Jewish Concerns about History Channel’s 'The Bible'

The popularity of the History Channel’s The Bible shows that Americans still yearn for inspiration from the Greatest Story Ever Told. For all of its positive power, however, The Bible may inadvertently perpetuate negative images of Jews and Judaism.

For centuries, dramatic presentations of the biblical narrative were bad news for Jews. Passion plays—often timed to coincide with the Easter-time commemoration of the Crucifixion—not only portrayed Jesus’ Passion on the Cross, but ignited the passions of the crowds who took to the streets during Holy Week to seek revenge upon people whose ancestors Christians were taught were responsible for Jesus’ death. In some cases, fiery preachers further incited the populace with allegations that Jews were killing children and using Christian blood in their Passover matzah. The fatal consequences of these portrayals spilled out over centuries. Christians internalized the charge that Jews caused the death of God and, with it, the lethal teachings of collective guilt of all Jews.

In our time, the calumny still endures. In December 2005, Venezuelan firebrand President Hugo Chávez castigated “some minorities, the descendants of the same ones who crucified Christ, [who] have taken over the wealth of the world.” In a world of skyrocketing anti-Semitism—where even in the United States almost two-thirds of all religion-based hate crimes, according to the FBI, target Jews who amount to less than 2 percent of the population—the way the Crucifixion is depicted in 2013 still stirs concern among Jews.

Mercifully, most Christians today do not believe in collective guilt or condone anti-Semitism. The Vatican’s Nostra Aetate debunked the charge of deicide and turned anti-Semitism into a sin. Protestant groups—conservative and liberal—have forged respectful relationships with Jews and Judaism. A common denominator of Christian response—if there can be such a thing—is that guilt for Jesus’ death is the burden of all sinners, but not of one person or group, especially when Jesus said, “No one takes my life; I lay it down myself” (John 10:18).

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http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2013/05/jewish-concerns-about-history-channelrsquos-the-bible