Journal: Journal of Dispensational Theology
Volume: JODT 23:67 (Autumn 2019)
Article: Why The World Hates The Jews
Author: Michael D. Stallard

JODT 23:67 (Autumn 2019) p. 127

Why The World Hates The Jews1

Mike Stallard

* Michael Stallard, M.Div., S.T.M. Ph.D., International Ministries Director, The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry

The human race will continue to live in the shadow of the Holocaust until Jesus returns to make all things right. The Holocaust, however, was neither an ending point nor beginning launch for the persecution and oppression of the Jewish people in all history. Hitler’s Reich did not invent anti-Semitism although it honed the science of killing. The tragic trajectory of hatred of the Jews carries back into Old Testament times (viz. Esth);2 its hateful path was followed by many Church Fathers in the early church age.3 Replacement theology began to dominate so strongly that a vast majority of professing Christians had no place in their thoughts for the Jews in God’s positive plan for history.4 Even the biblical turn of the Reformers could not eliminate anti-Semitism’s ugly presence in the

JODT 23:67 (Autumn 2019) p. 128

renewed church, as Luther’s unfortunate teachings demonstrate.5 Subsequently, the Enlightenment – with its so-called advancement beyond the legalistic superstition of the Christian faith – provided no protection whatsoever from the ravages of genocide exemplified in part by the eruption of anti-Semitism in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Over the years, culture – whether Christian, pagan, or secular – has proven the biblical doctrine of depravity. Man is capable of the most heinous treatment of his fellow man. Unfortunately, the Jews continually seem to be a primary target. As Theodore Herzl noted, “The human pack nourishes itself on prejudices from the cradle to the grave.”6

In light of such a state of affairs, one is confronted immediately by the “why” question. Why are the Jewish people the target of such deep-seated animosity? Why, after all the lessons one could learn from the days of the Holocaust, does anti-Semitism seem to be on the rise? Simply put, why does the world hate the Jewish people so much? The present article, while not necessarily an exhaustive exposition of the topic, will attempt to review some of the major justifications given, especially by Christendom, and provide some helpful responses that Bible-believing Christians should embrace. The conclusion should not be surprising to those who love God and his Word. There is absolutely no place for racist,...