It is a question of the deepest interest, how Christians have been able to maintain two parallel but entirely contradictory attitudes to Jews. The one, as described above, the effect of which has been to remove Jews from the sphere of the human altogether. The other, full of piety and respect, expressed in reverence for the Jewish Bible, in tender pilgrimages to the Jewish places of Jesus’s birth and upbringing, and even, in some quarters, in the fond adoption of Old Testament names for their offspring. The mind is a wonderful thing, capable (when it chooses) of entertaining apparently irreconcilable emotions. In this case, it is as though Christians simultaneously know and don’t know that Jesus was Jewish, but in order for the not knowing to win supremacy over the knowing they have had to do mental violence to themselves, of which the collateral victims have been the Jews.
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He was?!? Oh my gosh!! This changes everything…
BadgerHawk on January 9, 2009 at 8:56 AM
And, he was also someone we would not esteem highly, that is, probably not attractive. guess that rules out Jim Caviezel. ((sigh))
Mommypundit on January 9, 2009 at 8:57 AM
Thanks, Captain Obvious.
If Jesus weren’t Jewish, then what the H*LL is the Torah doing in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible?
P.S. The disciples were Jews too as were many of the original followers of Jesus.
mjk on January 9, 2009 at 9:05 AM
Is this
articletabloid really necessary?We all know Jesus was a Jew.
We all know Jesus was black.
The best depiction of him as such was painted by JJ on Good Times, right?
Does any of this really matter (seriously)?
madmonkphotog on January 9, 2009 at 9:06 AM
Every Christian that I know is quite aware that Jesus was born (not brim) a Jew. Hence the very popular bumber sticker “My boss is a Jewish Carpenter”.
MarkTheGreat on January 9, 2009 at 9:08 AM
What a tool! What’s next, columns about how the sky is blue and how gravity pull things down?
People get paid to write this drivel?! No wonder newspapers are going bankrupt.
Vote Sauron 08 on January 9, 2009 at 9:11 AM
If Mr. Jacobson would get out a little bit and actually talk to some Christians, he would find out that very, very, few view Jews as being not fully human.
The vast majority of Christians have been very active in condemning those who hold such views.
I wonder if Mr. Jacobson actually knows any real Christians.
MarkTheGreat on January 9, 2009 at 9:12 AM
He’s writting for the Guardian, what else would you expect.
MarkTheGreat on January 9, 2009 at 9:13 AM
Who are these people who live in these biodomes, or something, and are completely oblivious to the fact that there are THOUGHTFUL christians who AREN’T Brian McClaren or something. Good night nurse…
Mommypundit on January 9, 2009 at 9:13 AM
…or something…
(my apologies…I’m sick today.)
Mommypundit on January 9, 2009 at 9:13 AM
Another article written by someone who has no clue.
bridgetown on January 9, 2009 at 9:13 AM
Gasp! You don’t say!
I think I seem to recall hearing something about Jesus being the “consolation of Israel”; the “King of the Jews”; the “Lion of Judah”…. etc etc etc etc in church every week for my whole life growing up.
Part of the study of Christian theology is understanding Jesus’ Jewish roots in the Old Testament.
This is preposterous, and a ridiculous article.
The ones who don’t know about Jesus’ distinct Jewishness are the hippies who make him out to be a pacifist preaching the gospel of moral equivalency between Jews and Palestinians, or those using him to condemn Proposition 8. Not that he was a conservative as we understand it, or that he had much use for government at all, but oy, this is like one of those articles by European journalists condemning the American right for being anti-Semitic: no sense of irony whatsoever.
bcm4134 on January 9, 2009 at 9:15 AM
Jacobson is obviously out to insult every Christian (as well as dissing Jesus himself), thereby stirring controversy & attracting attention.
If he really wants attention, let him put down Islam & it’s disgusting founder.
jgapinoy on January 9, 2009 at 9:15 AM
For a followup article, Jacobson might want to look at the theme of Christ’s resurrection and it’s impact on Christian theology.
It kind of informs how Christian theology understands the break between Jesus as a Jewish carpenter’s son and as the Son of God.
(Seriously, how do you write a “serious” article about Christian theology and not even touch the Resurrection? I mean, even if you don’t think it happened, its an “invention” like Judas in this article, it’s central to 2,000 years of Christian theology).
cs89 on January 9, 2009 at 9:19 AM
Not only does this tool not know any Christians, he quite obviously knows nothing about Christianity either.
First he claims that Jesus never claimed to be the son of God.
“I and the Father are one, if you know me, you know the Father.”
“The only way to the Father is through me.”
THen he claims that talk of Jesus and a heavenly kingdom being invented by later followers.
“My Kingdom is not of this earth.”
MarkTheGreat on January 9, 2009 at 9:29 AM
I hadn’t pictured the whole Judas with an erection thingy, and it surprises me the ignorance of the fellow trying to educate us about our ignorance. I think he is more surprised to find out that Jesus is Jewish than the rest of us.
Jewel on January 9, 2009 at 9:38 AM
The greatest tragedy of the early centuries of Christianity was how anti-Semitic the Church became; tragic for Christians, as they increasingly lost touch with the Jewish core of the faith, and tragic for the Jews, as the many following centuries would attest.
Christians need to realize — and a great many do, viz. the overwhelming support of Israel and the Jewish people in conservative/evangelical Christianity in America — that we worship a Jewish God, read Jewish Scriptures, about a Jewish Messiah, awaiting return and reign of our Jewish King. And Christians need to learn about the bloody history of the church (particularly in Europe) and of the atrocious crimes that have been committed by those bearing the label of “Christian”. No excuses. We must accept our culpability (as members of the Church) and revolt against such horrors in the future.
Conversely, the Jews need to realize — and many do — that their greatest allies in this world are the devout, Bible-believing Christians. They also need to recognize their historical role and responsibility in the anti-Semitism of early (2nd/3rd century on) Christianity: the religious and social Jewish leadership of the 1st century AD lead the assault on a nascent Christian community which was both terrified of it and wished to proclaim to them that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was again moving mightily in Israel. The hostility, often fatal, of the Jewish leadership to the Christian message in the 1st century understandably left the Christians with a bad taste in their mouths — particularly the rapidly-swelling ranks of Greek Christians who knew little of Judaism and who would have already had cultural/ethnic prejudices against the Jews. And no excuses here, either. The Jews have not been saintly victims throughout history, nor have they been demonic purveyors of wickedness.
Lastly, Christians and Jews need to both recognize that, whatever the history between them, what binds them together in a world that is overtly hostile to both is far greater than petty bigotry.
Harpazo on January 9, 2009 at 9:51 AM
The other dirty little secret, is that Jesus was the Son of God…
This is why it is almost impossible for a Jew to understand the NT. He pulls quotes out, and leaves sets so many others to the side.
Yes, Jesus was a Jew, and his history is the OT, but Jesus is the NT, and Jacobson missed the point entirely.
We know he was a Jew, and he came to straighten out the Jewish leaders who became so adamant in the legalism, that they have forgotten their true purpose…the worship of the Lord.
As we reach out to begin to resolve some of the conflicts of the Abrahamic religions, this goof-ball comes along and thinks all the finger pointing is from the Christians…meanwhile calling us names.
And BTW, secular Jews have the same issues with Jews, ever hear some of the Jewish comedians?
It was the Christians who housed the Jews during the war, it is us who are the biggest defenders now of Israel.
I was at a Jewish gathering not long ago, no one but a few knew I was a gentile…in came several nice young men who had been at a Christian wedding…they entertained all of us laughing at the foolishness of the Catholic wedding, making obscene jokes, and crude and rude remarks. All the Jews laughed with acknowledgment, and apparent comfort with these remarks…yes, Jacobson, every culture has their moments.
Jesus may be a failure to Jacobson, but he is a success to humanity…there is more then “not being a failure to Jews”…He came for all of us, that is what you don’t get, ALL of US.
And Jacobson laments people for saying Jews are materialistic, then adds this “Jesus’s material failure into a spiritual success”.
Because you can’t comphrehend, or don’t want to understand the life, death, and resurrection (that causes a shiver to any Jew), you won’t understand Jesus’s redemption.
Or, and BTW, it is up to us to redeem ourselves…Jesus wasn’t a government handout…
right2bright on January 9, 2009 at 9:57 AM
I’m almost 60 and I went to Catholic schools in the 1950s. We were all taught of the Jewishness of Jesus. Heck, we studied the Old Testament pretty thoroughly. I never, ever not once heard an anti-Semitic remark in church. I was always taught to respect the Jewish faith since Jesus was a Jew.
What rock has this Howard Jacobson been under all his life?
Ellen on January 9, 2009 at 10:00 AM
To add…Jacobson has not been in a church in the last twenty years, or he would know the love we have for all the faithful…he should not worry about 400 years ago, or 100 years ago, and focus on his life today.
right2bright on January 9, 2009 at 10:00 AM
Last week, I spoke to a grown man, fortysomething, about the ties between Judaism and Christianity. “Well, of course, Jesus was a Jew,” I said.
“He was?” the gentleman asked.
This is an intelligent man. Educated. And he didn’t know that the early Christians were Jews.
So no, this article is not obvious. There are still people out there who do not know that Jesus was Jewish.
Meryl Yourish on January 9, 2009 at 10:02 AM
“That Jesus was born a Jew” — one of Martin Luther’s early writings puts the thesis rather plainly before the reader.
That was written nearly 500 years ago.
The Guardian seems to have forgotten what the Church has ever known.
Scribbler on January 9, 2009 at 10:03 AM
Actually, they all were until Peter had that vision telling him it was OK to preach to the Gentiles. Without that, Christianity could have remained a Jewish religion.
Honestly, I think the man’s just pissed that Gentile’s were allowed into this. That’s the only thing I get from his stupid rant.
Esthier on January 9, 2009 at 10:05 AM
Is that man a Christian? Because if he’s not, then it’s not the topic.
Esthier on January 9, 2009 at 10:11 AM
I don’t get the point of this statement. if it’s to imply that Christians and Jews are the same… then it fails. They’re different religions regardless of similar roots. You might as well tell a muslim that Jesus was the son of God. They’ll tell you they disagree and that is the end of the discussion.
So, I’m confused… what is the point?
Karmashock on January 9, 2009 at 10:17 AM
OMG, give me a break. Hasn’t this idiot ever heard the phrase “The Chosen People?” Of course Christians know Jesus was a Jew. This is a big reason for support of Jews.
Also, not to be rude, but Jews do often have rather large, “hooked” noses. The plastic surgeons on Park Avenue give praise for this fact every day!
mrsmwp on January 9, 2009 at 10:38 AM
Actually, and correct me if I’m wrong, I think the whole salvific message of Christianity is that we CAN’T save ourselves; we are incapable of doing precisely that, which is one of the main reasons why Jesus came.
Many Christians on the left know this and so set about designing government programs to save us, which ignores Jesus’ strong feelings against government power. Those who take great umbrage at the thought of governments using their powers to actually do what they’re supposed to do (Romans 13), have no problem whatsoever “redistributing the wealth” at gunpoint, or whatever messianic program they’ve designed.
I think Jesus was the original small government guy. Not a libertarian, and in fact, not much of a political animal at all – yet. (In truth, I think He justly sought a monarchy of the heart, with Himself on the throne.)
I’m rambling. This guy just wanted controversy and attention, and we’ve given it to him.
bcm4134 on January 9, 2009 at 10:43 AM
This might be true, but probably, saying this is not the kind of thing that will cause the Jews to come to know the love of Christ. Just sayin’.
bcm4134 on January 9, 2009 at 10:44 AM
Heh. Just plain stupid.
geckomon on January 9, 2009 at 10:45 AM
My collie says:
Not only that, but ignorance as well. If the Shroud of Turin is authentic, and I believe it just might be the real thing (based on the errors that the scientists made when when they carbon-dated a portion of the cloth that had been mended in the middle ages and later proven by one of the original samplers to have contained cotton fibers from the middle ages that had been inter-woven into the original linen), then we have A VERY GOOD IDEA of what Jesus of Nazareth looked like at the time of the crucifixion.
My collie says:
As usual, my dog has a better grasp of the facts than most of the people that are getting paid to write columns.
CyberCipher on January 9, 2009 at 10:49 AM
The irony is that Luther was the consummate Jew hater.
Yes, I am Lutheran and I understand God’s grace, and redemption…
But it is up to us to live to His standards, and that was the point I was making…Jacobson apparently thinks because Jesus did not give us a “perfect” world, that Jesus is the one that failed…when it is us to has fallen short.
right2bright on January 9, 2009 at 10:58 AM
My favorite is the one by Davinci. Judas’ crotch is behind the table.
Apparently Michelangelo didn’t know David was Jewish.
Bobbertsan on January 9, 2009 at 11:10 AM
Jesus was Jewish in the same way that Martin Luther was a Catholic.
The galactic irony of Jesus being a Jew is that in order to be a Jew, you must reject the contention that Jesus was who He said he was.
keep the change on January 9, 2009 at 11:15 AM
Who says he wasn’t?
Blaise on January 9, 2009 at 11:16 AM
I’m 90% certain this article was the result of the author learning that Jesus was Jewish, and then setting out to make fun of everyone else for not knowing this, ahem, “little known” fact.
locke on January 9, 2009 at 11:22 AM
Mr. Jacobson hopscotches through the culture of Christianity, carefully avoiding Biblical scholarship that would prove him a laughable fraud. I eagerly await his treatise on the birth of American democracy that dissects the presidential paintings of Gilbert Stuart while wholly ignoring the Constitution.
Terrie on January 9, 2009 at 11:24 AM
Our future leaders call him Isa and he is a Muslim.
BL@KBIRD on January 9, 2009 at 11:42 AM
This article might have been relevant in like 1750, but since the enlightenment, there have been increasingly large numbers of protestants willing to engage in Jesus’ Jewishness.
Consider the fact that the greatest supporters of Israel are evangelicals.
Also, the picture is a bit ridiculous. Sidelocks and yamulkes are a Medieval affectation. There is no evidence that you could distinguish a typical Jew from any of his other first century hellenized counterparts, Syrian, Greek or otherwise.
tlclark on January 9, 2009 at 11:45 AM
Cybercypher:
I hesitate to call the Shroud of Turin a fake either, but I’m very certain that the evidence places it’s time of manufacture in the Middle Ages. Regardless, most early depictions of Christ showed him beardless and with a short haircut, that is, like a contemporary Roman.
tlclark on January 9, 2009 at 11:49 AM
So were the apostles. And all of the New Testament writers, save one. And most of the first century church. Your point?
I’d much rather hear an explanation for why so many American Jews hate Israel and fight for things that violate the tenets of their nominal faith.
The author would do well to actually spend some time talking to serious Christians that see the Jewish people (Israel) in their rightful place, as the chosen standard-bearers of JHVH. To “pray for the peace of Jerusalem” (Ps. 122:6) does not mean pray that Israel be removed so that “peace” might win. It means that when you fight Israel, you stick your finger in the eye of God. That land is Israel’s, by Divine contract.
spmat on January 9, 2009 at 11:51 AM
100+
To put it Jacobson’s words…Jesus was a liar and a conniver…or he was the Son of God and the Messiah.
So he was either the stereotype Jacobson detests, or He is the resurrected Son of God.
right2bright on January 9, 2009 at 12:09 PM
They, ya know, kinda mention this at Mass every week.
Little Boomer on January 9, 2009 at 12:17 PM
His condescension to Christians kind of undercuts his appeal to fight anti-semitic attitudes among Christians.
RightOFLeft on January 9, 2009 at 12:29 PM
Kind of off topic but what are the belief(s) regarding Lost years of Jesus. In India there is a myth that Jesus came to India and was influenced by Buddhism.
Gaurav on January 9, 2009 at 12:38 PM