Instant Access To 100,000+ Essays!

Anti-Semitism developed and changed throughout history, and had an influence on the Roman Catholic Church. Anti-Semitism began even before the Christian church. Pagan’s hostility toward the Jews stemmed from their rejection of pagan idol worship. They also refused to worship the Emperor, which made people doubt their loyalty to the Empire. It was easy for the Christians to just blame things on Jewish people. This came from a misunderstanding the Jews traditions and different interpretations of the Gospels. In the book, Racial and Ethnic Groups, by Richard Schaefer, the Christians called the Jews “Christ-killers”. The Gospels blame the Jews and seem to excuse the Romans. Pilate “washed his hands” and proclaimed he was “innocent of the blood” while the people (Jews) answered “His blood be on us and our children”(Mathew 27: 24-25). They thought all Jews took part and were responsible for the crucifixion of Christ, since it seemed in that passage, that all the Jews were taking responsibility. There was even a legend that Jews sacrificed Christian children at Passover. This may have started fro