My Favorite "Anti-Semite"

St. John Chrysostom-My Favorite "Anti-Semite"

In a recent debate with some fellow "Christians" involving the usual business about how it is our sacred duty and privelidge to support and protect the Jews by forking over every collective drop of our life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, the assertion was made that Christians have no business entertaining any ideas contrary to the Jews. Let us ponder then the writings of one man considered to be one of the greatest minds of the Christian Church, St. John Chrysostom and what he had to say about the very same Chosenites who today are working feverishly to douse the world in violence, bloodshed and suffering.

"The Jews are more savage than any highwaymen and do greater harm to those who have fallen among them. They do not simply strip off their victim's clothes nor inflict wounds on his body as did those robbers on the road to Jericho. Rather, the Jews mortally hurt their victim's soul, inflicting ten thousand wounds, and leave it lying in a pit of ungodliness…


Do you not hear what God said to Jeremiah about the Jews? 'Do not intercede for these people, because even if Moses and Samuel shall stand before my face I will not listen to them.' That is how far some sins go beyond forgiveness and how incapable of defense they are…


Tell me this. When you stand indicted before God's tribunal, what reason will you give for considering the Jews' witchcraft more worthy than what Christ has said? If the devil is a murderer, as Our Lord said over and over, it is clear that the demons who serve him are murderers, too. What need is there for me to say this? Are you not afraid of God? Then, at least stand in some awe and fear of the Jews. Do you not realize how they laugh at you, scoff at you, jeer at you, dishonor you, and reproach you? Even if they do not do it openly, do you not understand that they are doing this deep down in their hearts?"


Tell me this. Do you stray outside the flock and have you no fear of the lion that prowls about outside the fold? "For your enemy, like a lion, goes about seeking whom he may seize." Here you see a shepherd's wisdom. He does not let the lion in among the sheep for fear the lion may terrify the flock. Nor does he drive the lion away from outside the fold. Why? So that he may gather all the sheep together inside the fold, because they are afraid of the wild beast outside. Do you have no reverence and respect for your father? Then fear your foe. If you separate yourself from the flock, your enemy will surely catch you.


Do you think the Jews are wiser than the Fathers who came from everywhere in the world?


The Jews are the most miserable and wretched of all men, and therefore we must make secure the flock of Christ. As long as no wild beast disturbs the flock, shepherds, as they stretch out under an oak or pine tree and play their flutes, let their sheep go off to graze with full freedom. But when the shepherds feel that the wolves will raid, they are quick to throw down the flute and pick up their slingshots; they cast aside the pipe of reeds and arm themselves with clubs and stones. They take their stand in front of the flock, raise a loud and piercing shout, and oftentimes the sound of their shout drives the wolf away before he strikes. I too in the past frolicked about in explicating the Scriptures, as if I were sporting in some meadow; I took no part in polemics because there was no one causing me concern. But today the Jews, who are more dangerous than any wolves, are bent on surrounding my sheep; so I must spar with them and fight with them so that no sheep of mine may fall victim to those wolves.


The difference between the Jews and us is not a small one, is it? Is the dispute between us over ordinary, everyday matters? Why are you mixing what cannot be mixed? They crucified the Christ whom you adore as God. Do you see how great the difference is? How is it, then, that you keep running to those who slew Christ when you say that you worship him whom they crucified? You do not think that I am the one who brings up the law on which these charges are based, nor that I make up the form which the accusation takes? Does not Scripture treat the Jews in this way?


Isaiah called the Jews dogs and Jeremiah called them mare-mad horses. This was not because they suddenly changed natures with those beasts but because they pursued the lustful habits of those animals…The martyrs-having poured out their own blood for him whom the Jews had slain-have a special hatred for the Jews since the Jews crucified Him for whom they have a special love. It was the Jews who said: "His blood be on us and on our children", so the martyrs would be glad to hear this discourse.


Meanwhile, I ask you to rescue your brothers, to set them free from their error and bring them back to the truth. What I said was not for your sakes but for the sake of those who are sick. I want them to free themselves from their wicked association with the Jews. I want them to show themselves sincere and genuine Christians. I want them to shun the evil gatherings of the Jews and their synagogues, both in the city and in the suburbs, because these are robbers' dens and dwellings of demons…


So, then, do not neglect the salvation of those lost brothers. Be meddlesome, be busybodies, but bring the sick ones to Christ. In this way, we shall receive a far greater reward for our good deeds both in the present life and in the life to come. And we shall receive it by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom be glory to the Father together with the Holy Spirit, the giver of life, now and forever, world without end. Amen.

(c) 2009 Mark Glenn

John Chrysostom (c. 347–407, Greek: Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος), Archbishop of Constantinople, was an important Early Church Father. He is known for his eloquence in preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and political leaders, the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, and his ascetic sensibilities. After his death (or, according to some sources, during his life) he was given the Greek surname chrysostomos, meaning "golden mouthed", rendered in English as Chrysostom



John is known in Christianity chiefly as a preacher, theologian and liturgist, particularly in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Among his sermons, eight directed against Judaizing Christians remain controversial for their impact on the development of Christian antisemitism. He was also active in destruction of pagan symbols and places of worship, including the temple of Artemis at Ephesus, one of the seven wonders of the world.