfolds. The book also contains 16 pages of black and white photos.
Moving Accounts
One of its distinctive features is the inclusion of several marvellous vignettes of 'second tier' personalities and of the many generally unknown people who feature in the overall story. Who usually pays any attention to the wives and families of the convicted Nazis?
Townsend observes that hundreds of Nazis had been hanged long before the 21 notable defendants in Nuremberg faced their convictions. There are also good pen portrait summaries of the lives of these men, as well as accounts of the wretchedness of life in the bombed city and a moving focus on the horrendousness of Mauthausen.
For most of us history stops with the end of the Second World War in 1945. Once Hitler commits suicide in the bunker all is over. One of the chief delights of Townsend's book is to redress our knowledge and perceptions in this area. As in other recent history publications, the author seeks to awaken us to the harsh realities of the years of recovery that Europe has had to endure in order to be where it is today. Many people had hard and difficult lives post-1945.
For most of us, history stops at the end of WWII. But Townsend challenges this perception, awakening us to the harsh realities of post-1945 Europe.
Theological Reflections
In the second half of his book Townsend breaks the narrative (which does suffer throughout from jumping around chronologically) in three separate places with theological reflections on the source of evil, Luther's doctrine of consubstantiation and the nature of forgiveness. Christian readers may want to debate some of his affirmations: "forgiveness precedes repentance" (p286); "everyone is saved" (p287); "if God is master of both absolute good and absolute evil, he must also claim those of us who choose darkness" (p221).
But overall this is a book that causes you to think, which makes it a worthwhile contribution at this time of the 70th anniversary of the Nuremberg trials.
Christian readers may want to debate some of his affirmations – this is a book that causes you to think.
More information can be found on the book's website, missionatnuremberg.com.
Last week we looked at the difficult task given to prophets to teach people to fear the Lord. This week, we explore another side to the prophetic ministry - the precious ministry of comfort.
Part of the prophets' ministry is to reveal a God to be feared and to warn his people of their danger if they persist in their wrongdoing. Using abrasive speech, they may castigate the people for their disobedience to God's laws and spell out the consequences of continuing rebellion.
But there is another side to the prophetic ministry. "Comfort, comfort my people" (Isa 40:1) is a commission not to Isaiah only but to all who are anointed by the Spirit for the prophetic ministry. We shall not have a complete picture of what a prophet is unless we include his ministry of bringing God's comfort to his people in distress.
We do not have a complete picture of the prophet unless we include the ministry of bringing God's comfort to his people in distress.
Words of Comfort
The Hebrew word for 'comfort' most frequently used in the Old Testament comes from a root meaning 'to sigh or to breathe deeply', and indicates the sympathy in the heart of God. The word for 'compassion' comes from a root meaning 'to fondle' and stresses the intimacy existing between God and his people. It is from this same root that the symbolic name given by God to Hosea's daughter (Lo-Ruhamah, meaning 'not loved') is taken (Hos 1:6).
In the New Testament the words which are translated 'comfort' mostly begin with the prefix 'para' which we have in our English word 'parallel', indicating a 'running alongside'. This gives us the verb parakaleo, meaning to call alongside, and parakletos, the noun which we know in English as 'Paraclete', Jesus' name for the Holy Spirit. These words stress the fact that God draws near and enters into our situation.
Jesus' promise translated in the older versions as "I will not leave you comfortless" is really "I will not leave you as orphans" (Greek: orphanous, John 14:18). These words in both Testaments reveal the heart of the God, whose total character prophets are called to proclaim.
Both Old and New Testaments reveal that God's heart is full of sympathy towards his people and that he desires intimacy and closeness with them.
The God of Comfort and 'Compassion'
God describes himself as the One who comforts his people. "I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you that you fear mortal men?" (Isa 51:12). There is no reason to be afraid of men and of what they might do to us, when we have such a God caring for us.
David was under attack by ruthless men who were seeking his life. Mercifully there was a 'but' to be taken into consideration, for he goes on to say, "But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God" (Ps 86:15). We must always remember the God-factor in assessing the situation in which we find ourselves.
The writers of other psalms unite in declaring that "The Lord is gracious and compassionate" (Ps 111:4 and 145:8), and assure us that "The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made" (Ps 145:9). What a privilege prophets enjoy in being responsible for proclaiming God's goodness!
The prophet Isaiah instructs God's people to sing for joy as they are assured by the Lord that in his compassion he will bring his exiled people back to their homeland: "See, they will come from afar...shout for joy...for the Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones" (Isa 49:12-13). God did not cease to care for his people because they had sinned against him, and that concern is still true today.
God did not cease to care for his people when they sinned against him – and that is still true today.
Isaiah also foretold that Yahweh would comfort Zion and rebuild her: "The Lord will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, and her wastelands like the garden of the Lord" (Is 51:3). Surely this is a promise to claim on behalf of some of the devastated churches of our day.
Jeremiah pictures God's people returning from exile with weeping but goes on to say, "Then maidens will dance and be glad, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow" (Jer 31:13). How good when all ages can share together in the wonderful things that a God of comfort loves to do for his people.
Towards the end of Old Testament history when the seventy years' captivity in Babylon was nearly over, the question was addressed to the Lord, "How long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem?" In reply, "The Lord spoke kind and comforting words" (Zech 1:13). What a privilege the prophets of today enjoy when they speak 'comforting words' in the name of the Lord!
What a privilege today's prophets enjoy when they proclaim God's goodness and speak his comforting words!
God's Promised Comfort Delayed
The Old Testament makes it clear that God's comfort may be delayed, as the writer of the longest psalm discovered: "My eyes fail, looking for your promise; I say, when will you comfort me?" It is not long before we discover that we are in a hurry, but the Lord is not! God, from time to time, and for reasons best known to himself, does hide his face from his people and allow them to experience the 'dark night of the soul'. "Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning" (Ps 30:5). "For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will have compassion on you, says the Lord your Redeemer" (Is 54:7-8).
The prophet Jeremiah, with all the sad experiences described and wept over in his book of Lamentations, nevertheless comes to the conclusion that "It is because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithful¬ness" (3:22-23). God and his promises will not let us down and we can confidently pray, "May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant" (Ps 119:76).
For reasons best known to himself, God sometimes hides his face and allows his people to experience the 'dark night of the soul'. But this does not last forever - God's promises never fail.
God's Compassionate Comfort Described
God's care for his people is said to be like that of a mother for her child. "As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you" (Isa 66:13), but in another passage the same prophet affirms that God is more reliable in his caring than even the most devoted mother: "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!" (Isa 49:15).
The prophet Moses complained that God was expecting him to mother the children of Israel and he exclaimed, "Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth? Why do you tell me to carry them in my arms, as a nurse carries an infant, to the land of promise?" (Nums 11:12). Moses is not the first leader, nor the last, who has found leading the Lord's people a heavier responsibility than he can discharge. Only the Lord's own compassion distilled into the prophets' hearts can keep them going.
God's caring for his people is also likened to that of a shepherd, as we see from many references. One of the most familiar descriptions of God's caring love is that which compares him to a shepherd. Isaiah says, "He tends his flock like a shepherd. He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young" (Isa 40:11). God's caring includes children, nursing mothers and all who have special need of the Good Shepherd's care.
Stories of Comfort in the Old Testament
According to Genesis 5:28-29, Lamech (son of Methuselah, the oldest man that ever lived), when a son was born to him, decided to call him Noah. He did this because the Hebrew name Noah sounds like the word for 'comfort' and he believed that his baby son would help him and his wife to cope with the problems of hard work on unrewarding soil, after God had cursed the ground. True prophets are 'comforters' of those who find life hard, and the earth is a better place for their ministry.
When Jacob was shown the torn, blood-stained coat he had given to Joseph he cried out, "It is my son's coat! Some ferocious beast has devoured him..." (Gen 37:33). But when his sons and daughters assembled in their concern for him, he refused to be comforted. Like forgiveness, comfort needs to be accepted before it can effect its healing work.
He refused to be comforted and yet the truth of the matter was that his favourite son was alive and God's good purposes were one day to be revealed. The plans made by men and demons may have all the appearance of unmitigated disaster but in the end we shall be able to repeat Jacob's words, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good" (Gen 50:20).
The plans made by men and demons may have all the appearance of unmitigated disaster, but in the end we shall be able to repeat Jacob's words that what others intended for harm, God intended for good.
Ruth had had a sad life and both she and her mother-in-law had lost their husbands. When the question was raised of their returning to Bethlehem, her sister-in-law Orpah went back to Moab, but Ruth insisted on returning with Naomi. When Ruth went into the field of Boaz to glean she found comfort in this upright man and she expressed her appreciation in these words: "You have given me comfort and have spoken kindly to your servant" (Ruth 2:13). In these days when so many marriages neither work out nor last, what compassion prophetic counsellors need to comfort single parents and their families and to attempt to sort out the complex problems brought about by child ¬abuse and homosexuality.
The God of All Comfort
When Jesus returned from his temptation by Satan in the wilderness he went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and in the synagogue on the Sabbath day he read from the scroll of Isaiah, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me..." He claimed in the presence of his audience that that Scripture had been fulfilled in their hearing. The passage in Isaiah, continuing from where he left off, reads "To comfort all who mourn" (Isa 61:2), so we can see that Messiah's ministry included that of bringing comfort.
Before Jesus left his disciples he introduced them to the One who was to come in his place. He explained that he was the Spirit of truth and the Holy Spirit (John 14:26; 16:13), but he gave him a special name when he called him the paraclete, one who would come alongside his disciples after he had returned to his Father. The older versions of the Bible render this name the 'comforter'.
Jesus gave the Holy Spirit a special name when he called him the 'paraclete', one who would come alongside the disciples after he had returned to the Father.
As well as seeing in the coming of the Spirit the beginning of a new experience for the disciples as the paraclete comforted them at the return of Jesus to his Father, the New Testament shows that the coming of the Spirit makes possible a ministry of comfort to be conferred on Jesus' disciples as they receive the promised power from on high.
As Peter pointed out on the day of Pentecost, the result of the advent of the Spirit was that all Jesus' disciples would prophesy: "And they will prophesy" (Acts 2:18). This prophesying would take place in two main areas. First, in their world-wide prophetic witness (Acts 1:8), and secondly, in the assembly of God's people, where they would prophesy for the strengthening, encouragement and comfort of their fellow-believers (1 Cor 14:3).
Father, Son and Holy Spirit are thus seen to be each involved in a ministry of comfort and compassion, from which we have all benefited and in which we may all take part.
Father, Son and Holy Spirit are each involved in a ministry of comfort and compassion, from which we all benefit and in which we may all take part.
Let Paul have the last word: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we have ourselves received from God" (2 Cor 1:3-4).
First published in Prophecy Today, Vol 6, No 1, January/February 1989.
The Prophecy Today team members wish to express their deepest sympathies for those affected by the recent atrocities in Paris. As the world watches in horror and fear, Clifford Hill asks: how can we respond?
The attack upon Paris was a declaration of war against the West! The co-ordinated attack upon soft targets of unarmed civilians was a cowardly act of brutality that has shocked the whole Western world.
Every Western nation knows that it could happen to them. In every country the question is 'Which city will be the next target?' Will it be London or Washington or Brussels?
Immediate Reaction
Amid all the unanswered questions one thing is certain – the Paris atrocity will not be the last. The Islamists have declared war. But the big question facing Western nations is how should we react? Do we send our armies to the Middle East and blast our way through the complexities of civil war and tribal conflict in a vain attempt to destroy the terrorists in their strongholds?
The immediate reaction of President Hollande was that France would mobilise all her forces to destroy the terrorists, which was very similar to the reaction of President Bush after the 9/11 destruction of the Twin Towers in New York City. He quoted Isaiah 9:10 "The bricks have fallen down but we will rebuild with dressed stone; the fig-trees have been felled but we will replace them with cedars". But he had not read the previous verse which pours scorn upon such a reaction as driven by human pride. Bush invaded Iraq, which is one of the factors that has led to the present tragic situation in the Middle East.
If we use force to combat force, we will simply use bigger and more powerful weapons of destruction until we reach the ultimate weapons of mass destruction and destroy the world. Humankind has yet to learn the lesson that force is not the answer to force.
Humankind has yet to learn the lesson that force is not the answer to force.
We must stop, and study the enemy. We must not react in haste, or we will encourage a holocaust that will engulf the whole of humanity.
Facing Reality
The huge mistake that all the Western nations have made is to refuse to face the reality of the nature of Islam. We have deliberately suppressed open discussion about Islam and labelled it 'Islamophobia'. We have talked about terrorists as 'extremists' and tried to combat the so-called 'radicalisation' of young men. But all this has been counter-productive and has actually suppressed the truth about Islam.
We have to face the fact that in our ignorance about Islam we have allowed hundreds of mosques to be established across the Western nations where young men are taught that Islam is at war with the rest of the world; they are also specifically taught to hate Jews and Christians who must be either forcefully converted or destroyed. Young men are told that Allah, the god of Islam, requires them to be ready to offer their own lives to achieve such a purpose. This so-called 'radicalisation' is required in the Koran and is a fundamental part of Islam.
The huge mistake of Western nations is to refuse to face the reality of the nature of Islam. Open discussion has been suppressed as 'Islamophobic'.
It was perhaps the Islamist hatred of Jews that was the reason why the Bataclan Theatre in Paris was targeted – because it is Jewish-owned and has staged pro-Israel productions in the past. When the Charlie Hebdo attack took place earlier this year a Jewish restaurant was also targeted.
Different Values
The Western Christian nations have to learn that Muslims live in a totally different world with a totally different set of social values from those that Christians embrace from the Bible.
A Muslim is allowed to deceive and lie if it advances the cause of Islam; they believe that they are serving Allah when killing Jews and Christians and if they die while murdering them they will be rewarded in the life hereafter. This lack of respect for human life is in stark contrast to Judaeo-Christian teaching, where life is seen as a sacred gift from God.
Our Response
How should we react to the Paris atrocities? We should study the teaching of Islam and the history of Muhammad, who indiscriminately slaughtered Christians and Jews and anyone else who opposed him (he would undoubtedly approve of the slaughter in Paris). We need to recognise the spirit that drives those who follow the teaching of Islam, whether it is in the Middle East or in Nigeria or in France.
Most importantly, we should ask seriously: why did God allow this atrocity to happen? Have the Western nations put themselves outside the protection of God by abandoning their Judaeo-Christian heritage - by passing laws that are directly contrary to the Bible - by indulging in practices that are offensive to God?
We should study the teaching and history of Islam, as well as the teaching of the Bible, and we should ask seriously: why did God allow this atrocity to happen?
But we should also study the teaching of the Bible which makes it clear that spiritual forces can only be overcome by a more powerful Spirit. The Apostle Paul says:
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Eph 6:12)
He recommends putting on the full armour of God for our own protection and seeking the power of God to overcome the spirit of evil in the world.
It is a very hard lesson to learn, even for committed Christians, that love is actually stronger and more powerful than hatred. Truth, goodness and generosity are more powerful than evil and violence. The battle with Islam cannot be won with human weapons but only through the Spirit of God.
The Bible makes it clear that spiritual forces of evil can only be overcome by a more powerful Spirit – the Spirit of God.
Weekly Readings: Genesis 23:1-25:28, 1 Kings 1:1-31, Matthew 1:1-17; 1 Corinthians 15:50-57.
Sarah was central to God's purpose for Israel. She was chosen just as Abraham was and in a few brief chapters we survey their life together. She gave birth to and nurtured Isaac into manhood. Her faith was tested just as Abraham's was and indeed she grew in faith to please God.
The Life and Death of Sarah
Sarah's was a long life by today's standards - a full 127 years. The account of her life is brief by comparison to its length, and the account of her death is even briefer. Yet there is enough in the account of her death to cause us to pause and reflect.
Death was certain for Sarah as it is for every human being. As we meditate on her passing and, for that matter, the death of many others in the Bible, death is taken into the compass of a life. She lived and she died - death being a part of the continuum of the life of faith. We know that her death was not final, any more than it is for any of God's family of faith. She is prominent in Genesis and she is also prominent in the book of Hebrews:
By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. (Heb 11:11)
Her prominence in Hebrews, along with her husband Abraham and many others, is because they looked forward to the fulfilment of God's eternal promises, to be completed in a time and place beyond the transient life on earth – however difficult and long that life had been.
Dying in Faith
The brief account of Sarah's death is full of things to consider particularly in an age where many people are losing sight of the way to die in faith, treasuring the last days as much as the former ones of our life.
Chiefly, her death was full of dignity. It was a step of faith for her and for Abraham. Nevertheless, mourning was a full part of the human response and care was taken over her burial. All surely was in the hands of God - a glorious death for this reason.
Precious to God
Life is precious for us all. Old age has its place in the God-ordained processes of life. If, during our lives, like Sarah, we allow God to build our faith through the hills and valleys of experience, then we too in dignity will die in faith at the right time.
Life is precious right to the end and the death of a disciple is as precious to God as the life we have lived. Let us learn to trust him in all this, as surely Sarah did.
Author: Clifford Denton
It was with great sadness that we heard of the death of Dennis Wrigley earlier this week. He was the founder and leader of the Maranatha Community, with prayer groups in many parts of the UK and Ireland. Dennis had a unique ministry that was both prophetic and practical. His wise and biblically-based teaching and personal witness will be greatly missed among ministry leaders as well as in his own community.
The funeral will be on Monday 23 November, in Manchester.
Details from Maranatha Community Office, 102 Irlam Road, Flixton, Manchester M41 6JT. Tel (01617) 484858.
Rev Dr Clifford Hill
Listen to a recent sermon from our Study Editor, Dr Clifford Denton.
One of our own team at Prophecy Today, Dr Clifford Denton, spoke last week at Father's House in North Wales, on the topic of going deeper in the word of God.
You can listen to his sermon by clicking on this link (running time: 57:48).
'Almost Midnight' by Richard Thompson (New Wine Press, 2008, 255 pages, available from Amazon for £9.99)
The Times of the Gentiles
The basis of this book is an extensive examination of Luke 21:24 and the "much-misunderstood period which Jesus called 'the times of the Gentiles', and the main issues associated with it" (p9). Its chief message is how this period of punishment for the Jewish people (trampled on by the Gentiles) should be measured and how it is being implemented by God. Its underlying theme is therefore the role of Israel within God's end time scenario. Here is a fascinating study into the relationship between God's ancient people and the events still to come in 'the last days'.
This is not a book for the novice and is best seen as a more detailed analysis for those already well-informed about the basics of end time ideas and who are prepared to look again at Biblical chronology within Old Testament prophecies and the end time portions of the New Testament. It is a fairly complex book, at times rather crowded, with plenty to think about and work through.
However, the author is clear that his aim is not to "unravel these issues for the sake of intellectual argument, but to reveal more clearly how God views Israel, Europe and the Middle East in the run up to the return of Jesus" (p247). Furthermore, he discusses what our response should be - namely to turn to God for greater discernment and plead with him in prayer and petition, as Daniel did in his time (see Dan 9).
This fascinating, complex book is concerned with Israel's role in God's end time scenario.
Three Decades of Study
This is the author's first book and the result of thirty years' study in the scriptures on the subjects of Israel and the end times. Clearly this is his speciality and comes across as such. He also emphasises his own personal calling, explaining how several prophetic words and visions from 1977 onwards have spurred him on to be 'a watchman of His word' on these issues.
Approach
The book falls into three parts. The first examines Israel's place in history and the future, while the second explains how Israel functions as 'God's clock' to world events. His final section takes up the theme of the Roman Empire as an ancient kingdom and its modern equivalent, the EU.
The author provides lots of scriptures, usually quoted in full and often more than once. He repeats them whenever he feels the need to back up his argument. Clearly he is playing safe here but it can make the book a little tedious, even over-crowded; some sections are nothing more than Biblical quotes with little extra to connect them as though the essence of the book is to keep stringing the scriptures together.
Times and Dates
His main objective remains to "calculate the times", with details of how we are to understand the 'years' from the Biblical evidence. Clearly there is something in this, and others have done it before, so perhaps the main value of the book is as a useful comparison. What makes his contribution distinctive, however, is that he comes up with the notion that 2018 will be a significant year; this is where many of the chronological clues in end time prophecies come to a head.
He is keen to stress that this is not a prophetic statement from him, but he believes it is worth considering from the Biblical data whether 2018 will be "marked with a major event" (p133), if not the return of Christ then something else significant. So, for him, it is almost midnight, and for us, we have a couple of years left to investigate and decide for ourselves!
Second Book
Having published this book in 2008, the author clearly felt another on similar lines was needed a few years later, and so produced The Two Israels of God in the Last Days, (New Wine Press, 175 pages, 2012, £9.99). This may be a useful companion volume but there is a huge overlap and some parts are virtual repeats. Again the main purpose is to examine the prophetic timetable found in Biblical chronology and, as before, a lot of work is required by the reader to follow him through all this.
Thompson continues to show up the error of replacement theology but equally warns that being too pro-Israel can also lead to error. However, his main point is that far from abandoning the nation of Israel, God has a special place for her in fulfilling prophecy at the end of this age. Yes, she is in a time of judgement but this will end. It is all part of the preparation for the coming of her Messiah, at which point there will be restoration and a re-grafting into the cultivated olive tree.
Thompson's main point is that far from abandoning the nation of Israel, God has a special place for her in fulfilling prophecy at the end of this age.
Perhaps this book should be subtitled, Are we nearer midnight? It is left to the reader to decide.
Germany's welcome to the refugees seems to go above and beyond the call of duty. What is driving it?
Europe is facing an unprecedented population influx of refugees and economic migrants. Increasingly, it is becoming a melting pot of race and culture as thousands flee to what they perceive to be a safe political and economic haven.
But what is the European Union? Is this increasingly uneasy grouping of nations a truly safe and welcoming haven for migrants? Perhaps the only common driver for governments and citizens (and migrants hoping to become citizens) is our relative economic security and a desire to live in peace, or at least the absence of war.
Is this increasingly uneasy grouping of nations a truly safe and welcoming haven for migrants?
Merkel's Faith
The country leading this federation has the worst track record when it comes to treatment of outsiders. Yet Germany is unquestionably Europe's leader and Angela Merkel its most influential premier, perhaps deservedly so. The former scientist with a doctorate in Physics is the daughter of a Lutheran pastor and has declared:
I am a member of the Evangelical Church. I believe in God, and religion is also my constant companion, and actually has been my entire life. I find it very liberating that as a Christian, one can make mistakes, that one knows there is something higher than just human beings, and that we are also called on to shape the world in responsibility for others. This is a framework for my life, which I consider very important.1
Merkel may belong to the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party but public declarations of personal faith are rarely uttered by German politicians. However, Merkel's biographer, Volker Resing, called her life story The Protestant,2 illustrating the centrality of faith for the German Chancellor. He reveals that in 2009, when Angela Merkel and Barack Obama met in Dresden they sat together in quiet prayer in the Frauenkirche, an event most Germans remained unaware of because Merkel did not allow pictures.3
Germany may have the worst track record when it comes to treating outsiders, but it is unquestionably Europe's leader and Merkel is its most influential premier – perhaps deservedly.
Attitude to Refugees
In September, speaking at the University of Bern, Switzerland, the German Chancellor was asked about the "dangers of the Islamisation of Europe". In response, she encouraged Christians to embrace their identity: "I would like to see more people who have the courage to say 'I am a Christian believer'. And more people who have the courage to enter into a dialogue".
In Germany where, as in most of Europe, church attendance has declined, Merkel suggested people should go back to the "tradition of attending a church service now and then, and having some biblical foundations". She pointed out that many do not have an understanding of Christian concepts like Pentecost. She suggested that the debate about Islam and the identity of Europe, "could lead us to deal again with our own roots and to know them better."4
Angela Merkel, the daughter of a Lutheran pastor, has been encouraging church attendance and calling for Christians to embrace their identity.
Commenting on those who have responded with trepidation to the numbers entering Germany, she said, "Fear was never a good advisor" and "Cultures that are marked by fear will not conquer their future."5
The Sins of the Past
Some fear is surely healthy, such as fear of repeating the sins of the past. Merkel has always been quick to own up to German responsibility for the Holocaust. "The Shoah fills us Germans with shame. I bow before the victims. I bow before the survivors and before all those who helped them survive," she said in her address to the Israeli Knesset (parliament) in 2008. "The mass murder of six million Jews, carried out in the name of Germany, has brought indescribable suffering to the Jewish people, Europe and the entire world."6
However, anti-Semitism is on the rise in Germany once again. According to one report, "Scrawling swastikas on synagogues, Jew-baiting during demonstrations, desecration of Jewish cemeteries", are taking place today. Apparently, the word 'Jew' is once again an insult and bullying of Jewish schoolchildren comes from Arab children but mainly from those influenced by the far right.7
Is it this history and re-emergence of intolerance in sections of German society that is encouraging Angela Merkel to take the lead in the migrant crisis and allowing huge numbers to enter Germany? Germany needs migrant workers, but the scale of immigration surely far exceeds its need. Germany is expecting 800,000 to 1 million by the end of 2015 and its Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel has said Germany can take 500,000 a year for several years.8
In welcoming so many refugees, is Merkel seizing the chance to show that Germany has repented for the Holocaust and its past intolerance towards outsiders?
Repentant Democracy?
In the face of what many in the Jewish community today are likening to the Jewish flight from Nazi Germany, is this former dictatorship proving itself to be the kindest-hearted democracy of all? Is Germany being given a second chance? Angela Merkel is perhaps seizing the opportunity to show that Germany has learnt the lessons of its history of intolerance and hatred towards the outsider.
It may be that this openness, directly from the seat of power, is a result of the various acts of repentance over Germany's responsibility for the Holocaust initiated by German Christians, such as the Protestant community of nuns known as the Evangelical Sisters of Mary.9
Opportunity for the Gospel
European Christians have struggled to take the gospel to the Muslim world, but that world is now coming to Europe and Germany in particular: the former graveyard of Europe is yielding new life and spiritual hope for a wave of ethnic and religious outsiders, as German churches open their buildings to refugees amid reports of mass conversions to Christianity.10
European Christians have struggled to take the gospel to the Muslim world, but now that world is coming to us.
The pastor of a Berlin church has seen his congregation at the evangelical Trinity Church grow from 150 to more than 600 in just two years, describing the number of conversions as a miracle. Some have raised the concern that these conversions are not genuine but are made in hope of increasing their chances of staying in the country. In Afghanistan and Iran conversion from Islam is a capital offence and so they trust that the German government would not send them back to certain death. However, Angela Merkel has said that Islam "belongs in Germany" and that conversion is no guarantee of asylum.11
Fear or Faith?
Many also fear a stealth or soft jihad, a sleeper population of Muslim insurgents who will in time out grow their host population. However, should we not see the current crisis as a God given opportunity to bring the gospel to those whose national borders have kept them as spiritual prisoners? We need to ask ourselves if God is more interested in preserving our national borders or in the salvation of people groups.
Is God more interested in preserving national borders or in saving people?
In Britain, we too have opportunities to show kindness to refugees and migrants. Do we retreat in fear or welcome in faith? Britain and Europe have squandered their Christian inheritance, but we, the remnant Church, must rise to the challenge to bring comfort and hope to the stranger in our land. Our nation offers prosperity, political freedom and cessation of war, but the Church now has the opportunity to offer true freedom and peace.
References
1 Angela Merkel Believes in God. Dialogue International, 29 November 2012.
2 Resing, V, 2009. Angela Merkel: Die Protestantin. St Benno, Auflage.
3 Warner, M B. Merkel raises eyebrows by raising religion. Global Post, 27 November 2012.
4 'Courageous Christians with biblical foundations' needed, says Merkel. Evangelical Focus, 7 September 2015.
5 Ibid.
6 Tom Chivers and agencies. Germany is 'filled with shame' over Nazi holocaust, Angela Merkel tells Israel. The Daily Telegraph, 18 March 2008.
7 Asche, C. Anti-Semitism Is On The Rise In German Schools. Huffington Post Germany, 3 April 2015.
8 Migrant crisis: Germany 'can take 500,000 asylum seekers a year'. BBC News, 8 September 2015.
9 See Faithful, G, 2014. Mothering the Fatherland: A Protestant Sisterhood Repents for the Holocaust. OUP.
10 Huggler, J. German churches open the doors to refugees under protection of ancient custom. The Daily Telegraph, 15 March 2015.
11 Taylor, F. Hundreds of Muslim Refugees convert to Christianity in German church. Christianity Today, 7 September 2015.
Is Euroscepticism a sign of a deeper dissatisfaction with the direction in which Britain is heading?
Over the next few months the question of whether Britain should be in or out of Europe is no doubt going to occupy a great deal of the news media. David Cameron's publication of the demands that he intends presenting to the European Council were a surprise only for the mildness of what he expects to achieve.
Mild Demands
In his letter to European Council President Donald Tusk, the Prime Minister set out his four key objectives for the re-negotiation of Britain's place in Europe. They are: –
- Protection of the single market for Britain and other non-Euro countries
- Boosting competitiveness by setting a target for the reduction of the 'burden' of red tape
- Exempting Britain from 'ever-closer union' and bolstering national parliaments
- Restricting EU migrants' access to in-work benefits such as tax credits
With such a mild set of demands an impartial observer could be forgiven for wondering what all the fuss is about! In any case, to get any meaningful changes in the EU's governing treaties before 2017, when Cameron has promised a referendum, is quite impossible. His demands are far too modest to satisfy those who want to see substantial differences in Britain's relationship with Europe.
The demands will be formally debated by the EU leaders at a summit next month, although no doubt most of the EU leaders were already well aware of what our Prime Minister is asking. He has had extensive talks with Angela Merkel, who has already indicated that she would go a long way to make concessions that will keep Britain in the EU - provided nothing infringes on the free movement of people within the Union.
Battle for Greater Independence
One thing David Cameron has already made clear to the rest of Europe is that Britain is totally opposed to any closer political union within the EU. But whether he can achieve greater independence and - in particular – freedom to control our own borders, is very doubtful. Perhaps the greatest danger is that the EU leaders will collectively conspire to make the achievement of even the smallest concessions look extremely difficult so that Cameron is able to claim a magnificent victory in the face of fierce opposition.
David Cameron might have made it clear that Britain opposes closer political union within the EU, but will he manage to achieve greater independence for the UK?
Our Prime Minister could then put his 'hard-won' victory to the British people and achieve a 'Yes' vote for staying in the EU without actually ever having achieved what the Eurosceptics want – greater independence so that we can make our own laws and re-gain our national sovereignty, for which we fought two world wars. They want to be able to trade with Europe without being under the heel of Brussels.
Deeper Dissatisfaction
But is there not a deeper reason why so many people want freedom from the European Union? A recent poll reported on the Conservative Home website says that more than two-thirds of Conservative Party members are likely to vote for Britain to leave the EU. Why is this? What is making people so dissatisfied with the present situation?
Could the reason for this dissatisfaction be the vague sense of having lost our national heritage? The older generation, in particular, has lived through the most incredible period of social change in our history. The changes have not only been in technology and scientific discovery that have given us space travel, the internet, heart transplantations and weapons of mass destruction; but also radical changes to our whole culture and national way of life. It is now hard to define 'British values'– what it is to be British.
What is making people so dissatisfied with the present situation? Could it be the vague sense of having lost our national heritage – what it means to be British?
Change of Pace
Even our humour and entertainment have changed beyond all recognition in the past decade or so - as looking at old films from the 1970s or 80s confirms. I was never very keen on films such as the 'Carry On' series, but at least they were harmless slapstick nonsense - although many of their subjects would fall foul of our politically correct restrictions today. Moreover, you could take the children to see them without blushing at the filthy language that litter so many films and TV programmes today!
Many of today's Eurosceptics are really looking for 'the good old days' when life was a lot simpler and the pace was not so hectic. One of my friends who works on a TV news programme told me the other day that she has on average 500 emails a day! I usually have 40 or 50 a day (plus 2 or 3 scam phone calls) but even that I find a drain on my time and a huge test of my patience and endurance!
Abandoned Foundations
We are not going to be able to put the clock back or make radical changes to our national way of life whether we stay in the EU or whether we wave goodbye. The plain fact is that as a nation we have abandoned the most valuable part of our heritage that has been part of the foundations of this nation for hundreds of years. What I'm referring to is our biblical heritage: the values and principles that were enshrined in the nation that gave us freedom and justice and schools and hospitals and welfare programmes. Rights and obligations were built into our unwritten national code: respect for other people, plus honesty, truthfulness, integrity, faithfulness, loyalty, love and generosity.
All these things were part of being a good citizen; they were taught in church and school, so that they became part and parcel of being 'British'. They were taken for granted as part of the national character. This is what we have lost through the onslaught of secular humanism and the aggressive campaigning of cultural anarchists who care nothing for truth and integrity, but care only for themselves and the achievement of their destructive objectives – especially destroying family life.
Our biblical heritage enshrined principles of freedom and justice into our nation – but we have taken these things for granted as part of 'British' character, and now they are being lost.
Spiritual Rebirth
Whether we stay in the EU or get out may not make much difference to the cultural life of the nation. The only way to bring about fundamental change is through a spiritual rebirth: the rediscovery of the spiritual dynamic that can set us free from the powers of darkness that are driving us towards an ever greater national catastrophe. Our young people are being threatened by indoctrination with evil and corrosive values that, if left unchecked, will spread a social cancer across the nation. Many people no longer recognise ultimate values of truth and integrity but are being seduced by the nihilistic hedonism of the age.
But the tide could still be turned if all the Christians in Britain would be active in sharing their faith! Angela Merkel recently spoke of her strong evangelical Christian faith and called upon German Christians to be more active in speaking about their faith with their new Muslim neighbours coming from the Middle East in such large numbers. It would be great to hear more of this kind of witness from our national leaders.
Clifford Denton surveys the tragic abuse of Jews in Europe through the Dark Ages and the Middle Ages, by Church and State. What responsibility did Christians bear then - and what should our response be now?
In previous instalments our focus has been on the separation that occurred between Church and Synagogue, from the early centuries of the Common Era through to the 'Early Church Fathers'. Alongside this we have mentioned the parallel growth of anti-Semitism.
This, in turn, added further impetus to the separation, both as a fruit of, and as a contribution to, the gulf between the two communities.
This week we will look at the Middle Ages, where the fruit of anti-Semitism was coming to maturity.
Treatment of Jews by Christians
Marvin Wilson introduces this topic (Our Father Abraham, p98) as follows:
In the Middle Ages, Christian culture largely excluded Jews. Jews sought to avoid social, economic, and ecclesiastical pressures by living in secluded quarters of cities. They were considered useful primarily for one purpose, money-lending. This isolation from the larger society led Christians to accuse Jews of being a pariah people. Stripped of many personal liberties and victimized by an elitist "Christian" culture, Jews were required to wear a distinctive hat or patch sewn on their clothing. The very idea of "Hebraic" was commonly equated with "satanic".
Jews experienced a barrage of accusations. They were said to have had a peculiar smell, in contrast to the "odor of sanctity." Jews were also said to be sucklers of sows. They were held responsible for many evils, the "Christ-killer" charge still prominent. Jews were also called desecraters of the Host, allegedly entering churches secretly and piercing the holy wafer out of which "real blood" of Jesus flowed. They were accused of murdering Christian infants in order to use their blood (instead of wine) at the Passover Seder. During the Black Plague, which killed one-third of Europe's population, Jews were blamed for causing the plague by poisoning wells. [emphases added]
Such was the fruit of the early separation of Christianity from its Hebraic roots. We might have expected the world to persecute the scattered tribes of Israel. The Church should have mourned for them and comforted them, recognising their place in the Olive Tree of Romans 11.
The Middle Ages
And so we come to the Middle Ages, the years around 1000 AD. Theological differences between Christians and Jews had emerged even in the second century, strengthened by the philosophical ideas of the 'Church Fathers' that re-interpreted Scripture through the mindset of Plato and Aristotle. These things separated Christians from Jews so much that they would appear to have grown from the roots of two different trees. The next step was the persecution of Jews by 'Christians'.
By the Middle Ages, Christians and Jews had become so separated that they would appear to have grown from the roots of two different trees.
A prominent survey of anti-Semitism over 23 centuries is The Anguish of the Jews by Edward H Flannery (Paulist Press, 2004). We will consider some more of the details of anti-Semitism in the Middle Ages by reviewing chapters 4 to 6 of this book.
The Dark Ages
Flannery begins his survey by assessing the treatment of Jews in the Dark Ages, the centuries which preceded the Middle Ages (p66):
The Middle Ages meant one thing to the Christian, another to the Jew. For the latter, they not only began earlier and ended later but assumed a direction opposite to the general current of history. The earlier period, often called the Dark Ages, was for Jews a time of shifting fortunes but, as a whole, was relatively bearable. As the medieval period reached its culmination – the golden age of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries – the dark night of Judaism began.
The Dark Ages – from the fifth to the eleventh century – witnessed a world in travail...A great Empire in decline, ceaseless barbarian invasions, Persian wars and Moslem encirclement – such were the elements of disarray from which the Church, sole unifying force extant, was to forge the unity that would be Christian Europe...It was a period in which the mantle of temporal as well as spiritual governance was often thrust upon the Church, but one, conversely, in which its spiritual authority often suffered encroachment.
Judaism's situation presented a picture as chaotic as that of the times. Little can be said that applies to all Jewry or to the whole period. Hence the necessity of following the vagaries of Jewish fortunes from East to West, from Gaul to Spain, Persia to Arabia where their prosperity or degradation depended as much on the will of pope, king, bishop, council, caliph, noble, or mob as it did on law. Recalcitrant to the emerging unification, Jews received special attention almost everywhere. Jewish-Gentile altercations were not the infrequent result, but by and large, on the popular and often ecclesiastical and political level, Jews fared well. [emphases added]
Conflicts and Restricted Rights
Roman law imposed itself on the Jewish world as on other people groups. In the Eastern Empire Jews were often resentful of restrictive measures. In addition to this, at times Christians ignored statutes that protected Jewish rights. This led to conflicts, including those at Antioch. There were massacres and burnings of synagogues in the reign of Zeno (474-91). This continued into the following century, one recorded incident being when, "a monk of Amida, named Sergius, incited a mob and burned down a synagogue, in the wake of which a veritable contest of church and synagogue burning and rebuilding ensued" (quoted by Flannery, p68).
The Emperor Justinian (483-565) enforced new legislation which was far more restrictive on Jews than before. Among the restrictions was a narrowing of property rights, a barring from public functions and the inability to testify against a Christian. Jews could not celebrate Passover before Christian Easter. The Bible could not be read in Hebrew, and the Mishnah was banned. Those who did not believe in the resurrection, the last judgment or the existence of angels were to be excommunicated and put to death.
These were among the measures intended to bring Judaism under some sort of control, but it instead brought exasperation and later in the century resulted in violence, including the killing of many Christians in Antioch at the turn of the century. Many Jews joined the Persians in 614 in the conquering of Jerusalem where 30,000 Christians were killed.
In the fifth and sixth centuries, measures introduced to bring Judaism under control instead brought exasperation and outbreaks of violence.
There was retaliatory action from Christians later and many Jews were killed when Jerusalem was retaken under Heraclius in 628. Once more Jews were barred from the city. Heraclius, like some others, attempted to bring unity by forced baptisms of Jews.
Judaism a Crime
Judaism became a sort of crime against the state for several centuries. The Second Council of Nicaea (787) prohibited Jews who practised Judaism in secret to be admitted to the Church or sacraments. It also insisted on their practising aspects of Judaism openly once they were baptised but, as Flannery points out:
The Church's prohibition, reiterated many times during the next millennium, seemed powerless against the medieval urge to enforce religious and cultural unity. The history of forced conversion would be long, heartrending, and bloodstained before it reached its high point centuries later in the Spain of Ferdinand and Isabella. (p71)
Though there was more acceptance of Judaism in the Western Empire at this time, the same tensions caused by the exaltation of Christianity over Judaism still existed. In the reign of Pope Gregory I (590-604), there was a zeal to convert Jews and to suppress Judaizing. However, Jews were given legal right to attend their synagogues.
Forced Conversions
Persecution did break out in Spain in the reign of King Sisebut (612-21). The Jews were given the ultimatum to be baptised or go into exile. Approximately 90,000 were converted while many thousands fled the country.
Later it was observed that forced conversions were not really effective and tensions remained. Baptised children of un-baptised Jewish parents were taken from them for a Christian education, a practice that occurred in later centuries too. We read that later:
The summit of oppression was reached under King Erwig (680-87), who enacted twenty-eight laws designed to make the existence of Jews and Judaizers intolerable: Jews were ordered to accept baptism; Jewish converts must obtain a permit from a priest to undertake a journey; they were forced to listen to Christian sermons and forbidden to make distinctions among meats; evasions and bribes by Jews and lax enforcement by authorities were prohibited; and, finally, blasphemies against the Christian faith were made punishable. The twelfth council of Toledo (681) confirmed these measures.
Toward the end of the century, with Islam menacing his kingdom from North Africa where many Jews had fled, King Egica (d. 702), after first attempting to soften their lot, decreed conjointly with the sixteenth council (693) that the Jews must abandon commerce and surrender all property acquired from Christians. The seventeenth council (694), again in conjunction with the king, accused the Jews of conspiracy with their king in North Africa, reduced them to perpetual slavery, banned all Jewish rites, and ordered all Jewish children above the age of seven to be taken and reared as Christians. (Flannery, p77)
During the seventh century persecution broke out in Spain, with forced conversions, exile, enslavement and the confiscation of Jewish children.
The Visigoth Kingdom
The Muslims conquered Spain by 711 and the lot of Jews improved – indeed, a new 'golden era' began where Jewish scholarship was allowed to take on new life. The Visigoth kingdom, which had covered much of south-western Europe for the 5th–8th centuries, was removed. It is considered that the maltreatment of Jews in the Visigoth kingdom of Spain had been a direct result of the union of Church and State, however, the effect of this union was not uniform. For example, Jews fared much better in France in the same period that they were persecuted heavily in Spain.
Nevertheless, wherever there were Jews in the Christianised world there was constant debate in the church councils and resulting tensions to one degree or another, as well as some restrictions associated, for example, with the Feasts and dietary laws.
Wherever there were Jews in the Christianised world there was constant debate in the church councils and, as a result, tensions to one degree or another.
What Kind of Anti-Semitism?
As a general comment on the phase of anti-Semitism up to the turn of the first Millennium, we see it as having greater intensity in the East than in the West and, in the West, greater in pre-Muslim Spain than in France. Flannery writes about the character of this anti-Semitism:
...there was in this era no popular or economic anti-Semitism. Yet there was a juridical or legislative anti-Judaism. Jews were not opposed as persons or as a people, and indeed heretics still fared worse than they. The Church still had reason to worry about Jewish influence in social and religious life. The Talmudic withdrawal of Judaism was never complete. Many Jews, especially those who reached posts of influence in civic or economic spheres kept the doors to and from the Christian world open.
The legislation of church and state must, in effect, be seen, above all, as a defense against Jewish proselytism. The perennial laws against employment of Christian slaves, holding government office, and Jewish-Christian intimacies were motivated by religious scruples rather than political or social considerations. (pp88-89)
Flannery writes that this period was characterised less by anti-Semitism and bad feeling against the Jews themselves, than by a legal anti-Judaism enforced by both church and state.
After 1000 AD
The intensity of anti-Semitism increased after the year 1000 and grew to terrifying proportions. Flannery writes (p90-91):
During the first half of the second Christian millennium, the history of anti-Semitism and the history of Judaism so converged as almost to coincide. It is a scandal of Christian history that, while the Church and the Christian State were at the zenith of their power and influence, the sons of Israel reached the nadir of their unending oppression. This was the age of Innocent III and Henry II, Gregory VII and Henry VI, of the Crusades, of Aquinas and Dante, of St. Francis, of Notre Dame and Rheims Cathedral; but it was no less the age of anti-Jewish hecatombs, expulsions, calumnious myths, autos-da-fe, of the badge, the ghetto, and many other hardships visited upon the Jews...
The year 1000 found Jews in conditions reasonably stable for the time. Two centuries later they were almost pariahs; in three, they were terrorized. What occurred in this span to effect such a change? Some observers speak of the Church's "teaching of contempt" finally taking hold and suddenly seeping down to the populace. True, but the matter appears more complex. The eleventh century – as a period of incubation – contained certain events that foreshadowed the future. When Hakim destroyed the Holy Sepulchre in 1009, the Jews of Orleans were accused of collusion – an improbable charge since Jews as well as Christians were persecuted by that mad caliph. Nonetheless, widespread persecution of Jews resulted.
Again in 1012, when Jews were expelled from Mainz by Henry II, the expulsion was a repercussion of the earlier charge of treason, and doubtless also a reaction to the conversion to Judaism of Wecelinus, chaplain of Duke Conrad in 1006. In the "Crusade of Spain" against the Saracens in 1063, the Jews were disqualified for armed service and were attacked by the soldiers on the march. In short, renewed suspicions of Jewish complicity with Islam heightened the sense of the Jews' alien and infidel character, thus readying the atmosphere for the storm about to break over Judaism at the close of the eleventh century. [emphases added]
From this brief overview of the first part of the second millennium we perceive that widespread and multi-faceted persecution of Jews grew across the nations that had been 'Christianised' through Roman influence at the time of Constantine. To explore this fully is a task beyond the scope of this series. However, it is essential for students of Scripture to be informed about this era, so we will illustrate the extent of this persecution through some of the key events.
The Crusades
It is considered that the First Crusade of 1096 was a tragedy for the Jewish world measurable against the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD and the Holocaust of the Second World War under Hitler. In Flannery's words:
Great, illorganised hordes of nobles, knights, monks, and peasants – "God wills it" on their lips as they set off to free the Holy Land from the Muslim infidel – suddenly turned on the Jews.
Along the route to the Holy Land taken by the crusaders, Jews were offered the choice of baptism or death. Massacres took place in Rouen, along the Rhine and Danube, at Worms and at Mainz, in Treves, Neuss, Ratisbon, in Bohemia and in Prague. Some Jews preferred suicide to baptism. From January to July of 1096 it is estimated that up to 10,000 died, probably one third of the Jewish population of Germany and Northern France at the time.
The Jewish world was stunned and the rift between Judaism and Christianity was magnified. Christians were viewed by some as capricious assassins, ever ready to strike. But out of the suffering, a new heroism was born. A cult and tradition of martyrdom was instituted whereby Jews who gave their lives "to sanctify the Name" (Kiddush ha Shem) were greatly revered; their remembrance became part of the synagogue service. (pp91-3)
The Second Crusade of 1146, while not so intense as the first, brought further outbreaks of violence against the Jews. This time there were moderating influences from some Christian leaders, including Emperor Conrad II, King Louis VII of France and Bernard of Clairvaux. Another issue entered in, however, to divide Christians from Jews and contribute in some places in Europe to the violence associated with this Crusade:
Since the First Crusade, Christians had become more active in commercial affairs and so now resented their Jewish competitors. Moreover, Jews were more deeply involved in money-lending, a practice which drew upon them the hostility of both the clergy and the people. Pope Eugenius III (1145-53), who called up the new Crusade, suggested to the princes, as an inducement to enlistment, crusaders be absolved of their debts to Jews. (p94, emphasis added)
Peter of Cluny exhorted Louis VII that Jews, "like Cain, the fratricide, they should be made to suffer fearful torments and prepared for greater ignominy, for an existence worse than death" (quoted in Flannery, p95).
The First Crusade of 1096 was a tragedy for the Jews that has been since likened to the Holocaust of WW2. 10,000 were massacred or committed suicide in the space of six months.
Bought and Sold
A result of a certain amount of protection that Jews sought and acquired from Emperors Henry IV and Conrad III during the period of the Crusades led them to being considered as 'Servants of the Royal Chamber'. Their freedom was curtailed through legislation at various times: "The attachment to the imperial chamber reduced Jews to the status of pieces of property that could be – and were – bought, loaned, and sold as any other merchandise. Kings paid off barons and barons paid off creditors with Jews" (quoted in Flannery, p95).
In addition, the message of Paul in his letters (Rom 9:13, Gal 4:22-31, wrongly applied) was used to imply that Jews were inferior to Christians. This perpetuated, from a theological standpoint, the servitude of the Jews and their barring from public office.
Forced out of many areas of social and commercial life, by the 12th and 13th centuries money-lending became the means by which many Jews survived: "At every turn, he was faced with special taxes, confiscations, cancellations of credit, expulsions, and threats of death. He had literally to buy not only his rights but his very existence. Money became to him as precious as the air he breathed, the bread he ate." (p97) The caricature that later became Shakespeare's Shylock began in these days of Jewish survival.
Forced out of many areas of social and commercial life, by the 12th and 13th centuries money-lending became the means by which many Jews survived – and so developed the caricature.
Myths and Rumours
Another significant attack on Jews came from the so-called 'ritual murder' or 'blood' libel. This occurred in a number of places. The first incident was in Norwich, England in 1141 where the body of a dead boy was discovered on Good Friday. Jews were believed to be the culprits following a story that they planned to carry out a murder once a year in derision of the death of Christ.
This same accusation occurred in other towns of England and on the Continent where additions were often made to the story, such the drawing of blood for magical purposes by Jews and the taking of Passover communion with the heart of a murdered child.
Hundreds of incidences of this kind occurred and many Jews were slaughtered following rigged trials. In 1171 in Blois, 40 Jews were burned, for example. Excused by this blood libel, King Philip Augustus, on a single day in 1182, had all Jews arrested, freed for a ransom and expelled from his realm, only to recall them sixteen years later, and appoint them as money lenders to be taxed heavily. All this was for the purpose of acquiring money from the Jews.
Cheating and Humiliation
At the time of the Third Crusade of 1189 his persecution continued with the canceling of all debts to Jews. These are examples of the trend that continued in relation to the financial persecution of the Jews, including those enacted by the Popes, such as the measures adopted by Innocent III in the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215.
Out of this Church Council also came the tradition of a Jew having to wear a distinctive badge of identification. The justification was to help curtail intermarriage between Christians and non-Christians. Later, in France, the badge was a yellow sphere, and in Poland a pointed hat, with different symbols elsewhere.
In the 13th century, Jews were made to suffer financially and were also forced to wear humiliating badges of identification.
A further result of the hate of Jews began in 1240 following an accusation to Gregory IX by a Dominican by the name of Nicholas Donin. He produced 35 theses to propose that the Talmud was the chief cause of Jewish unbelief and an offence to Christians. The Talmud was put on trial and eventually the case against it, which was quite complex, assumed proven and 24 cartloads of the Talmud were burned in Paris.
The Black Death
These brief examples serve to illustrate the immensity and the multifaceted nature of unrelenting aggression that was leveled against the Jews in these centuries. We finish the survey with one more example. In Europe, between 1347 and 1350 an epidemic called the Black Death killed one third of the population. The Jews were blamed – and then attacked:
For Jews it was a tragedy to which, after the fall of Jerusalem, only the horrors of 1096 and 1939 were comparable. For three hellish years (1348-50) Jewish communities all over Europe were torn to pieces by a populace crazed by the plague which, before it ended, carried off one third the population. Bewildered by the plague's ravages people looked for a cause. Before long the inevitable scapegoat was found. Who else but the archconspirator and poisoner, the Jew?
This time, too, the weird formula for the well poisonings – elicited by torture – was disclosed: a concoction of lizards, spiders, frogs, human hearts, and, to be sure, sacred hosts. The story that Jews in Spain had circulated the death-killing drug to poison the wells of all Christendom spread like wildfire. It was first believed in Southern France, where the entire Jewish population of a town was burned.
From there the deathly trail led into Northern Spain, then to Switzerland, into Bavaria, up the Rhine, into East Germany, and to Belgium, Poland, and Austria...In all, over 200 Jewish communities, large or small, were destroyed...the massacres were greatest in Germany where every sizeable city was affected...Well over 10,000 were killed in Erfurt, Mainz, and Breslau alone. [emphasis added. Flannery, p109]
Summary
Here we have an indication of the depths reached as a result of the division between Church and Synagogue which began in relatively small ways in the second and third centuries. Theological division was perhaps the major root cause (along with theological misinterpretation) of the divergence of the two religions, led by the dominant Christian majority when Christianity became politicised.
The catalogue of disasters is immense and what we have described can be added to with many other examples, such as the conquering Crusaders herding the Jews of Jerusalem into their synagogue and singing hymns while they burned them to death "in the name of Jesus"; or the Spanish Inquisitor Torquemada holding the Spanish Jews in a state of terror in the late 1400s, resulting finally in their expulsion from Spain on 30 July 1492, through the edict by Ferdinand and Isabella.
Then on and on, from peak to trough through the Holocaust and Pogroms, to the present day. Here in the depth of anti-Semitism we see the consequences of the separation of the Christian Church from its Hebraic foundations.
For Reflection and Comment
- How can Christians respond to this terrible history of anti-Semitic violence and persecution?
- What can Christians do to ensure that anti-Semitism is no longer evident in the Church?
Next time: Emergence of anti-Jewish Christian Theologies.