The charge that parts of the New Testament had “fostered anti-Semitism among believing Christians through the centuries,” was voiced here yesterday at an all-day meeting of 150 Catholic and Jewish leaders at Mercy College, called to discuss differences and misunderstandings between the Christian and Jewish religions.
The charge was made by Rabbi Arthur Lelyveld, of Cleveland. He said that the Gospels were “polemical in character” and that the Gospel of John inspired anti-Semitism. The principal Catholic speaker, James V. O’Gara, managing editor of Commonweal magazine, did not attempt to minimize Christian responsibility for anti-Semitism, but maintained that the real cause of anti-Semitism was the “perversion” of true Christian doctrine, rather than the doctrine itself.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
