Christian Antisemitism Then and Now: Toward a Redemptive Reconciliation

Overview
Curriculum
Instructor

Featuring Dr. Dyanne K. Martin, Assistant Professor, Department of English and Education, Wheaton College, Wheaton, U.S.; and Aaron Fruh, President, Israel Team Advocates, Alabama, U.S.

The course will introduce participants to the seventeen-hundred-year-old root system of Christian Antisemitism. We will examine the tenants of Replacement Theology (also known as Supersessionism) and how it led to Christian persecution of the Jews throughout the ages leading up to the Holocaust. We will show that the longest-lasting hatred of the Jews has been Christian Antisemitism. We will discuss the resurgence of Replacement Theology in the last twenty-five years and its implications for the future of Christianity. We will discuss the tenants of the new Christian Zionism and how a post- Supercessionist theology is challenging Christian Antisemitism within the academy and in church pulpits. This course will also provide instruction in the nuances of antisemitism found in the contemporary Christian academy. We will examine the intersections and signifiers of race, religion, and nationhood as we consider the steps necessary for a redirection of the Christian academy to its Jewish roots.

SESSION 1: The Ancient Roots of Christian Antisemitism

Will be held on 13 January 2023 at 11 AM Eastern Standard Time

Session One will provide a historic context of Christian antisemitism and the reasons behind the separation of Gentile Christians from the Jewish rudiments of the Christian faith. We will unveil
the early beginnings of Christian anti-Judaism and the teaching of Replacement Theology that inspired the Christian persecution of the Jews during the Middle Ages. This session will also familiarize participants with the different sects and tenets of Christianity. We will define the church and its relationship to Judaism.

SESSION 2: Christian Antisemitism in the 1930s and 1940s Germany

Will be held on 20 January 2023 at 11 AM Eastern Standard Time. Session Two will examine the deep-rooted Replacement Theology in the German theological academy that was prevalent years before the rise of Hitler and how this theology led to an eliminationist ideology within both Protestant and Catholic church leaders and laity.

Will be held on 20 January 2023 at 11 AM Eastern Standard Time

SESSION 3: The Re-Awakening of Supersessionist Theology Today

Will be held on 27 January 2023 at 10 AM Eastern Standard Time. Session three will provide an
overview of the resurgence of Replacement Theology within the Christian academy today and its impact on Christianity worldwide. We will discuss the mutation of contemporary Christian antisemitism and the causes behind the growing anti-Israel and anti-Judaism trend in mainline and Evangelical circles—both in the Christian academy and Christian denominations and churches.

Will be held on 27 January 2023 at 11 AM Eastern Standard Time

SESSION 4: Toward a Redemptive Reconciliation: On the Possibilities of an Authentic Christianity Honoring the Jewish Womb of the Christian Faith

Will be held on 03 February 2023 at 10 AM Eastern Standard Time. This session will address a growing trend within the Christian academy to challenge the ancient teaching of Replacement Theology and its implications for the future of Jewish and Christian relations. We will also discuss the nature of an authentic, informed Christianity—one that recognizes its indebtedness to Judaism and builds bridges to Jews and the Jewish community.

Will be held on 3 February 2023 at 11 AM Eastern Standard Time

Dyanne K. Martin, Ph.D. Martin

Dyanne K. Martin is a native of Jamaica, a country whose national motto is “Out of many, one people.” Her multicultural background fosters her deep interest in diasporic literatures across the Americas, with an emphasis on Caribbean literature. Her areas of scholarship also include classical rhetoric, visual rhetoric, semiotics, race theory, and Holocaust studies. In her approach to race in literature, Dr. Martin relies squarely on the New Testament promise that Christ “is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has torn down the dividing wall of hostility” (Ephesians 2:14). Her research in this area also examines overlooked spaces of healing and racial reconciliation. Dr. Martin teaches in a dual-appointment role between the English Department and the Christ at the Core Program.

Aaron Fruh

Aaron Fruh has a unique perspective about Christian antisemitism. Aaron was raised by his Jewish grandmother, Rose (Krupnic). At a young age Aaron felt directed to become a Christian pastor and did his undergraduate work in theology at Bethany University and his graduate work in Christian education at the historic Evangelical school, Wheaton College. Though Aaron has Jewish ancestry, as a Christian pastor he taught replacement/supersessionist theology—believing and proclaiming Christians had replaced the Jews as God’s chosen people. In 2002, Aaron’s views on replacement theology radically changed and he began to investigate how supersessionism had negatively influenced Christian teaching over the centuries. Today, Aaron is the President of Israel Team Advocates—a non-profit organization that advocates for the Jewish people on Evangelical college campuses through presentations with the purpose of changing the narrative of anti-Judaism and Christian antisemitism (israelteam.org). Aaron has written articles on the subject of Christian Antisemitism for the Jerusalem Post and the Algemeiner and has published two books about the growing resurgence of Replacement Theology and Antisemitism: Two Minute Warning: Why It’s Time to Honor the Jewish People Before the Clock Runs Out and The Casualty of Contempt: The Alarming Rise of Antisemitism and What Can be Done to Stop It. Aaron also hosts a weekly national radio program (Israel and You), wherein he interviews guests from the academy who discuss the history of replacement theology and the trend of contemporary Christian antisemitism.