Hear, Hear (that is, what Dom Sullivan writes)!
Jussi Hanska
At 02:42 PM 13.1.2000 -0600, you wrote:
>Dear Colleagues:
>
>Please, let's stick to medieval religion.
>
>Thomas Sullivan, OSB
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Sylvan Beer [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
>> Sent: Thursday, January 13, 2000 9:40 AM
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Cc: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: adultery and murder/seeds of the Holocaust
>>
>>
>> Luciana:
>>
>> The literature on his anti-Semitic preaching is actually fairly extensive.
>> Rosemary Ruether in 'Faith and Fratricide', The Seabury Press, NY (1979)
>> discusses some of it.
>>
>> The matter of his anti-Jewish attitude is important not because of how he
>> felt or
>> expressed himself. That can be understood, if not forgiven, in light of
>> the
>> extreme feelings generated in the early days of the Christian/Jewish
>> defensive
>> positions. The main problem is that he is venerated without regard for the
>> destruction wrought by this aspect of his teachings, which the Church has
>> not
>> condemned in the strongest possible terms. Because the Church needs to be
>> seen as
>> perfect, it simply cannot admit ANY wrongdoing of its saints. That is one
>> reason
>> why it has little credibility in the rest of the world. In defending the
>> Church's
>> indefensible position on anti-Semitism, its partisans resort to silly
>> arguments
>> that there are Jewish anti-Semites and that Jews have spread
>> anti-Semitism! To the
>> former, minorities often conform to their majority oppressors as a means
>> of
>> escaping the pain. To the latter, no reasonable argument is possible.
>> Indeed if
>> anything, it supports the suspicion that regardless of what has been
>> stated
>> recently about progress in Jewish/Church understanding, in fact there has
>> been
>> nothing of importance.
>>
>> Test this for yourself. Ask anyone of the Faith what they know of
>> Chrysostom and
>> see what you get in response. Indeed, your question is an indication of
>> the
>> ignorance fostered by the guarded, restrictive teachings of the Church
>> itself.
>> Introspective, self-criticism is hardly a characteristic virtue of it.
>>
>> Finally, it is of no value to claim that future relations between the two
>> faiths
>> will be cordial if admission of past transgressions are not fully and
>> openly
>> admitted and taught to the Faithful. Because if past sins are not
>> recognized and
>> admitted, it means that there is no recognition that they were evil. Thus,
>> if they
>> are not evil there is no prohibition against their repetition. If anything
>> it
>> guarantees that they will be retained as part of the 'folklore' teachings
>> transmitted by the Faithful among themselves.
>> Sylvan
>>
>> Vivario wrote:
>>
>> > --
>> > ****************************************
>> > Luciana Cuppo Csaki
>> > Societas internationalis pro Vivario
>> > e-mail: [log in to unmask]
>> > http://www.geocities.com/athens/aegean/9891/
>> > ****************************************
>> > To Sylvan Beer (and anyone else who might be interested):any evidence
>> > (bibliographical references) on the virulent anti-semitism of St. John
>> > Chrysostom? Thanks
>> > Luciana Cuppo Csaki
>>
>
>
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