Anti-Semitism has practically been embedded into Christian doctrine. As Harrington (2009) points out, “certain Gospel texts have fostered anti-Judaism,” and “one can say that the Gospels may have an anti-Jewish potential,” (p. 1). This is true in spite of the fact that many of the authors of the gospels might have self-identified as Jews, or who were at least writing from a Jewish consciousness and Jewish point of view, for a largely Jewish audience. To extricate anti-Semitism from the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) seems challenging. Harrington (2009) is willing to accept the challenge by first showing that the wisdom contained in the synoptic gospels reveals “common ground” between peoples of the book (p. 2). Second, Harrington (2009) offers new frameworks for reading the synoptic gospels, so as not to impose anti-Semitism or to misinterpret the author’s original meaning. Finally, the author offers important social, cultural, and historical contexts...
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