The Grey Book: A collection of protests against anti-semitism and the persecution of Jews issued by non-Roman Catholic churches and church leaders during Hitlers ruleSnoek, Johan M.
Religion
The Grey Book: A collection of protests against anti-semitism and the persecution of Jews issued by non-Roman Catholic churches and church leaders during Hitlers rule
Snoek, Johan M.
Antisemitism; Christianity and other religions -- Judaism; Judaism -- Relations -- Christianity; Protestant churches -- Europe
"... Finally, to protest against the persecutions and victimisations of the
Jews is a task in harmony with the spirit of Jesus Christ, and here I thank
Monsieur l'abbe who has just sounded forth a note of profound truth.
Everyone of us knows that the spirit of Jesus Christ is the spirit of peace,
the spirit of justice, and more than that: the spirit of brotherhood and of
love. It is the spirit which to-day imbues all moral and social systems in
the world, so that Jesus Christ is acknowledged as the unrivalled ruler not
only by Christianity as a whole but also by all mankind...
The spirit of Jesus Christ which, Ladies and Gentlemen, means the spirit
out of which are woven the dreams we have of a better future for mankind,
the dreams we dream when, surrounded by all sorts of iniquities and by all
kinds of ugliness, we nevertheless look towards some glorious dawn! The
spirit of Jesus means that spirit which will triumph because it is the
living truth.
It is in my triple capacity as human being, Frenchman and Christian that I
fully pledge my entire, conscious support to this movement of truth in its
efforts to infuse a little justice and kindness into mankind, against the
attempt to lead humanity back to the night and the iniquities of the Middle
Ages, from which it began to emerge." [144]
* * *
On November 20, 1935, a Meeting of Protest was held in the Hall of Chopin,
Paris. Rev. Marc Boegner, President of the Protestant Federation of France,
said the following:
"... Since I am here representing both Christian and Protestant France, I
should say that in the light of what is going on in Germany - whether it be
the persecutions of Jews or of Christians - it is impossible for us not to
add our most energetic protests to those you have heard so far.
What Christianity Owes to Judaism
"Christianity, as has been indicated by President Reynaud, is essentially a
universal creed. Once one believes in Christ, whatever one's denomination may
be, it is impossible not to subscribe fully to the words of that Jew of olden
times St. Paul, the apostle, who having plumbed the depths of Christ's thought,
exclaimed: 'There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free,
there is neither male nor female; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus'.
(Gal. 3, 28).
This is the basic tenet on which, since July 1933, all preaching in the
Churches of Germany has been practically proscribed. <50>
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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