The Grey Book / A collection of protests against anti-semitism and the persecution of Jews issued by non-Roman Catholic churches and church leaders during Hitlers rule

by Johan M. Snoek

"Anti-Semitism is an estrangement of man from his fellowmen. As such it stems from human prejudice and is a denial of the dignity and equality of men. But Anti-Semitism is primarily a denial of the image of God in the Jew; it represents a demonic form of rebellion against the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and a rejection of Jesus the Jew, directed upon His people. 'Christian' anti-Semitism is spiritual suicide. This phenomenon presents a unique question to the Christian Church, especially in light of the long terrible history of Christian culpability for anti- Semitism. No Christian can exempt himself from involvement in this guilt. As Lutherans, we confess our own peculiar guilt, and we lament with shame the responsibility which our Church and her people bear for this sin. We can only ask God's pardon and that of the Jewish people. There is no ultimate defeat of anti-Semitism short of a return to the living God in the power of His grace and through the forgiveness of Jesus Christ our Lord. At the same time, we must pledge ourselves to work in concert with others at practical measures for overcoming manifestations of this evil within and without the Church and for reconciling Christians with Jews. Towards this end, we urge the Lutheran World Federation and its member Churches: 1. To examine their publications for possible anti-Semitic references, and to remove and oppose false generalisations about Jews. Especially reprehensible are the notions that Jews, rather than all mankind, are responsible for the death of Jesus Christ, and that God has for this reason rejected His covenant people. Such examination and reformation must also be directed to pastoral practice and preaching references. This is our simple duty under the commandment common to Jews and Christians: 'Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour'. 2. To oppose and work to prevent all national and international manifestations of anti-Semitism, and in all our work acknowledge our great debt of gratitude to those Jewish people who have been instruments of the Holy Spirit in giving us the Old and New Testaments and in bringing into the world Jesus Christ our Lord. 3. To call upon our congregations and people to know and to love their Jewish neighbours as themselves; to fight against discrimination or persecution of Jews in their communities; to develop mutual understanding; and to make common cause with the Jewish people in matters of spiritual and social concern, especially in fostering human rights…" [637]

An International Conference of Christians and Jews was held at Seelisberg, in 1947, and attended by sixty-five persons from nineteen different countries. They adopted the following "Address to the Churches", which became widely known as "The Ten Points of Seelisberg": <300>

1. Remember that One God speaks to us all through the Old and the New
Testaments.
2. Remember that Jesus was born of a Jewish mother of the seed of David and
the people of Israel, and that His everlasting love and forgiveness embrace
His own people and the whole world.
3. Remember that the first disciples, the apostles, and the first martyrs were
Jews.
4. Remember that the fundamental commandment of Christianity, to love God and
one's neighbour, proclaimed already in the Old Testament and confirmed by
Jesus, is binding upon both Christians and Jews in all human relationships,
without any exception.
5. Avoid disparaging biblical or post-biblical Judaism with the object of
extolling Christianity.
6. Avoid using the word Jews in the exclusive sense of the enemies of Jesus,
and the words the enemies of Jesus to designate the whole Jewish people.
7. Avoid presenting the Passion in such a way as to bring the odium of the
killing of Jesus upon Jews alone.
In fact, it was not all the Jews who demanded the death of Jesus. It not the
Jews alone who were responsible, for the Cross which saves us all reveals
that it is for the sins of us all that Christ died.
Remind all Christian parents and teachers of the grave responsibility which
they assume, particularly when they present the Passion story in a crude
manner. By so doing they run the risk of implanting an aversion in the
conscious or subconscious minds of their children or hearers, intentionally
or unintentionally. Psychologically speaking, in the case of simple minds,
moved by a passionate love and compassion for the crucified Saviour, the
horror which they feel quite naturally towards the persecutors of Jesus
will easily be turned into an undiscriminating hatred of the Jews of all
times, including those of our days.
8. Avoid referring to the scriptural curses, or the cry of a raging mob: His
blood be upon us and upon our children, without remembering that this cry
should not count against the infinitely more weighty words of our Lord:
Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.
9. Avoid promoting the superstitious notion that the Jewish people is
reprobate, accursed, reserved for a destiny of suffering.
10. Avoid speaking of the Jews as if the first members of the Church had not
been Jews. [638]
<301>

APPENDIX II

SOME PARTICULARS ABOUT THE CHURCHES MENTIONED [639]

Austria

The Protestant Churches in Austria are minority Churches. The (Lutheran)
Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession has 406,966 members; the
Reformed Church of Austria has 16,078 baptized members.

Belgium

The Protestant Churches in Belgium are minority Churches, together comprising less than half percent of the population. The total number is less than 50,000.

Bulgaria