Monday, July 14, 2025

It is the 14th of July 2025. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

The best part about teaching in person is the opportunity to get questions- sometimes if I get tunnel visioned with my topic, I need someone to say “hey, you keep saying X, would you mind explaining?”

The fun of connecting with so many of you via email is that unbeknownst to you, sometimes many of you respond with the same question- so, Dave, Rhett, and Linda- you three don’t know each other… I’m getting Rancho Bernardo, Unknown, and Grand Rapids. What do you three have in common? You all asked the same question about this weekend’s show- you wanted me to elaborate on why Bernard of Clairvaux can be difficult or problematic.

Linda in Grand Rapids (oh, not just any Rapids…) thought it might be because of his mysticism. And yes, mysticism apart from Christ can get silly- but I think Christo-centric mysticism for those so inclined is wonderful- so long as at the heart it is a living and dying and forgiving Jesus and a Spirit that points back to him… super.

The “problem” with Bernard (Dave- rancho Bernardo? It’s named for St. Bernard! Not sure if it’s our man or the one with the dogs and the barrels on their neck… if you know, let me know!) is a common problem for Christians: anti-semitism. And in today’s political climate, it is the nuclear option, a sometimes easy way to cast aspersions on someone. And it works because anti-semitism has long been a scourge, leading to violence and pogroms and, of course, the Holocaust.

So let’s dig in for a minute on this one- antisemitic, you may note, is spelled slightly differently than it used to be. It’s one word, no hyphen, no capital “S” where you may have seen it in the past with the hyphen and capital “S”- it has been changed because the very notion of “semitic” was popularized by 19th century junk racial science that took a common language- a branch of the Afro-Asiatic language spoken in the Middle East for some 4,000 years and made claims about biological and other characteristics of the people. It would be like claiming that all people who spoke some version of Spanish shared hidden qualities or, more often, devious characteristics.

The connection to antisemitism- or we may say “anti-Jewish” ideas and Christianity is strong, historically. Pilate says, “his blood is on your hands,” to the people clamoring for Jesus’ crucifixion. Authors in the New Testament use “Jewish” and “synagogue” as pejorative, and so it’s unsurprising that Christians have struggled to work through what it means to live in society with another “people of the book” who do not share the same end of the story.

Others, as we discussed recently- “dispensationalists” and the broad understanding of what that is have struggled with the idea of “two people of God”- does God have different tracks for different folks?

And the Middle Ages and Early Modern era are going to be tricky because of the concept of “Christendom”- the vision of Constantine that has been debated since Constantine. If to be a good citizen is to be a Christian…. Well… you can see where this gets us into trouble. And because I get an email every two weeks it seems about this- yes, Luther was antisemitic and it’s the worst part about him and luckily he himself taught the depth of human sin and it’s so deep he himself didn’t realize that he bought into the strange concept of Christendom and as a cranky old man wrote some truly horrible stuff.

How do we balance our theological convictions while not demonizing a people group based on shared characteristics- one of them being “not believing in Jesus as the Messiah” 

First- it’s all grace. And if it’s all grace, you don’t get to say “look how clever I am for figuring this thing out that you didn’t”- I’d give you some verses, but it’s like every third chapter in the New Testament.

Secondly, preach the Gospel and mind your own business. And, if your business is in a pluralistic society, you don’t get to require Christian baptism before doing business. In fact, I’m reminded of the passage from the lectionary for this very weekend- Luke 10 and the parable of the Good Samaritan.

From a question of civics and politics I like the “3D” test for legitimate antisemitism- is the argument against the state of Israel or modern Jewish people a Double Standard (only judging that people and state by a certain standard) a Delegitimization (they have no right to exist) and Demonization (claiming certain societal ills are inherent in the group). So, preach and place your faith in Jesus as the Messiah of the whole world, and remember all is grace- start there, avoid the 3D’s politically, and I think we’re on a better path than some of our forebears in the church.

The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and the daily lectionary- just one verse- from James with a rhetorical question (the answer is yes):

5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 14th of July 2025, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man whose favorite Bernards include Hopkins, King and Hill (that’s King Theoden) he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who has never been more disgusted at a movie than when King Theoden is eating in that one scene… oof. Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.