Item Description:

For two thousand years the fate of the Jewish people and of the Christian religion have been intertwined. For most of this time, the story has not been a pretty one, especially from the Jewish point of view. This series provides an in-depth look at the origins and development of Jewish/Christian relations over the millennia. It provides history, analysis and insights into the Jewish origins of early Christianity and the beginnings of Christian theological anti-Semitism. It traces Jewish life in the Christian countries of Europe, discusses the Crusades, blood libels, expulsions and forced religious debates. It naturally details the horrors of the Holocaust and its unfortunate Christian origins. It also discusses the relationship of different Christian groupings to the State of Israel and attempts to clear a window and peer into the future of Jewish/Christian relations in the next century. It is a must for understanding the past and present of the Western religious world.

Individual lectures:

Growth and Dominance - Though the first Christians were deviant Jews, by the time Paul began to promote this new religion into world dominance, he saw fit to sever it from its Jewish origins. In its first millennium therefore, Christianity was in a state of flux and self-definition. Rabbi Wein explores its rise from outcast status to the official religion of the Roman Empire and its early antipathy for the Jewish people for their steadfast refusal to convert.

Trials of the Catholic Church - The Catholic Church was heir to the Roman Empire and with all that power in its hands, it began a concerted policy of converting Jews. Under severe pressure, many individual Jews did convert, but many more clung on despite the hardships of poverty and even under the threat of death. From the Inquisition to the Crusades, Rabbi Wein portrays Jewish life under Christian rule in the Middle Ages.

The Protestant Reformation - When Martin Luther hung his 95 points of protest on the door of the cathedral at Wittenberg, he not only revolutionized Christianity, he irrevocably changed Christian relations with the Jews. By reclaiming the importance of the Bible to Christianity, Luther, a zealous anti-Semite, created the theological contradiction of love of the Jewish Bible despite hatred of the Jewish people. Rabbi Wein contrasts the theologies of Catholicism and Protestantism and describes their attitudes toward the Jews.

The Muted Jewish Response - Debates and polemics between Christians and Jews have existed for two millennia, but only because the Church compelled it. The great Nachmanides represented the Jews in the first and most famous staged debate, and Rabbi Wein summarizes the historical record of Nachmanides' arguments, so devastating to the Church that even the King of Spain admitted, "I have never heard such a wrong cause defended so ably."

Christianity Condemned/The Holocaust - The Holocaust can be seen as the culmination of centuries of Christian hatred for Jews. Although Hitler viewed Christianity as an outgrowth of Judaism that would ultimately have to be eradicated, the Catholic and Protestant Churches cooperated with him. Rabbi Wein paints the picture of their shameful silence that was tantamount to complicity.

The Post-Christian Era - The secularism of the post-modern era has weakened both Judaism and Christianity, but because of the Church's loss of political power, its descent is far more acute. Nonetheless, pockets of Christianity continue to thrive. Rabbi Wein examines the challenge the modern state of Israel poses to Christianity, including the strange but familiar phenomenon that has made Fundamentalist Christians Israel's biggest supporters.