Meditations

The Land and the Book on Moody Radio on February 22, 2025

Question:

Gina is reading Charlie Dyer’s book “Who owns the land?” And she says: In it, Dr Dyer describes the rise of christian animosity toward Jews during the Byzantine era as “assassins of God” and their authority being more merciless than their heathen enemies. What events lead to the decline in the early church under Peter to allow such hatred towards the Jews aside their perception of being assassins. Surely, the Apostles and their students thought otherwise?

Answer from Dr Gerald Peterman @30:12

https://www.moodyradio.org/radioplayer.aspx?episode=631852

Summary of Answer:

Romans 9

³ For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, ⁴ who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises;

Romans 11

 I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.

Romans 9:3-4 and Romans 11:1 indicates that Paul and the early church are not anti-Jewish or antisemitic, the question is what happened? The key turning point was the rise of the allegory method of interpretation of scripture in the second century, started notably by the theologian Origen. This method of interpretation was adopted by Jerome and later by Augustine and it became prominent well up to the Reformation era. Why does that matter? It matters because in the allegory interpretation, all the kingdom promises made to Israel in the old testament were transferred to the church. Once the church, or at least some people in church were thinking of themselves as replacement for Israel as people of God, it opened the door for the church to melt with the antisemitism of the secular Roman empire, which was prominent following the Jewish revolt in the first century and then in the second century.