The Theological Roots of Anti–Semitism
These authors were convinced that the anti–Jewish trends were peripheral to the Church’s teaching, that they were in fact deformations of the gospel introduced at a later point in history, and that it would consequently be comparatively easy to purify the Church’s life and message from anti–Jewish prejudices and the expressions of contempt. Little did these authors realize, despite their generosity, how deeply the anti–Jewish trends were woven into the significant documents of the Christian religion and how closely these trends were connected with the Church’s expression of its faith.”
– Gregory Baum
Jesuit Centre, Toronto
Introduction to
Faith and Fratricide
by Rosemary Ruether
*A see Alan Davies’s valuable study, Antisemitism and the Christian Mind
(New York: Seabury, 1969), for a careful analysis of the Christian theological
literature dealing with the Jewish people after Hitler’s persecution and genocide.
source: Rosemary Ruether, Faith and Fratricide, Oregon: WS Publishers, © 1995, pp. 1–2.
