Christianity, the Jews, and the Return to Loneliness

Over the past 500 years, since the Protestant Reformation, Christianity has undergone profound transformations. The central achievement of the Reformation lies not only in granting non-Jews the right, for the first time in history, to read the Scriptures in their own language, and not only in dismantling much of the oppressive, corrupt institutional Church, but also in enabling Christians to return to the spirit of the Old Covenant and to recognize that the Bible is much more than the story of Jesus.

Indeed, many Protestant denominations began moving closer to Judaism. Despite the fact that some, most famously Martin Luther, maintained anti-Semitic views, Protestants in places like the Netherlands, England, and later America generally displayed a far more favorable attitude toward Jews than their Catholic counterparts.

This positive disposition endures today in many Protestant circles, while Jews, despite having endured 1,700 years of persecution at the hands of the Church, have never sought revenge or historical justice.

Even as a sovereign nation, Israel did not respond with “an eye for an eye.” It preserved Christian sites, allowed freedom of worship, and remains, unlike any other country in the Middle East, the only one where native Christian communities enjoy full civil rights and aren’t vanishing at an alarming rate.

It’s important to remember that until Constantine adopted Christianity in the 4th century, Judaism was the more prominent of the two religions. People were joining Judaism at a steady rate, and it was widely regarded as a respectable and open faith, welcoming to converts.

But once Christianity was adopted by the Roman Empire, everything changed. Judaism became more closed off, it was not allowed to accept converts, Christianity spread rapidly, and the balance of power, as well as the stereotypes that accompanied it, were set in place for nearly the next 2,000 years.

And yet, in this unique era, where for the first time in 1,700 years Jews are free to speak openly about the theology and history of Christianity (particularly in its Catholic form), most Jews have continued to show restraint, dignity, and a desire for positive and respectful relations with Christian nations.

Some, however, perhaps due to their own guilt over the Church’s treatment of Jews across centuries, continue to accuse Jews of being “the bad ones”, either for their position in Christian-majority societies or due to their alleged unjust conduct toward Palestinians. There is nothing more unjust than the moral inversion practiced by such Christians toward the Jewish people.

As a scholar of religion, I am critical of many aspects of Christian theology, particularly that of the early Church Fathers and Paul, whose thinking I find far less compelling than that of later Protestants.

Yet what we now see in parts of the Christian world is not merely theological disagreement, but the continuation of a troubling trend: a secularized echo of past Christian anti-Semitism, now recycled through the ideological frameworks of communism, and even fascism. These modern ideologies inherited Christian anti-Semitism while discarding everything else.

We, the modern Jews, who long sought inclusion, yet have always felt the weight of suspicion—have spent decades trying to forge fraternity with our Christian brothers.

We opened our hearts, particularly in the moment of Zion’s rebirth. Yet even now, when the Pope and others in the Christian world continue to blame us for crimes not our own, the disappointment is profound.

The New Testament will always remain open to varying interpretations regarding Judaism. Some readings will be philo-Semitic, while others will be anti-Semitic. Some will highlight blessings, others will emphasize curses. Each side, shaped by its own theology, will find in the Jewish people what it is predisposed to see.

Evangelicals, for example, often see light and blessing in the Jewish people, while many Catholics, Lutherans, or unfortunately Quakers, may perceive a spirit of curse. Yet American Protestants and many others have shown that these attitudes can be redefined and renewed.

We would like to believe that Israel’s return to Zion marks the beginning of a new chapter in the relationship between nations.

I grew up in a place where people believed Christians wished for our destruction. I take pride in the fact that I never internalized that fear into hatred. But today, when I witness the global narrative that casts Israel as inherently guilty and the Palestinians as inherently righteous, I cannot help but feel that once again, we have returned to being a nation that dwells alone.