PATHEOS
“Covenant and Controversy”: Examining the Christian Roots of Anti-Semitism
by Joshua Sharf
March 1, 2016

Over the last 50 years, the success of Israel, America’s movement toward a more open society, and a desire for a closer relationship between Christians and Jews, have led American Christians to begin to confront the Christian roots of anti-Semitism in a serious way. The reorientation really began in late 1965, with Pope John XXIII’s Nostra Aetate, where he disavowed Jewish responsibility for the crucifixion and acknowledged the continuance of God’s covenant with the Jews, a statement reinforced by Pope John Paul II in November 1980. It was affirmed by Israel’s stunning victory in 1967’s Six Day War, which showed the world Jews who fight. If there’s anything Americans respect, it’s people who fight for themselves. READ MORE