For no particular reason I’ve been doing a little research on counter missionary Jews. These are Jews who are basically against missionary Christians, in particular the Jews for Jesus movement. It’s really quite fascinating. Their objections seem to involve intellectual issues but a lot of it centers around cultural things; the feeling seems to be that Jews for Jesus etc. are trying to assimilate Jews and that when that happens they lose their Jewishness.
Anyway, one thing these sites have shown me is that anti-Semitism is a real part in the history of the church, and it’s really sad. Like, one site said at the Council of Nicea, there were hundreds of bishops from around the world – not one was of Jewish heritage. Is that true? How did it go from the church leaders like Peter, James, etc. all being Jewish to a few hundred years later, none being Jewish? And then from there moving to blatant anti-Semitism in the church? It’s a sad legacy, and I can see how Jews would be bitter and resistant to Christianity.