PLAYING DEVIL'S ADVOCATE: Patrick laments the fact that more and more young Americans have come to believe that the Jews killed Christ. But shouldn't Patrick be lamenting the ignorance of their elders who don't believe that the Jews killed Christ?

While I am no expert on the Gospels, my reading of the text suggests that placing collective blame on the Jewish people for the death of Christ is an integral aspect of the Gospels' theological agenda. The Jews' responsibility for the death of Christ is one demonstration among several that they are no longer the Chosen People and that their religion is no longer relevant.

In recent decades, progressive Christians have reinterpreted the Gospels in order to mitigate the violent anti-Semitism that they have provoked. After all, even according to the Gospels, not all Jews were complicit in the death of Christ. Yet the message of the text seems clear: that only those Jews who abandon their own religion and become followers of Christ can overcome the burden of guilt that the Jewish people took upon itself by sentencing Him to death.

In this sense, the Gospels are fundamentally anti-Semitic. This does not mean that they are responsible for the violence and hatred associated with the phrase 'anti-Semitism'. After all, the Gospels were written at a time when Judaism was an established and influential religion whereas Christianity was a tentative and persecuted faith. Nonetheless, the fundamental purpose of the Gospels is to delegitimize the Jewish faith.

I say this not to defend Mel Gibson or The Passion. Yet I believe that it is necessary to recognize that there are profound and inherent tensions between Christianity and Judaism. While one can condemn specific individuals for transforming these tensions into a pretext for hatred, one must recognize that one can never resolve such tensions once and for all. Thus, the task before us is to acknowledge the depth of such tensions while addressing them in a manner that promotes dialogue rather than conflict.