The relationship between Christianity and Judaism looms large in the background of both religions. This relationship has undeniably been horrible and caused incalculable suffering for the Jews. An important question for Christians is to what degree Christian misdeeds have been due to individual Christians and to what degree due to something fundamental within Christianity itself.
Summary
Title: Presumed Guilty: How the Jews Were Blamed for the Death of Jesus
Author: Peter J. Tomson
Publisher: Augsburg Fortress
ISBN: 0800637070
Pro:
• Willing to explore and acknowledge Christian anti-Semitism
• Accepts the role of New Testament texts in anti-Jewish hatred
Con:
• Often too uncritical of the reliability of sources
Description:
• Analysis of the origins of Christian anti-Semitism
• Argues that New Testament texts contain both pro-Jewish and anti-Jewish elements
• Argues that the key is in how Christians choose to use and interpret the texts
Book Review
To better understand the origins of Christian persecution of Jews, it’s necessary to start with the New Testament â€" specifically, its portrayal of the relationship between Jews and Jesus. This is what Peter J. Tomson, Professor of New Testament and Patristics at the University of Brussels, does in his book Presumed Guilty: How the Jews Were Blamed for the Death of Jesus. Tomson offers a very detailed look not only at what the New Testament says, but also at how Christians have used those words and stories for their own purposes.
Much of the book is taken up with a review of what we can plausibly say about the life of Jesus and the content of his ideas based upon the textual evidence of the New Testament. In this, Tomson is more liberal than most conservative scholars but far less critical than many liberal scholars â€" almost too uncritical, I sometimes think. For example, he acts as though the gospel accounts of Pilate being vacillating and kind are reasonable when the historical evidence we have is that he was brutal and violent even by Roman standards.
The gospel depiction of Pilate is, in fact, one of the most unreliable and inaccurate portions of their stories â€" yet Tomson accepts it without a hint that criticism might exist. This I find inexplicable because depicting Pilate so sympathetically makes a lot of sense if the gospel authors are trying to shift blame for Jesus’ death from the Romans to Jews, something which Tomson is arguing for. I really have to wonder about the quality of the rest of his evaluations because of this.
His review of first century Judaism and all its diversity is very interesting, though, and provides a nice introduction to a subject which many Christians are unaware of. There was a lot of variety in Judaism at this time and the early Christian “churches†were more like synagogues and were run like Jewish congregations, which fit right into the religious milieu of the time.
Tomson emphasizes that the early Jesus movement was indelibly Jewish, which makes the later Christian persecution of the Jews all the more curious. A few members of the movement focused on converting gentiles, though, and the influx of non-Jews fundamentally altered everything. Relations between Jews and non-Jews within the movement became strained, and eventually the non-Jewish Christians needed to disassociate themselves from the Jews in order to avoid further repression from the Romans. Disassociation became discrimination, distortion, and ultimately enmity.
Presumed Guilty: How The Jews Were Blamed For The Death Of Jesus, by Peter J. Tomson Janet Dy
This enmity was written into the gospels and many other early Christian texts. Later Christian leaders magnified the enmity by focusing on the negative passages while ignoring the many portions that are neutral or positive about Jews. The Jewish scriptures were scoured for “dirt†â€" various statements from prophets castigating the Jews for their lack of faith and the examples of God’s wrath descending on the Jews.
Tomson’s book is aimed at a general audience â€" scholars are directed to read a much more detailed and comprehensive work he did on the subject. Because of this, his book is very accessible and is written in a style that should engage the average reader who is interested in the subject. Tomson may not be critical enough in his evaluation of the reliability of the gospels, but he is quite critical of how Christians â€" and Protestants in particular â€" have read, interpreted, and used the gospels. There is probably little here that will surprise pastors and scholars, but it's information that they have yet to get to the people in the pews.
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