St John Chrysostom, St Justin Martyr, Were Some Church Fathers Anti-Semitic?

This week we will review the uncomfortable question of whether some of the Apostolic Church Fathers were anti-Semitic, in particular the Epistle of Barnabas, St Justin Martyr, in particular his Dialogue With Trypho the Jew, and St John Chrysostom, who is credited with a virulently anti-Semitic work, "Against the Judaizers." We view the issue of anti-Semitism with the benefit of the hindsight of its ultimate consequence, hindsight that is greatly influenced by haunting eyes and wasted frames of the Jewish concentration camp victims staring at us from those post World War II photographs, and also the photos of the thin corpses stacked like so much firewood. We must also view this question from the perspective of the ancient Christians without excusing the evils of anti-Semitism. When scanning the footnotes of the many books I have read and the lectures I have listened to, I discovered a scholar, Robert Wilken, who ponders this question of anti-Semitism, and we will rely on his work, John Chrysostom and the Jews, for these videos. We believe in viewing the Church Fathers in the best light possible to learn from them, but like us, they are only human. We will also discuss: • How Hitler used the writings of John Chrysostom, and in particular the anti-Semitic rantings of Martin Luther, to justify the Nazi persecution of the Jews and the Final Solution of the death camps. • St Vladimir the Great of Kiev, who brought Orthodoxy to Russia. • Constantine the Great, the first Christian Roman Emperor, and his calling of the First Ecumenical Council. • The rogue Emperor Julian the Apostate, who was in the process of rebuilding the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem when he was killed in battle in Persia. • Life of John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople, and how his criticisms of the worldliness of Empress Eudoxia led to his exile in the Caucuses mountains. Script for this video, © Copyright 2021: https://www.slideshare.net/BruceStrom... Blog: https://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.co... To support our channel, you can purchase from Amazon: John Chrysostom and the Jews: Rhetoric and Reality in the Late 4th Century, by Robert L. Wilken https://amzn.to/3bQC0uE Judaism and the early Christian mind;: A study of Cyril of Alexandria's exegesis and theology https://amzn.to/3BVGJWi Please support our efforts, be a patron, at:   / seekingvirtueandwisdom   Patrons can participate in online Zoom discussions of draft presentations we prepare for future YouTube videos. As Socrates teaches us, the examined life is a life worth living. We would be fools if we did not desire to learn from our multitude of friends whose words live in the works of the classics that have survived from past centuries and millennia. The Stoic and moral philosophers of Greece and Rome saw philosophy as an evangelical enterprise, seeking to spread the joy of living a godly life for its own sake. Our projects include: Studying the teachings of the ancient and modern stoic and moral philosophers on how to better lead a godly life. Studying ancient and modern history to learn moral lessons and learn how we can successfully live a life of faith in trying times, including civil rights and social gospel history. Studying issues of morality in the Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant and Jewish traditions. Everyone should join and participate in their local church. However, my internet persona is purposefully obscure so that I can be respectful of all genuine Judeo-Christian traditions, I do not wish to be disrespectfully polemical. This is original content based on research by Bruce Strom and his blogs. Images in the Public Domain, many from Wikipedia, some from the National Archives, are selected to provide illustration. When images of the actual topic or event are not available in the Public Domain, images of similar objects and events are used for illustration. All events are portrayed in historical context and for educational purposes. No images or content are primarily intended to shock and disgust. The ancient world was a warrior culture out of necessity, to learn from the distant past we should not only judge them from our modern perspective but also from their own ancient perspective on their own terms.