Anti-Semitism in Christianity

Some Christian Churches, Christian groups, and ordinary Christians express religious antisemitism toward the Jewish people and the associated religion of Judaism.

Anti-Semitic Christian rhetoric and the resulting antipathy toward Jews both date back to the early years of Christianity and are derived from pagan anti-Jewish attitudes that were reinforced by the belief that Jews are responsible for the murder of Jesus of Nazareth. Christians imposed ever-increasing anti-Jewish measures over the ensuing centuries, including acts of ostracism, humiliation, expropriation, violence, and murder—measures which culminated in the Holocaust.^{: 21 : 169}

Christian antisemitism has been attributed to numerous factors including theological differences between these two related Abrahamic religions; the competition between Church and synagogue; the Christian missionary impulse; a misunderstanding of Jewish culture, beliefs, and practice; and the perception that Judaism was hostile toward Christianity. For two millennia, these attitudes were reinforced in Christian preaching, art, and popular teachings—all of which express contempt for Jews—as well as statutes designed to humiliate and stigmatise Jews.

Modern anti-Semitism has primarily been described as hatred against Jews as a race and its most recent expression is rooted in 18th-century racial theories. Anti-Judaism is rooted in hostility toward Judaism the religion; in Western Christianity, anti-Judaism effectively merged with anti-Semitism during the 12th century.^: 16 Scholars have debated how Christian anti-Semitism played a role in the Nazi Third Reich, World War II, and the Holocaust. The Holocaust forced many Christians to reflect on the role(s) Christian theology and practice played and still play in anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism.