"Christian" Anti-Semitism?

A Classic Oxymoron

Chas v’chalila!
May it never be!

"Christians hate Jews, right?"

Wrong! By definition, a Christian is a follower of Christ. (Yeshua Hamashiach is the Hebrew equivalent of Jesus the Christ, or Messiah). Anyone - Jew or Gentile - can claim to be a Christian, but true disciples are marked by obedience to their teacher's instruction. Yeshua taught:

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:34-35)

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 5:43-45).

"But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you" (Luke 6:27-28).

"But what about the Crusades, the Inquisition, the pogroms, the Holocaust, and the recent attacks on Jewish communities by Christians ?"

Actions speak louder than words. Yeshua said, "You will know them I \by their fruits" (Matthew 7:16).

Yeshua's message was one of love, not hate. He abhorred violence: "For all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword" (Matthew 26:52).

Those who hate, kill, and do violence to other human beings are not following the teachings or example of Yeshua (Messiah Jesus); regardless of what they call themselves, they are not his disciples.

Besides, Yeshua was Jewish, as were all the original disciples. The New Covenant (New Testament, or Brit Hadashah) was written by Jewish men - except for one, Dr. Luke.

What kind of genius can read a Jewish book, claim to believe in a Jewish man who came as the Jewish Messiah and who taught his followers to love even their enemies - and then hate the Jewish people? Go figure!

But doesn’t the Bible justify anti-Semitism?

Only a gross misreading of the biblical text could possibly result in teaching hatred of the Jewish people. The Scriptures are clear:

To Abraham God said, 'And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Genesis 12:3).
To the children of Israel God said, 'For you are a holy-people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the LORD loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers... (Deuteronomy 7:6-8).
To the Jewish people God said, ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness" (Jeremiah 31:3).

After promising them a new covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34), the God of Israel continues:

Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day, and the fixed order of the moon and the stars far light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; the LORD Of hosts is His name: *If this fixed order departs from before Me, declares the LORD, "Then the offspring of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before Me forever;:" Thus says the LORD, 'If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out below, then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done," declares the LORD (Jer. 31:3537).

The sun and stars will burn out, or scientists win be able to measure the vast expanse of the universe before God will abandon the Jewish people!

We urge true followers of Jesus to:

Heed his teachings end follow his example
Share God's love for the Jewish people
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6) -::..
Stand against anti-Semitism in all its forms

AMF International was founded in 1887 by a group of evangelical Christians concerned for the needs of Jewish immigrants in Chicago. The first superintendent, William E. Blackstone, is honored in the Encyclopedia Judaica as a noted Christian Zionist whose efforts on behalf of the reestablishment of Israel included the "Blackstone Memorial," a petition signed by 413 prominent leaders in business and government, as well as Jewish and Christian clergymen, and submitted to President Benjamin Harrison

AMF International continues to seek to 'build bridges of understanding between Jewish and Christian communities Worldwide.

More information is available on the Internet at: www.amfi.org.

AMF International
P.O. Box 5470
Lansing, IL 60438-5470
(708) 418-0020