(Cont. from Part 1) Since the Second World War, Christian theologians have looked seriously at the ways in which Christian teachings contribute to the anti-Jewish hostility we now call anti-Semitism. This was a major issue at the Second Vatican Council.
Traditional Christian theology in the West viewed Jews as being collectively responsible for the death of Jesus. This was based in large part on the Gospel passages that claim that after his trial, Pilate gave a Jerusalem mob the choice of having either Jesus or the criminal Barabbas released, with the other to be crucified. In the version in Matthew 27, the crowd demands that Jesus be crucified, and Pilate tries to talk them out of it. But the mob insists, shouting, "His blood be on us and on our children!" (See John Dominic Crosson's Who Killed Jesus? for a popular account of this doctrine and its implications.)
Most Christian interpretations today note that the whole scene is very unlikely historically. The ritual of releasing a prisoner chosen by the mob at Passover is one not documented in Roman practice outside the Gospels. It's likely the story was constructed that way to emphasize to the Romans after the First Jewish Revolt (66-70 CE) that Christians were a distinct religious group from Jews, and that Christians blamed the Jews more than the Romans for killing Jesus.
The story may present more of a challenge to Christians who believe the Scriptures should be read with a more-or-less literal interpretation. But it's also not very difficult to think of ways to interpret the claimed historical event as something other than a theological curse that applies collectively to all Jews throughout history.
Chuckie's "Passion" column recites a crude the-Jews-are-to-blame Christian view:
There are Jewish religious leaders who say that [Gibson's] picture will cause a big wave of anti-Semitism because it depicts, rightfully so, that the Jewish religious leaders of the day were responsible for the crucifixion and that people will call the Jews Christ killers .
The fact of the matter is that the Jewish religious leaders of the day did have Jesus crucified. ...
(Cont. in Part 3)
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