The Encyclopedia of World Religions

anti-Semitism S 21

Anselm is remembered most for the way he tried to prove that G OD exists ( see G OD , THE EXIS TENCE OF ). He defined God as “the greatest object that can be thought of.” Then he argued that, given this definition, God had to exist: A God who actu ally existed would be greater than any God who was only imagined. Anselm also claimed that no one could know what the word “God” means and still doubt that God existed. Some people have rejected Anselm’s proof. Among them are the great Christian theologian Thomas A QUINAS and the important philosopher Immanuel Kant. Antichrist In Christianity, a figure opposed to C HRIST . The Antichrist is expected to come at the end of time. In the N EW T ESTAMENT ( see B IBLE , BIBLICAL LITERA TURE ) only the letters of John mention the Antichrist. In these letters the Antichrist is the person “who denies the Father and the Son.” Furthermore, John’s letters suggest that many Antichrists are already in the world. That, the letters say, is a sign that the last days have already arrived (1 John 2.18–25). Although other New Testament writers did not use the word “Antichrist,” they shared the belief in a being or force opposed to J ESUS . The book of R EV ELATION has been particularly influential. Christians have often taken one of the beasts in Revelation to be the Antichrist. (See also 2 Thessalonians 2, which anticipates the coming of an unnamed, law less opponent to Christ.) Speculation about the identity of the Antichrist has been rampant throughout Christian history. At one time or another, Christians have identified Simon Magus (a miracle-worker in the book of Acts), M UHAMMAD , particular popes and Byzantine emperors, Napoleon, Adolf Hitler, institutions such as the PAPACY , and ideologies such as communism with the Antichrist. Some who have opposed Christianity and its values have seen the Antichrist as a positive, not a negative figure. The best example is the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who wrote a book entitled The Antichrist.

anti-Semitism Words, actions, and attitudes directed against Jews because they are Jews. The term was actually coined in 1879 by Wilhelm Marr, a German conservative politician, to identify an anti-Jewish racial policy that he and his fellow conservatives advocated. In the 20th century anti Semitism led to the murder of roughly 6 million Jews in the H OLOCAUST . ANTI-SEMITISM IN THE ANCIENT WORLD Although the word was first coined in 1879, anti Semitism is by no means new. After the conquests of Alexander the Great (d. 323 B . C . E .), Greek speaking or “Hellenistic” culture became the norm throughout the eastern Mediterranean region and the Near East. Those who favored Hellenistic culture at times looked down upon Jews. Many Greeks valued reason in pursuit of the truth. Some of them saw the Jews’ reliance upon God’s revela tion ( see T ORAH ) as superstition. Even more Greeks saw the practice of CIRCUMCISION , an important sign of identity for Jewish males, as a distasteful muti lation of the body. Hellenistic culture was not, however, the pri mary source of anti-Semitism in the ancient world; C HRISTIANITY was. Some see evidence of anti-Semi tism in the most sacred writings of Christianity, the New Testament. Pertinent passages include Mat thew 23, John 8.34–47, and, most fatefully, Mat thew 27.25, in which “the Jews” proclaim them selves and their descendants guilty of J ESUS ’ death. Many biblical scholars see these and other pas sages as motivated by fierce competition between Jews and early Christians. They do not consider them historically reliable. On the basis of such passages, ancient Chris tian teachers could utter fiercely anti-Semitic state ments. For example, John Chrysostom ( c. 347–407), a leader of the Orthodox Church in Asia Minor (now Turkey), taught that Jews were viler than wild animals and that all Christians had an obliga tion to hate them. A UGUSTINE , bishop of Hippo and one of the most influential Roman Catholic think ers, wrote a “Tractate against the Jews.” He taught that Jews should be humiliated in punishment for rejecting Jesus.