Here is a Bible passage, John 8:44, from Douay Rheims, but first 8:31:
[31] Then Jesus said to those Jews, who believed him: If you continue in my word, you shall be my disciples indeed.
Then, next verse:
[32] And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Then their response:
[33] They answered him: We are the seed of Abraham, and we have never been slaves to any man: how sayest thou: you shall be free?
Now 8:44, the verse progressive spirit(sorry, Progressing Spirit) commented on, in the same dialogue, and the following:
[44] You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and he stood not in the truth; because truth is not in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father thereof. [45] But if I say the truth, you believe me not.
This would mean to me, some of the beginners of what is now known as Judaism (unlike Moses and the Prophets rejecting the true Christ) started out as adherents to Christ, in a loose manner. We witness a scene at which they reject Him. Haydock comments on the first two cited verses and on verse 44:
Ver. 31. If you persevere in the true faith, and in the observance of my words, you shall be my disciples indeed. It is not sufficient to believe; you must likewise do what my words command you to do: nor will it be sufficient to have the true faith for a time; you must persevere in that faith to the end. S. Aug[gustine]. Ven[erable]. Bede. S. Chrys[osthomus]. Theophy[lactus]. Euthym[ius]. &c. — Faith alone without perseverance, or abiding in God's commandments, will not suffice. B[?].
Ver. 32. And the truth shall make you free. They were affronted at these words, as if he hinted they were slaves, and not a free people. They tell him, therefore, that they were never slaves to any one. They can only pretend this of themselves: for, their forefathers were slaves to the Egyptians, to the Babylonians, &c. and besides they were now the subjects, if not slaves, to the Romans. But Christ speaks of the worst of slaveries, and tells them the such as live in sin, are slaves to sin. Wi[tham].
Ver. 44. You are of your father, the devil, and have made yourselves his slaves. — He was a murderer from the beginning of the world, having brought both a corporal and a spiritual death by sin, upon all mankind. — He abode not in the truth, in the ways of truth and obedience to God. — He is a liar, and the father thereof: that is, the father of lies. I speak truth, being truth itself. Wi. -- S. Austin compares heretics, who drive Christians out of the Church, to the devil, who was the cause of our first parents' banishment from paradise. Cont. lit. Petil. l. ii. c. 13
The one problem is, to some, is, St. John used the word "Jews".
He consistently did so of the Jewish national adversaries of Our Lord, while Synoptics divide them up in diverse categories "Pharisees", "Pharisees and Sadducees", "the multitude" and so on. He does this because by this time, after AD 70, Judaism had come to mean, among other things, rejecting of Jesus from Nazareth as the true Christ, promised at least as early as Genesis 3:15, and again Genesis 49:10 which pinpoints the advent of the Messiah to before Herod the Great's heirs lost souvereignty.
This means, Christians of Jewish origin had to practise not socially getting identified as Jews, since the word had acquired a new meaning.
Here is what Progressing Spirit, Kevin G. Thew Forrester, Ph.D., makes of it:
When Jesus’ message failed to take hold within mainstream Judaism, the early Christ movement struggled with its identity. In its fear for survival, John’s community defensively produced some writings that placed harsh blame on Jews, such as in 8.44. This was an ominous development, wherein John’s rhetorical anti-Judaism sowed some seeds of later anti-Semitism. The tragic irony is now quite clear since Christianity is an offspring of Judaism unable to be whole without a complete embrace of its Hebrew ancestry.
The problem with this is, our Hebrew ancestry would be incomplete if we Catholics were not to say some harsh words about the Christ-Rejecting Jews, precisely as the Jews of whom Our Lord was said some harsh words about David-rejecting Samaritans, John 4:22, still Douay:
[22] You adore that which you know not: we adore that which we know; for salvation is of the Jews.
Haydock says:
Ver. 22. The Israelites, on account of their innumerable sins, had been delivered by the Almighty into the hands of the king of Assyria, who led them all away captives into Babylon and Medea, and sent other nations whom he had collected from different parts, to inhabit Samaria. But the Almighty, to shew to all nations that he had not delivered up these his people for want of power to defend, but solely on account of their transgressions, sent lions into the land to persecute these strangers. The Assyrian king upon hearing this, sent them a priest to teach them the law of God; but neither after this did they depart wholly from their impiety, but in part only: for many of them returned again to their idols, worshipping at the same time the true God. It was on this account that Christ preferred the Jews before them, saying, that salvation is of the Jews, with whom it was the chief principle to acknowledge the true God, and hold every denomination of idols in detestation; whereas, the Samaritans by mixing the worship of the one with the other, plainly shewed that they held the God of the universe in no greater esteem than their dumb idols. S. Chrys[ostomus citatus]. ex S. Thoma [Aquinate].
Saint John scrupulously records that Jesus never said simply "Jews" of His enemies, or not before He stood before Pilate.
The same Saint John about a decade earlier, on Patmos, had received this reminder from Our Lord (Apocalypse 2:9):
[9] I know thy tribulation and thy poverty, but thou art rich: and thou art blasphemed by them that say they are Jews and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.
That is also why the Good Friday prayer cannot simply call the Jews "the Jews" as we call heretics "heretics", schismatics "schismatics", Muslims "Mahometans" and a lot of others "idolaters". The prayer is adressed to the King of the Jews, it would be insulting to Him to refer to His enemies with a word he uses for His subjects, NT and OT Catholics (King David and St. Thomas Aquinas having the same faith).
It is in social intercourse, not in prayer, that we refer to those pretending to accept Moses and the Prophets but rejecting Christ, as Jews. And the words in St. John were meant to help very Jewish Catholics to start using the name of their nation in another way, since the nationality had been hijacked by Christs and their enemies.
Let's pick Forrester apart:
When Jesus’ message failed to take hold within mainstream Judaism,
No such thing, in those days, except the Catholic Church itself and before that the Temple and His disciples. It is more correct to say, when the rejecting of Jesus' Person became mainstream of what became socially known as Judaism.
the early Christ movement struggled with its identity.
Christ founded a Church, not a "movement" with many communities. This Church still exists and is called the Catholic Church. There were other communities, verbally invoking Christ, but not founded by Him. Just, after the great apostasy, don't look for it in the Vatican any more right now! Topeka's a better tip.
In its fear for survival, John’s community defensively produced some writings that placed harsh blame on Jews, such as in 8.44.
St. John who was a disciple of Christ and had heard and seen the dialogue (whether he was son of Zebedee, one of the twelve, or a Cohen), quoted verbatim what Christ said to this crowd. He also makes the quote so verbatim that Christ was NOT calling them Jews. He is, retrospectively, in the new sense.
This was an ominous development, wherein John’s rhetorical anti-Judaism sowed some seeds of later anti-Semitism.
If it's anti-Judaism to reject the rejection of Christ, a Christian needs to show some anti-Judaism in this sense.
The tragic irony is now quite clear
The only tragic irony is in those apostasising from believing the Gospel of St. John to make a false peace with the Jews who refuse to adher to Christ.
since Christianity is an offspring of Judaism
NOT of the Judaism of Maimonides or the Talmud!
unable to be whole without a complete embrace of its Hebrew ancestry.
The Catholic Church never lost this embrace. That is why we persecuted Albigensians for rejecting the Old Testament and for rejecting the God who created us man and woman. This is also why I don't accept as Catholics those rejecting historicity of Genesis.
Hans Georg Lundahl
Paris
Our Lady of Carmel
16.VII.2020
If you want to read all of Kevin G. Thew Forrester, Ph.D.'s errors, here is the link:
https://mailchi.mp/67938bb2ce9a/breaking-free-from-supremacy-theology-part-two-760100?e=a113439fb4
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