Before you read today’s blog, which corrects the fallacy that the book of John is antisemitic, I want you to see something that is truly antisemitic. This video was taken yesterday on the subway in New York City. A group of antisemitic thugs threaten Jewish passengers by demanding that all Zionists raise their hands. They said they were giving them a chance to get off of the train—which means, if they refused to get off, they would have been beaten or worse.
Just imagine if the group said all blacks or gays or Latinos or women … fill in the blank. There would be universal outrage, as there should be. But this is becoming normal and acceptable, which is absolutely unacceptable in a country that thrives on freedom.
Seven Proofs the Book of John is NOT Antisemitic - though it feels that way!
Introduction
There are many claims that the Jewish apostle, John, was actually an antisemite by the time he wrote his gospel. New Testament scholar Eldon Jay Epp claimed in 1975 that,
The attitude toward the Jews that finds expression in ... the Gospel of John coacted with the extraordinary popularity of that gospel so as to encourage and to buttress anti-Semitic sentiments among Christians from the second century C.E. until the present time. This leads to the conclusion that the Fourth Gospel, more than any other book in the canonical body of Christian writings, is responsible for the frequent anti-Semitic expressions by Christians during the past eighteen or nineteen centuries, and particularly for the unfortunate and still existent characterization of the Jewish people by some Christians as 'Christ- killers.'
Was the Apostle John - a Jewish man who followed his Jewish Rabbi Yeshua, actually antisemitic?
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