Now, the American Civil War was fought over the issue of slavery. Those who defended slavery, including many self-described Christians, were able to quote scripture in their defense of slavery.
But today the vast majority of Americans, including most self-described Christians, do not defend slavery. This shows that even Christians can learn how to interpret the Christian Bible carefully.
In addition, many Christians today have learned how to interpret certain anti-Jewish expressions in the New Testament carefully, thus departing from the centuries-old tradition among Christians of blaming Jews for the crucifixion of Jesus. For example, the Roman Catholic Church officially endorsed this break with the centuries-old tradition among Christians in the document titled (in Latin) Nostra Aetate (also known formally as the Declaration on the Church's Relation to Non-Christian Religions). This remarkable document was formally approved at the fourth session of the Second Vatican Council in the Roman Catholic Church on
But is this remarkable document an example of too little too late, or an example of better late than never?
Evidently independently of the Vatican II document, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a black Baptist minister, reached a conclusion in the last sermon he gave in 1968 that is consonant with the spirit of the Vatican II document. See Keith D. Miller's book Martin Luther King's Biblical Epic: His Final, Great Speech (2012).
Evidently, Mel Gibson, a Roman Catholic who directed the movie The Passion of Christ (2004), is not impressed with the spirit of his church's 1965 document Nostra Aetate.
Disclosure: I am a former Roman Catholic. Today I would describe myself as a theistic humanist, as distinct from a secular humanist.
DIGRESSION: For a perceptive historical survey of anti-Semitism over the centuries, see James Carroll's book Constantine's Sword: The Church and the Jews: A History (2001). Carroll is an ex-priest and a practicing Catholic. Concerning the scriptural bases of Christian anti-Semitism, See John Dominic Crossan's book Who Killed Jesus? Exposing the Roots of Anti-Semitism in the Gospel Story of the Death of Jesus (1995) and St. Paula Fredriksen's book Jesus of Nazareth: King of the Jews (1999). Both Crossan and Fredriksen are critical biblical scholars. However, critical biblical scholarship is anathema to Bible-thumpers, who subscribe to their own tradition of biblical interpretation. END OF DIGRESSION.
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