Question about a commentary on the "church's" hatred toward the Jews

[Amethyst]

So I generally really like David Guzik's bible commentaries but this has me kind of annoyed or maybe just confused.
Wasn't it the Roman Catholic Church that did this, rather than true born again believers? I cannot imagine real believers as a whole retaining Jewish hatred.
What am I missing here?

________
But after the bar-Kochoba rebellion, Rome finally and utterly crushed the Jewish population of Judea. Josephus said that as a result of the many battles, the once beautiful land was destroyed, and that it could not even be recognized.

viii. But the curse for Israel had not ended. Now, tragically, the church and Christians turned on the Jews. It was as if the branches of the tree attacked their own root. As the church gained in political power and became the official religion of the Roman Empire, the decided to attack the Jews.

ix. They did this in part as retribution for the distant early years of Jewish persecution of the Christians. It was also because the current Jewish rejection of Jesus as Messiah was thought so offensive. But the greatest motivation was a bizarre evangelistic strategy. Christians thought, "The Jews are cursed because they have killed their Messiah. The curses are meant to turn the heart of the nation back to God. We will help God by being His instrument to curse the Jewish people."

x. For centuries, the worst enemies Jews ever had were the Christians who thought they could help God by cursing the Jewish people. At one time in Medieval Rome, the Pope commanded a procession of the Jews through the city, where they presented a scroll of the Old Testament to the Pope. He received the scroll and said, "Beautiful law; wretched people." The shameful history of the Church against the Jews is recorded in the story of the Crusades, the slaughters, and the ghettos.

xi. This helps to explain the great corruption and lack of spiritual power in the church through the Dark Ages. God promised to Abraham and his covenant descendants, the Jewish people, I will bless those who bless you, and curse him who curses you (Genesis 12:3). Satan's clever, and powerful strategy to curse the church was effective: Curse the church by inspiring them to curse the Jewish people. Just as God judged Assyria, Babylon, Rome, and Germany for their mistreatment of the Jewish people, so the church was cursed as long as it persecuted the Jews. The church ignorantly disregarded the words of Jesus in Matthew 18:7: For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes! If the Jewish people were to be cursed, it was God's business, not the Church's business!

xii. "They have, it is true, grievously sinned; but, O ye Christians, have they not grievously suffered for it? Is not the stroke of God heavy enough upon them? Do not then, by any unkind treatment or cruel oppression, increase their miseries. They are, above all others, the men who have seen affliction by the stroke of his rod." (Adam Clarke, 1811)

xiii. Gloriously, the curse was not and is not the end of God's plan for the Jewish people.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/guzik_david/StudyGuide2017-Deu/Deu-28.cfm

 

[JSTyler]

So I generally really like David Guzik's bible commentaries but this has me kind of annoyed or maybe just confused.
Wasn't it the Roman Catholic Church that did this, rather than true born again believers? I cannot imagine real believers as a whole retaining Jewish hatred.

It could easily be proved to be a mixture of the RC and the "reformed" churches that have had historical hatred for the Jewish people. From my experiences, there are more contemporary denominations and numbers of people in them that believe that Israel has been replaced by the church than otherwise. The list is long and tragic and most of them lean towards extreme "modernized" reform-ism We were kinda-sorta stuck in a PCA church for a while. We never matched them doctrine-wise but we had need of fellowship and body and they were what was available. It was only after the pastor taught a "bible" study on parts of Revelation, and on Israel and the Jewish people that we realized that rabid dogs would have been better spiritual company. <--- extreme hyperbole I know, but the position that "church" officially held was eye-opening and shocking to say the least. (We still have a lot of love for those sad, misdirected folks, though)

Even the "late, great" Martin Luther ended his days with some horrific writings about the Jewish people. He wrote a LOT of questionable things all throughout his ministry but the vile things he wrote in his twilight...zoiks! His doctrine and position on the Jewish people is quite perfect now, however.

satan has worked endlessly to destroy God's chosen people and why not use the church? It's the perfect tool in his hands to work great evils. The tares and wolves are in among the sheep, and it's all but impossible to distinguish the differences between them, aside from the fruits. One of said fruits is antisemitism. I have little doubt that if I/you come across hatred or even complete disinterest in the Jewish people in the church, I've/we've discovered quite possibly one of said, wolves or tares.

Revelation 12 comes to mind.

 

[Amethyst]

satan has worked endlessly to destroy God's chosen people and why not use the church? It's the perfect tool in his hands to work great evils. The tares and wolves are in among the sheep, and it's all but impossible to distinguish the differences between them, aside from the fruits. One of said fruits is antisemitism. I have little doubt that if I/you come across hatred or even complete disinterest in the Jewish people in the church, I've/we've discovered quite possibly one of said, wolves or tares.

Thank you brother. I guess I ve have always though hatred towards Jews as a race seemed like an indication of not being saved. And that God would lead His true children to come out of that idiocy. Just seems weird that actual bonr again Christians of those years would be known for their Jew hatred.

 

[sawas]

It could easily be proved to be a mixture of the RC and the "reformed" churches that have had historical hatred for the Jewish people. From my experiences, there are more contemporary denominations and numbers of people in them that believe that Israel has been replaced by the church than otherwise. The list is long and tragic and most of them lean towards extreme "modernized" reform-ism We were kinda-sorta stuck in a PCA church for a while. We never matched them doctrine-wise but we had need of fellowship and body and they were what was available. It was only after the pastor taught a "bible" study on parts of Revelation, and on Israel and the Jewish people that we realized that rabid dogs would have been better spiritual company. <--- extreme hyperbole I know, but the position that "church" officially held was eye-opening and shocking to say the least. (We still have a lot of love for those sad, misdirected folks, though)

Even the "late, great" Martin Luther ended his days with some horrific writings about the Jewish people. He wrote a LOT of questionable things all throughout his ministry but the vile things he wrote in his twilight...zoiks! His doctrine and position on the Jewish people is quite perfect now, however.

satan has worked endlessly to destroy God's chosen people and why not use the church? It's the perfect tool in his hands to work great evils. The tares and wolves are in among the sheep, and it's all but impossible to distinguish the differences between them, aside from the fruits. One of said fruits is antisemitism. I have little doubt that if I/you come across hatred or even complete disinterest in the Jewish people in the church, I've/we've discovered quite possibly one of said, wolves or tares.

Revelation 12 comes to mind.

Well said. BTW, I have no fondness for Luther, but have to credit him with this useful and insightful quote: "For where God built a church, there the Devil would also build a chapel".

 

[SafReb]

So I generally really like David Guzik's bible commentaries but this has me kind of annoyed or maybe just confused.
Wasn't it the Roman Catholic Church that did this, rather than true born again believers? I cannot imagine real believers as a whole retaining Jewish hatred.
What am I missing here?

________
But after the bar-Kochoba rebellion, Rome finally and utterly crushed the Jewish population of Judea. Josephus said that as a result of the many battles, the once beautiful land was destroyed, and that it could not even be recognized.

viii. But the curse for Israel had not ended. Now, tragically, the church and Christians turned on the Jews. It was as if the branches of the tree attacked their own root. As the church gained in political power and became the official religion of the Roman Empire, the decided to attack the Jews.

ix. They did this in part as retribution for the distant early years of Jewish persecution of the Christians. It was also because the current Jewish rejection of Jesus as Messiah was thought so offensive. But the greatest motivation was a bizarre evangelistic strategy. Christians thought, "The Jews are cursed because they have killed their Messiah. The curses are meant to turn the heart of the nation back to God. We will help God by being His instrument to curse the Jewish people."

x. For centuries, the worst enemies Jews ever had were the Christians who thought they could help God by cursing the Jewish people. At one time in Medieval Rome, the Pope commanded a procession of the Jews through the city, where they presented a scroll of the Old Testament to the Pope. He received the scroll and said, "Beautiful law; wretched people." The shameful history of the Church against the Jews is recorded in the story of the Crusades, the slaughters, and the ghettos.

xi. This helps to explain the great corruption and lack of spiritual power in the church through the Dark Ages. God promised to Abraham and his covenant descendants, the Jewish people, I will bless those who bless you, and curse him who curses you (Genesis 12:3). Satan's clever, and powerful strategy to curse the church was effective: Curse the church by inspiring them to curse the Jewish people. Just as God judged Assyria, Babylon, Rome, and Germany for their mistreatment of the Jewish people, so the church was cursed as long as it persecuted the Jews. The church ignorantly disregarded the words of Jesus in Matthew 18:7: For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes! If the Jewish people were to be cursed, it was God's business, not the Church's business!

xii. "They have, it is true, grievously sinned; but, O ye Christians, have they not grievously suffered for it? Is not the stroke of God heavy enough upon them? Do not then, by any unkind treatment or cruel oppression, increase their miseries. They are, above all others, the men who have seen affliction by the stroke of his rod." (Adam Clarke, 1811)

xiii. Gloriously, the curse was not and is not the end of God's plan for the Jewish people.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/guzik_david/StudyGuide2017-Deu/Deu-28.cfm

I think it is dissapointing that he doesn't differentiate between the two camps. Furthermore, as someone who is considered to be a bible teacher, though he has no formal "bible college or seminary training", as stated on his website, you would expect him to mention how the "true Christians", especially in the Middle Ages, suffered in the hands of authorities, but mainly the Catholic church and how the latter created specific torture equipment to carry out their massacre.

Reading his post, reminded me of the narrative often used by lazy "historians" and unsaved reporters who categorize Orthodox, RC, and bizarre denominational groups as "Christians".

Having said, I'm only criticizing the article not him. I think his teaching, and especially Enduring Word, is a reliable source of information.

 

[Amethyst]

Having said, I'm only criticizing the article not him. I think his teaching, and especially Enduring Word, is a reliable source of information.

I know. Based on his VxV commentaries Ive seen him as someone who makes great distinction between being born again and only playing the Christian in ignorance.
Not at all saying bible believers like us can't be really sinful or fall into serious sins, of course we can.