this dichotomy is too simplistic and rigid to do justice to the complex dynamics of Christianity’s emergence from Judaism.29
Therefore, as we examine various polemical passages in Hebrews we need to ask what specifically is being superseded? Is the text arguing for the replacement of the Jewish people, or simply Jewish practices and institutions? And if the passage does indicate the replacement of specific elements of Judaism, what takes their place? Are they completely new institutions, or things that are informed and foreshadowed by the old? There can be a supersession of Jewish practices and institutions that need not imply a complete abandonment by God of the Jewish people.
1 To illustrate the disparity between the amount of work done in the Gospels, Acts, and Paul versus Hebrews regarding the question of anti-Semitism, we simply need to examine a few major studies. Gregory Baum’s book, Is the New Testament Anti-Semitic?, contains only two sections: 1) the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles; and 2) the epistles of Saint Paul. There is nothing written on the book of Hebrews. Anti-Semitism in the New Testament? by Samuel Sandmel dedicates seven chapters to the Gospels, Acts, and the Pauline writings. Only three pages are given to the epistle to the Hebrews. In Lillian Freudmann’s book, Antisemitism in the New Testament, only nine pages are given to Hebrews, while the rest of the book focuses primarily on Paul’s writings, the Gospels, and Acts. In the book Anti-Semitism and Early Christianity: Issues of Polemic and Faith, seven articles are dedicated to Jesus, Paul, the Gospels, and the deutero-Pauline writings, while only one deals with the book of Hebrews (and not exclusively).
2 William Lane identifies the following as polemical passages in Hebrews: 7:18-19; 8:7; 8:13; 9:8-10; 10:1-4; 10:9; “Polemic in Hebrews and the Catholic Epistles,” in Anti-Semitism and Early Christianity: Issues of Polemic and Faith, ed. C. Evans and D. Hagner (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1993) 166–98. These passages describe polemic against the Levitical priesthood, sacrificial ritual, Jewish law, Mosaic covenant, and temple.
3 Though it is unknown for certain whether the author was male or female, I will use male pronouns for convenience when referring to the author. Donald Hagner notes that Priscilla is a possible candidate for the authorship of Hebrews. See Donald Hagner, “Interpreting the Epistle to the Hebrews,” in The Literature and Meaning of Scripture, ed. Morris A. Inch and C. Hassell Bullock (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1981) 221.
4 Heb 7:11-19, 8:6-13, 10:1-10.
5 Heb 3:5; 7:1-10; 11:4-38.
6 Heb 7:18-19, 28; 10:1.
7 Heb 1:5-13; 2:6-8, 12-13; 3:7-11, 15; 4:3-7; 5:5-6; 7:17, 21; 8:8-12; 10:5-7, 16-17; 12:5-6; 13:6.
8 See chapter 3. Cf. Heb 13:10, 13.
9 John G. Gager, The Origins of Anti-Semitism: Attitudes Toward Judaism in Pagan and Christian Antiquity (New York: Oxford University Press, 1983) 8.
10 See also Robert A. Guelich, “Anti-Semitism and/ or Anti-Judaism in Mark?” and Donald Hagner, “Paul’s Quarrel with Judaism,” in Anti-Semitism and Early Christianity, 80–81, 128–29.
11 Craig Evans, “Faith and Polemic: The New Testament and First-Century Judaism,” in Anti-Semitism and Early Christianity, 1.
12 Scot McKnight, “A Loyal Critic: Matthew’s Polemic with Judaism in Theological Perspective,” in Anti-Semitism and Early Christianity, 56–57.
13 Ibid., 56; see also 57 n. 5.
14 Ibid., 57 n. 4.
15 James D.G. Dunn, “The Question of Anti-Semitism in the New Testament Writings of the Period,” in Jews and Christians: the Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, rev. ed., ed. James D. G. Dunn (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999) 177–211.
16 Ibid., 179–80.
17 Ibid., 180.
18 Douglas R. A. Hare, “The Rejection of the Jews in the Synoptics and Acts,” in Anti-Semitism and the Foundations of Christianity, ed. A.T. Davies (New York: Paulist, 1979), 28-32. John Gager clarifies the term “prophetic anti-Judaism” to mean an internal debate within Judaism where the meaning and control of the essential symbols of the faith (temple, Torah, ritual commandments) were in debate rather than the symbols themselves (Gager 1983, 9).
19 Jacob Neusner, “Varieties of Judaism in the Formative Age,” in Formative Judaism: Second Series (BJS 41; Chico: Scholars, 1983) 59–89.
20 Samuel Sandmel, Anti-Semitism in the New Testament? (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1978), xix-xxi.
21 Rosemary Radford Ruether, Faith and Fratricide (1974; reprinted, Eugene, Ore.: Wipf & Stock, 1996) 116.
22 Gavin I. Langmuir, History, Religion, and Antisemitism (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990) 276.
23 We must also note that attacking someone’s religion is often more offensive than attacking one’s appearance.
24 When the author refers to Jews, he designates them “the (your) fathers” (1:1, 3:9, 8:9). See Clark M. Williamson, “Anti-Judaism in Hebrews?” Int 57 (2003) 270.
25 Heb 7:18-19; 8:7; 8:13; 10:1-4; 10:9.
26 Franklin H. Littell, The Crucifixion of the Jews (New York: Harper & Row, 1975) 30.
27 In the declaration, Nostra aetate, signed by Pope Paul VI in 1965, the Catholic Church officially rejected older views of supersessionism. The document states, “the Jews should not be spoken of as rejected or accursed as if this followed from holy Scripture” (Documents of Vatican II, ed. Austin P. Flannery [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975] 741). For more statements by the Roman Catholic Church against supersessionism, see Eugene J. Fisher, “The Church’s Teaching on Supersessionism,” BAR 17 (1991) 58. In addition, in 1987, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) approved a document entitled, A Theological Understanding of
