Anti-Semitism

1480 Words3 Pages

John Chrysostom was one of the most influential minds of theology in the fourth century. After being exiled from his home in Antioch, he became the archbishop of Constantinople. Holding the position, archbishop of Constantinople, he was the senior bishop of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. He cleverly uses his power and position to fuel and spread anti-Semitic feelings in Christianity. This paper aims to enlighten its readers about John Chrysostom and his reasons for his anti-Semitic views. To make sure his anti-Semitic views are instilled in the minds of the followers of Christ, he finds it necessary to dichotomize Christianity and Judaism. With the help of the Gospel of Mark, Chrysostom supports his views on the separation of the two religions. His anti-Semitic views along with other reasons amplifies the hatred toward Jews, which is found in the twentieth century. In order to spread his message, Chrysostom justifies that Christianity supersedes Judaism and therefore Christians should shun the evil Jews who killed Jesus Christ.
Even in fourth century, Christianity has still not defined its division from Judaism. Christians still regarded themselves as Jews who believe Jesus is the Messiah, but follow Jewish traditions like going to synagogues. His main goal was to bring in the people who belong to the spectrum of non-Jesus Jews and convert them to become non-Jewish Christians. By doing so, Chrysostom makes it clear that he wants to draw a clear line between Jews and Christians. Even though he acknowledges that Jesus was a Jew, he believed that Christianity dominated Judaism. Just as his name meant “the golden tongue”, his sermons were wildly popular, and one of his famous sermons addressed the difference between Christianity and ...

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...es. The Jews struggled with keeping their faith alive because of the oppressive rulers. They have dealt with various labels and hatred for something their ancestors did a long time ago.
Currently, these views have changed in the western world. Feelings of anti-Semitism are frowned upon and the western world is trying to make reparations for the times the Jews were persecuted. Museum, biographies and memoirs are released to remind us about the dark times of the Jews. With peace treaties, Israel and western countries created a union, making Israel a common holy land between the Jews, Christians and Muslims. Even though the Middle Eastern countries still harbor anti-Semitic feelings, the western countries have offered alliance with Israel. With these new changes, Christianity and Judaism have found common grounds between them, just like the time during John Chrysostom.

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