Roots of theological anti-Semitism
Subtitle: German biblical interpretation and the Jews, from Herder and Semler to Kittel and Bultmann
By: by Anders Gerdmar.
Series: Studies in Jewish history and culture -- v. 20
Publisher: Brill
Published: 2008
Place of publication: Leiden; Boston
Language: eng
Number of pages: 675
ISBN-13: 9789004168510
Subjects: Bible -- Criticism, interpretation, etc. -- Germany -- History; Judaism (Christian theology) -- History of doctrines; Christianity and antisemitism -- Germany -- History; Christianity and other religions -- Judaism -- History; Judaism -- Relations -- Christianity -- History; Theology, Doctrinal -- Germany -- History; Antisemitism -- Germany -- History
Description: "As Adolf Hitler strategised his way to power, he knew that it was necessary to gain the support of theology and the Church. This study begins two hundred years earlier, however, looking at roots of theological anti-Semitism and how Jews and Judaism were constructed, positively and negatively, in the biblical interpretation of German Protestant theology. Following the two main streams of German theology, the salvation-historical and the Enlightenment-oriented traditions, it examines leading exegetes from the 1750s to the 1950s and explores how theology legitimises or delegitimises oppression of Jews, in part through still-prevailing paradigms. This is the first comprehensive analysis of its kind, and the result of the analysis of the interplay between biblical exegesis and attitudes to Jews and Judaism is a fascinating and often frightening portrait of theology as a servant of power."--book jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.