I do not normally write concerning the current events taking place in the United States and the world today, but when I notice that a particular theological theme and debate has entered the church afresh as a result of such current events, I feel it may be beneficial to address it.
A year ago on October 7, 2023, the terrorist group Hamas led an attack against the State of Israel, launching them into the longest raging armed conflict yet. Israel's actions in Gaza have led to the death of thousands of civilians, women and children being a large portion among them. Israel's war acts have led to global outrage and condemnation from both the popular Left and more traditional Right-wing thinkers. The majority of congressional Democrats and Republicans continue to spend foreign aid on Israel's siege of Gaza, and most recently, their conflicts with Iran and Lebanon. There is a justified fear of the Middle East entering its own world war (with the possibility of Western nations becoming involved).
Within the Reformed world, there has been a lot of reflection on what the proper attitude of Christians towards Jews ought to be. Many popular level Baptist figures like James White, Owen Strachan, and others have been addressing it. On the other side, more confessional folks like Stephen Wolfe, Michael Spangler (who was divested, justly in my opinion, from the Orthodox Presbyterian Church due to his association with the Lutheran Neo-Nazi Corey Mahler who was excommunicated by the LCMS), and Jon Harris have weighed in. There has been a fresh wave of those who have an utter hatred for Jews simply on the grounds of race and prejudicial stereotypes (Mahler being a prime example). On the other hand, many have been falsely accused of antisemitism for having traditional views on these matters not much different than what we see in the early church fathers and our Reformed forefathers in the faith. I will give some special attention to the latter in this article.
In this article, I want to try a navigate a way through this mess. I have great concerns with respect to both extremes within Christendom. In particular, I wish to define what I do and do not consider antisemitism (and provide reasons for my views) as well as show how Reformed divines historically addressed many of the challenges we are seeing today.
What Is and Is Not Antisemitic
1) It is not antisemitic to point certain general truths and statistics related to Jews and Judaism. For example, data from the Pew Research Center indicates that the religious group with the highest average income in the United States happens to be Jews. Similarly, many Jews are involved in financial and banking professions and are skilled at building wealth. Simply noticing and recognizing this is not antisemitic. It is a statistical fact.
One of Christ's condemnations of the Pharisees was that they "devoured widows houses." (Matthew 23:14; many modern translations note that this verse is missing from some manuscripts. A case for its authenticity has been done by James Snapp). Thus, the Jewish religious leaders of Christ's day unjustly stole estates and property from the poor. If our Lord Himself would condemn this type of financial sin, why may not we do so also if it occurs?
It would however be very problematic if someone were to take a general statistical truth and insist that every person of Jewish ethnicity commits the sin of greed. Such an accusation (without evidence) would be slanderous and immoral.
2) It is not antisemitic to assert without qualification that the Jews killed the Lord Jesus Christ. In 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16, the Apostle Paul tells us the following: "For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved—so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them at last!"
The teaching of the New Testament could not be more clear. The greatest opponents and enemies of the Lord Jesus during His earthly ministry were the Jewish teachers of the law and their followers, whom Christ called "children of the devil" (John 8:44).
However, it was not the Jews alone who bear responsibility for the murder of the Messiah. The Romans, Pontius Pilate, and King Herod also share in the guilt of the worst sin in human history.
The reason why Scripture emphasizes the Jewish role in the crucifixion is because of their special status as the covenanted people of God. The knowledge and light they had received made their sin all the more aggravated. Nonetheless, let us remember that some of those same Jews repented and believed the Gospel when present at the Apostle Peter's sermon as reported in Acts 2 & 3. Our prayer for Jews today is that they would repent of their unbelief and hatred of Christ, and be saved (Romans 10:1). God has the power to graft them in again to the covenant of grace (Romans 11).
3) It is not antisemitic to point out the war crimes of the State of Israel. Anyone who spends enough time on the Internet may see the horrors of Zionist atrocities in the Gaza Trip since October 2023. The videos of dead children and mutilated people being pulled out from under rubble ought to give great pause to those wishing to promote the false teaching of Dispensationalism in the church. Christians are in no way whatsoever bound to the preferences and actions of Jews today. No ethnic group is blessed by God simply qua ethnicity. It is true that many nations and societies are much better than others and have received more common grace and expose to the Gospel, but it is not because anything intrinsic in them, but solely because of God's grace (Deuteronomy 7:6-8; Matthew 3:9; Romans 9:6-11).
4) It is not antisemitic to acknowledge and notice the role of unbelieving secular Jews in various communist and left-wing movements which are currently leading in the destruction of the West. Karl Marx himself was Jewish, as well as some people who were involved in the Bolshevik Revolution (Leon Trotsky, ) and the Menshevik faction (Julius Martov, Pavel Axelrod, Aleksandr Martynov, etc.) The doctor who first promoted and practiced transgender degeneracy was a Jewish man named Magnus Hirschfeld. His clinic was later destroyed by the Nazis (whom I will address in a moment). Charles Silverstein was the individual who influenced the decision of the American Psychiatric Association's decision to declassify homosexuality as a mental illness. Al Goldstein was a wicked man who promoted the normalization of hardcore pornography and openly stated that their hatred of Christ and of Christian values motivated some Jews to participate in the pornography industry. Similarly, the owner of one of the most popular pornographic websites (I have chosen to omit any names so as to not incite sinful curiosity in any person more prone to be tempted) in the world is a Jewish rabbi.
I believe that is problematic to assert that all Jews individually are subversive and promote anti-Christian ideas. Such is obviously not true given that there are prominent right-winger thinkers and leaders who are Jewish, such as Curtis Yarvin and Stephen Miller (the latter of whom served our country during the Trump administration). We must also acknowledge ethnic Jews who do embrace the gospel and the teachings of Scripture. No prejudice of any type ought to be shown against them (Galatians 3:28).
5) Our Reformed forefathers addressed with care the issue of how Jews should be treated in Christian nations by godly magistrates. It was common consensus that since the Christian magistrate should suppress public idolatry and blasphemy against Christ, Jewish synagogues and the Talmud shouldn't be tolerated (Samuel Rutherford, A Free Disputation against the Pretended Liberty of Conscience [London: Andrew Crook, 1649], pg. 316).
One of the most comprehensive examples I've found is from the eminent Dutch divine Gisbertus Voetius (who I quote often on this blog). Voetius considered the following eight things to be detrimental to the conversion of the Jews and Christian societies ("De Judaismo," in Select Disputations, 2:109-110):
1. Granting them civil privileges and immunities.
2. Allowing them to associate too freely with Christians in society.
3. Granting them any degrees or authority, in government, in business, in medicine, in academics.
4. Allowing their divinations, or kaballistic-magical superstitions.
5. Allowing them unjust divorce and polygamy.
6. Allowing the practice of usury.
7. Allowing the public exercise of the Jewish religion, including the publishing of works teaching their Talmudic blasphemies.
8. Harshness and injustice toward them.
It may seem like #1-7 would be what Voetius is trying to warn against in #8. However, I'd contend that most of these are pretty common sense. For the sake of prudence, I would not advocate for some of these (particularly #3 and also #1 depending on how it is understood) in contemporary Western society. However, the others are perfectly within the purview of the Reformed tradition's teaching on the civil magistrate's authority concerning religious matters in a commonwealth. See the English Presbyterians' treatise Jus Divinum Regiminis Ecclesiastici for an air-tight biblical defense.
A Word about the Obvious Dangers of Nazism
It shouldn't have to be said, but apparently some people on the Right need a fresh reminder of the evils of the ideology of National Socialism and violent race hatred that we see by Hitler's Germany during the Second World War. As I noted earlier, Rev. Michael Spangler was justly divested from the Orthodox Presbyterian Church due to his promotion of Corey Mahler's Stone Choir Podcast. Mahler is a heretic who has openly promoted the absurd and evil lie that Adolf Hitler was a Christian. It is perfectly reasonable to have suspicion towards a Reformed person who associates with such men.
Jon Harris, of the Conversations that Matter podcast, has written an excellent article documenting how many Right-Wing conservatives opposed Hitler and how the Nazis were diametrically opposed to Christianity as a whole. Heinrich Himmler, the leader of the SS, said "We shall not have succeeded until we have utterly rooted out Christianity." The Nazis also promoted a type of Marcionism by denying the teachings of the New Testament about Christ, and also their entire rejection of the Old Testament. More historical evidence for this can be seen here.
Questions about serious diplomatic mistakes made by Britain in the 1930s which helped stir the flame of war and concerns about Allied atrocities (such as the Atomic Bombings of Japan and the destruction of Dresden) are perfectly legitimate areas of historical inquiry. Writers like Charles Tansill, Patrick Buchanan, Victor Davis Hanson, and Ian Johnson have both articulated well-thought arguments for their positions on this. This discussion was mostly recently returned to the forefront due to Darryl Cooper's appearance on Tucker Carlson's podcast.
The same thing also applies to taking note of the mass murders committed by one of the Allied leaders, Joseph Stalin (the Soviet Union's crimes against humanity in WW2 are often overlooked today). It is simply a fact that Stalin had already killed millions more than Hitler before WW2 began.
Aside from all this, Christians must never give any sympathy to National Socialists. They were unequivocally mass murderers and haters of the Gospel. It is true that the Left is currently a much more severe threat to the church and the West, given that they hold much control over our federal government, academic institutions, the media, and entertainment industries. By way of analogy: two sharks are both dangerous, but the one who is closer to you with more immediate power to harm you would be obviously me the more clear danger at the time. This does not in any way mitigate the danger of the other shark in itself.
This is why I do not agree with the Twitter maxim "No enemies on the Right." I grant that conservative Christians should not be preoccupied with the lesser danger (see above paragraph), but that does not mean that we should not call it out for what it is.
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