I have moved this out of the Salvation thread, as it was getting increasingly off subject. It deserves its own thread.
Let's look at what Supersessionism is, and what it means for Israel.
Supersessionism is the idea that physical Israel is no longer Israel; that the Church is now Israel.
- God is done with them, they are abandoned.
- The Jews are now cursed as a people.
- They no longer have any promises -- all their promises are now promises of the Church.
There is no question that there are Christians today who hold these views who are not antisemite. There are Christians today who are opposed to the Jewish State of Israel who are not antisemite. The question is not whether Supersessionism always produces antisemitism, but rather if it is nevertheless a causative agent. No one ever asks if cigarette smoking causes cancer in every smoker, yet we know that smoking causes lung cancer.
There is absolutely no question that this sort of teaching, that God is done with Israel, that its promises no longer exist, that it is a cursed people, opened the door for horrific antisemitism in the Church.
Let's look at some of the major Christian antisemites, and the reasons they give for their beliefs.
ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM, 4TH CENTURY
From his seven sermons on the Jews, Chrysostom states that it is because Jews killed Christ and are therefore abandoned by God and are cursed. The term "Christ killer" originates from Chrysostom. Chrysostom is one of the most read Christians in history, infecting not only his generation with antisemitism, but all successive generations.
“How dare Christians have the slightest intercourse with Jews! They are lustful, rapacious, greedy, perfidious bandits: pests of the universe! Indeed, an entire day would not suffice to tell of all their rapine, their avarice, their deception of the poor, their thievery, and their huckstering.
Are they not inveterate murderers, destroyers, men possessed by the devil? Jews are impure and impious, and their synagogue is a house of prostitution, a lair of beasts, a place of shame and ridicule, the domicile of the devil, as is the soul of the Jew. As a matter of fact, Jews worship the devil; their rites are criminal and unchaste; their religion a disease; their synagogue an assembly of crooks, a den of thieves, a cavern of devils, an abyss of perdition!
Why are the Jews degenerate? Because of their hateful assassination of Christ. This supreme crime lies at the root of their degradation and woes. The rejection and dispersion of the Jews was done by the wrath of God because of His absolute abandonment of the Jews. Thus, the Jew will live under the yoke of slavery without end.
God hates the Jews, and on Judgment Day will say to those who sympathize with them: “Depart from Me, for you have had intercourse with My murderers!” Flee, then, from their assemblies, fly from their houses, and hold their synagogue in hatred and aversion.”
....The Jews are always degenerate because of their odious assassination of Christ. For this, no expiation is possible, no indulgence, no pardon.
Luther is the most notorious Christian Anti-Semite of them all. He OUTLINED what to do with the Jews, and his outline became what is known as Hitler's final solution, even to the killing of the Jews. Luther says of the non-believing Jew: "I would slap his face and, if I could, fling him to the ground and, in my anger, pierce him with my sword," and " We are at fault in not slaying them." Why? When he was younger, Luther's efforts were kind, wanting very much to convert the Jews. But because they refused to convert, his love turned to bitter hate. You see, in his mind, Jews only had the right to exist as Christians. Israel as a distinct people had no longer had reason to exist -- this is the Supersessionism at work.
So we see from these two example the following patterns connecting Supersessionism to antisemitism:
The idea that God is DONE with Israel makes Israel superfluous now. The only purpose a Jew can now find is in the Church, same as anyone else. For Israel to continue to exist as a distinct people outside of Christ is an "insult to God." Jews should either convert and become Gentiles, or if they persist in the unbelief, be restrained by Christian society, have their homes and synagogues razed, be sent to work camps, and killed.
The idea that God allows Israel to exist only as a cursed and wandering nation to warn us against betraying God, is reason to further punish Israel on God's behalf.
The idea that ALL Israel everywhere in all times is guilty of the murder of Christ, is used as the reason for cruelty towards and killing Jews aka "justice" on God's behalf, that this communal guilt of the murder of Christ means that all Jews are degenerate and odious, even demonic.
