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Old September 15th, 2016 #1
Karl Radl
The Epitome of Evil
 
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Default Eusebius of Emesa on the Jews

Eusebius of Emesa on the Jews


Eusebius of Emesa was a fourth century Christian bishop and a pupil of the famous Father of the Church: Eusebius of Caesarea. Eusebius of Emesa was renowned in his lifetime as a man of great learning and mathematical ability. Indeed he deserves to be better known since it was he and not the famous Gregory of Cappadocia; who was originally chosen to take over the controversial see of Alexandria after Athanasius was deposed in 339 AD.

Instead Eusebius chose to accede to the smaller see of Emesa (modern Homs in Syria) as he felt he was more suited to this more placid task than the theological ructions and street politics of Alexandria in which Gregory of Cappadocia excelled.

Eusebius' views on the jews are of interest precisely because he knew what he was talking about: he had been brought up in Antioch and Edessa in Syria; both of which had large and assertive jewish communities. (1)

This presents a problem for many modern Christian commentators on Eusebius, because it is clear that he was not ignorant about what jews believed and argued concerning scripture and Christianity given his upbringing and intellectual surroundings.

It is difficult then for them to rationalize Eusebius' strident anti-jewish views given this experience-based background with the object of his manifest ire and the need of modern Christians to reconcile his ideas with contemporary intellectual prejudices.

This is especially so when Eusebius makes statements like the following:

'The Jews were pleased at His being taken; and the traitor rejoiced as if he had done a good work.

[…]

What crime could the Jews bring against Him? What blind man was there that had not received sight, or lame that had not walked? Maybe some of those that had once been healed by Him, were among them who then railed at Him. No doubt many whose tongue He had loosed, cried against Him to please the Jews. I trow that of them was said: "What could be done to My vineyard that I have not done to it? I looked that it should bring forth grapes, and behold, it hath brought forth wild grapes." Pilate grew weary of denying the Jews their request; but he was overcome by those shameless miscreants. He washed his hand, because he had not soiled it: but they cried, that His blood might be on them and on their children. If what they at first required had not been done, then He would neither have been put to death nor risen again. While they prevailed in their impious intreaties, while they raged in their savage fury, and the judge refused to give way to their wickedness, they brought to pass and fulfilled the truth of the prophet's words who, because he knew beforehand the malice of the Jews, foretold that the Anointed of the Lord should suffer at their hands. Pilate wished to stop their evil deeds, but he could not.

Jesus went forth out of the city, bearing Himself the Tree of His own Cross; like another Isaac carrying the wood for the sacrifice. Will anyone say that this was done without purpose? The daughters of Jerusalem wept on that occasion, not knowing over whom they would have to weep.

"Weep over yourselves and your children," said the Lord, "and not over Me, for I am now fulfilling that which I chose of Mine own free will." And they would weep hitherto if He whom the Jews did away with was not risen again from the dead. But now let us speak with joy of our salvation. Jesus went forth and walked between malefactors; that it might be fulfilled.

Mark also the day: for when the days of unleavened bread, then also the passover of sufferings; and when the Lamb, then also Him that is without blemish and without spot. If the reckoning of days does not exactly fit, care not for it; for the Church makes no mistake in her reckoning, but the Jews have altered their own. This day was the death of death, and the destruction of sin: this day was the sacrifice offered for the propitiation of our sins, but the shame of our foe. This was the beginning of our life, the signal of victory over the great adversary. But of that death no one doubts; for all admit and confess it. The Gentiles ridicule it; the Jews say: we put Him to death. But they will bear the doom they have brought down upon themselves; while the Church rejoices in Jesus Christ our Lord; to Whom be glory for ever and ever.' (2)

In the above that Eusebius is placing the jews in the position of being the deadliest enemies of Christianity and direct foes of Christ himself. This has lead modern commentators on Eusebius, such as Winn, to rather fatuously claim that the jews weren't a 'real enemy' to Eusebius but a convenient foil for his rhetorical and theological barbs. (3)

It therefore follows that Eusebius didn't 'mean to attack real jews': he was just being nasty about an abstract and arbitrary theological category of people that he referred to as 'jews'.

Quite frankly this makes as much sense as claiming that when jews attack a 'false prophet' named 'Yeshua' in the Talmuds; they don't mean Jesus Christ at least some of time (4) and that this was precisely how these Talmudic statements were interpreted and used in anti-Christian rabbinic polemics. (5)

In other words: Winn is trying to rationalize away the inconvenient fact that Eusebius had plenty of experience with real jews in Edessa, Antioch and likely in Emesa as well. Therefore if he attacked 'the jews' in his homilies and referred to them as killing Christ;then he would have been aware that this would have been understood by his audience as referring to actual jews not an abstract and arbitrary theological category known primarily to himself.

When we acknowledge that Eusebius was a devout believer in the literal truth of the bible. (6) Then we have to take his remarks that the jews were foes of Christ and the deadly enemies of the Church seriously as they are derived from this same biblical source. (7)

This is especially true when note that Eusebius points out that jews refer to the cross as a scandal - a reference to the jewish account of Jesus' origins as the impure bastard son of a prostitute and a Roman soldier - (8) which is a correct statement of the jewish tradition on the subject. (9)

So when Eusebius states that the jews killed Jesus because they were envious of him, were blind in their hatred of the divine and have thus been confounded by divine power. (10) Then we have to take him at this word as both a man who was well acquainted with jewish communities across the Roman Empire and one who took what he preached seriously.

Therefore Eusebius has to be seen for what he was: an ardent early Christian ecclesiastical foe of all things jewish.


References


(1) Robert Winn, 2011, 'Eusebius of Emesa: Church and Theology in the Mid-Fourth Century', 1st Edition, Catholic University of America Press: Washington D.C., pp. 30; 36; also cf. Wayne Meeks, Robert Wilken,1982, 'Jews and Christians in Antioch in the First Four Centuries of the Common Era', 1st Edition, Scholars Press: Atlanta
(2) Eusebius of Emesa, 'On the Sufferings and Death of our Lord' (Malan translation)
(3) Winn, 'Eusebius of Emesa', Op. Cit., p. 16
(4) Cf. Peter Schafer, 2009, 'Jesus in the Talmud', 1st Edition, Princeton University Press: Princeton
(5) Cf. Daniel Lasker, 1977, 'Jewish Philosophical Polemics against Christianity in the Middle Ages', 1st Edition, Ktav: New York
(6) Cf. Robert Winn, 2005, 'The Natural World in the Sermons of Eusebius of Emesa', Vigilae Christianae, Vol. 59, No. 1, pp. 31-53
(7) Winn, 'Eusebius of Emesa', Op. Cit., p. 84
(8) Ibid, p. 190
(9) Elliot Horowitz, 2007, 'Reckless Rites: Purim and the Legacy of Jewish Violence', 1st Edition, Princeton University Press: Princeton, pp. 149-185
(10) Winn, 'Eusebius of Emesa', Op. Cit., pp. 67; 79


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