What are people's thoughts on this?
I really don't buy the claim that the New Testament writers were anti-semitic. When I think about it the idea anti-semitic doesn't have much meaning in itself. It gets its meaning from people's association of the word with pogroms, the holocaust, al-Qaida, etc. We live in a time when the word 'jew' seems to be going out of usage. I've noticed that people around me try to use 'jewish' instead, primarilly because of the former's association with white supremacy movements. But really, white supremacy is a far cry from early Christian thought. Because of it's 20th century connotations the usage of the word 'anti-semitic' is misleading itself. It gives the impression that there is continuity between these two thought-worlds.
My explanation for the New Testament fervor against "the Jews" is that the writers were profoundly disillusioned with Judaism and its adherents, so much so that they needed to start their own religion. I think that this summed up fairly well in Luke's account of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem
And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.
(King James Bible, Luke 19 41-44)
The problem with 'the Jews' isn't that there is something inherently wrong with them, but that the majority of them didn't recognize the "time of thy visitation." Luke 20: 9-19 hits the same theme pretty well. Since you probably don't feel like reaching for your Bible write now, this is a parable in which 'the master' entrusts a vineyard to some tenants. The master sent messengers to collect the master's share of the harvest. The tenants beat them and sent them away. After hearing this the master sends his son who the tenants kill. Because of this the master decides to take the vineyard away from them and decides to give it to others. Once again, there is a lot of feeling here against Jews but it's only against their individual failures as servants of God.
It's pretty ridiculous to claim that the New Testament writers were bigoted against Israel as a whole. At the time of their writing the Church was still more or less dominated by Jews, not to mention that Jesus, Peter, Paul, Mary, Mary Magdalene, etc. were all Jews themselves. The vitriol was aimed at people who rejected Jesus, a group that was predominantly Jewish. Also, wheras in the past the prophets were mostly rejected by Jews and universally rejected by gentiles, in the case of Jesus many gentiles were heeding the Gospel. This creates an interesting situation. In the Old Testament it was the peopel of God (the Jews) against the world, but now with the New Testament it was the people of God (both Gentiles and Jews) against mostly Jews. At this time the Romans were pretty much ignoring the Church. Almost all persecution at the time was coming from Jews, an unprecedented occurence in the history of Judeo-Christianity. It's only natural that the New Testament writers would use this in some dramatic way.
So, that ended up being quite long. Have at it.
I really don't buy the claim that the New Testament writers were anti-semitic. When I think about it the idea anti-semitic doesn't have much meaning in itself. It gets its meaning from people's association of the word with pogroms, the holocaust, al-Qaida, etc. We live in a time when the word 'jew' seems to be going out of usage. I've noticed that people around me try to use 'jewish' instead, primarilly because of the former's association with white supremacy movements. But really, white supremacy is a far cry from early Christian thought. Because of it's 20th century connotations the usage of the word 'anti-semitic' is misleading itself. It gives the impression that there is continuity between these two thought-worlds.
My explanation for the New Testament fervor against "the Jews" is that the writers were profoundly disillusioned with Judaism and its adherents, so much so that they needed to start their own religion. I think that this summed up fairly well in Luke's account of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem
And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.
(King James Bible, Luke 19 41-44)
The problem with 'the Jews' isn't that there is something inherently wrong with them, but that the majority of them didn't recognize the "time of thy visitation." Luke 20: 9-19 hits the same theme pretty well. Since you probably don't feel like reaching for your Bible write now, this is a parable in which 'the master' entrusts a vineyard to some tenants. The master sent messengers to collect the master's share of the harvest. The tenants beat them and sent them away. After hearing this the master sends his son who the tenants kill. Because of this the master decides to take the vineyard away from them and decides to give it to others. Once again, there is a lot of feeling here against Jews but it's only against their individual failures as servants of God.
It's pretty ridiculous to claim that the New Testament writers were bigoted against Israel as a whole. At the time of their writing the Church was still more or less dominated by Jews, not to mention that Jesus, Peter, Paul, Mary, Mary Magdalene, etc. were all Jews themselves. The vitriol was aimed at people who rejected Jesus, a group that was predominantly Jewish. Also, wheras in the past the prophets were mostly rejected by Jews and universally rejected by gentiles, in the case of Jesus many gentiles were heeding the Gospel. This creates an interesting situation. In the Old Testament it was the peopel of God (the Jews) against the world, but now with the New Testament it was the people of God (both Gentiles and Jews) against mostly Jews. At this time the Romans were pretty much ignoring the Church. Almost all persecution at the time was coming from Jews, an unprecedented occurence in the history of Judeo-Christianity. It's only natural that the New Testament writers would use this in some dramatic way.
So, that ended up being quite long. Have at it.