Christian Anti-Semitism

I had mentioned that I was planning on talking about Christian Anti-Semitism.  I didn’t get to blogging about it before I finished a paper I was working on.  Here is the paper.  I would be interested in hearing what you have to say.

Lessons on Christian Anti-Semitism from Romans 11:11-32

Bring on the Jubilee

It hard to not notice the economic struggles that are plaguing most our our world.  Everyday in the news it appears that we are falling deeper and deeper into a pit that leaves many without any hope.  In Biblical times, there were often families that could not afford to support themselves and as a result some would sell off their land and others would sell themselves and their families to another family that could support them as an indentured servant. If they were fortunate they could pay back what was owed, but most would not be so lucky.

God provided a means for these families to regain what they had to give up and be restored to who they once were.  His means was the Year of Jubilee (see Leviticus 25).  In the Year of Jubilee, the land was given back to its original owner and the those who had sold themselves into servanthood would be released.  (Note: there is no evidence that the Year of Jubilee was a regular practice among the Israelites, but this does not reduce the system that God had put into place as being insignificant.) What this does show is that God knew that humanity would put themselves into positions that they could not get out of .  The Year of Jubilee was a way for those who were in debt we be free of that debt and no longer subject to its burden.

What would it look like if our world today practiced the Year of Jubilee?  Would our world be a better place if the leaders of the world got together and decided to cancel all of the world’s debt?  I would argue that our world would be better off.  We are so dependent on our current financial system that relies on increasing our debt to get what we want.  To get a car, an education, a house or a business, we are put into positions were we must borrow because we are incapable of obtaining these things on our own.  Maybe enacting the Year of Jubilee is the way we can get out of the grips our current financial system has put on us.  Think about it.