Christian Supremacy: Reckoning with the Roots of Antisemitism and Racism

by Magda Teter

A panoramic cultural and legal history that traces the roots of antisemitism and racism to early Christian theology

Since the earliest days of Christianity, theologians expressed pervasive anxiety about Jews as equal members of society, and, with European expansion in the early modern period, that anxiety extended to people of color. This troubling legacy still haunts us today. Christian Supremacy demonstrates how theological and legal frameworks created by the church centuries ago laid the seeds of antisemitism and anti-Black racism and reveals why Christian identity lies at the heart of the world’s violent white supremacy movements.

In a powerful historical narrative spanning nearly two millennia, Magda Teter describes how Christian theology of late antiquity cast Jews as “children born to slavery,” and how the supposed theological inferiority of Jews became inscribed into law, creating tangible structures that reinforced a sense of Christian domination and superiority. With the dawn of European colonialism, a distinct brand of European Christian supremacy found expression in the legally sanctioned enslavement and exploitation of people of color, later taking the form of white Christian supremacy in the New World.

Drawing on a wealth of primary evidence ranging from the theological and legal to the philosophical and artistic, Christian Supremacy is a profound reckoning with history that traces the roots of the modern rejection of Jewish and Black equality to an enduring Christian heritage of exclusion, intolerance, and persecution.

Genres: History, Religion, Nonfiction, Christianity, Politics, Jewish, Race

408 pages, Hardcover

First published May 16, 2023

Reviews

[Sunny Lu]

Author is a zionist

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

“When you’re accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression.” -Heinrich Paulus, German theologian, 1831

Teter starts her chronicle of Christian antisemitism and racism with the Apostle Paul (circa 5 AD - 65 AD) and ends it with the lynching nooses, confederate battle flags and “Camp Auschwitz” t-shirts of the attack on the U.S. Capitol Building (January 6, 2021).

Is white Christian supremacy on the decline? Before you answer consider this: in 2018, during the congressional elections, the Republican National Committee (RNC) ran an ad in Minnesota featuring an image of George Soros, labeled “connoisseur of chaos,” sitting in front of a pile of money. Behind him was a photo of Colin Kaepernick with burning buildings in the background. Teter writes…

“This imagery was a racist and antisemitic dog whistle—or rather a bullhorn, affirming white Christian supremacy by focusing on a Jew and a Black man as outsiders creating disorder.”

I can’t say I enjoyed this book, trudging through centuries of hate and malice isn’t a pleasant experience, but I learned a great deal and I feel I have a much better understanding of the origins of white Christian sovereignty.

4 Stars

[Kallie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is so much more expansive and comprehensive than I was anticipating. The blurb I read after reading this said it covers 2000 years of history, which I am just connecting with the timeline of the existence of Christianity. There is unfortunately a lot of antisemitism in most Christian hermeneutics, with supersessionist theology trying to delegitimize Jews from the get-go.
The Christian impulse to "other" anyone not like them started with the Jews, and grew to include Black people in the US. This is very much a hold-no-punches look at what Christians have been implicit in, if not culpable for, since they have had any majority political or social power. The holocaust and the American slave trade are given plenty of page time here.
This is quite impressive in tracing systemic racism back through generations and millennia, leaving those who doubt racism is systemic with little recourse but to reckon with the past that is beating us over the head in our present. The text is accessible and not overly-scholarly, but it is dense and sweeping, which will likely scare away the casual reader. Hopefully this will be source material for more digestible material soon to come.

[Leah M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to libro.fm for providing me with an ALC of this audiobook. I am offering my honest opinion voluntarily.

When I first saw the title of this book, I only saw the first half, and was like "NOPE!" But then I saw the rest of the title, and said "this is a book I have to read."

Teter covers a ton of information in this book, so the material comes across and dense and often scholarly. But considering that she's covering 2000 years of material, I think she made it easy to understand even for people who don't have a good background in the material.

Although a lot of page time is given to discussing the Holocaust and its aftermath, as well as the Transatlantic Slave Trade, it kind of felt like Teter didn't really miss any topics. She discussed the roots of racism in the earliest days of Christianity, and how the structure of the church and its clergy changed, as well as how this changed their relationship with Jewish and Black people.

I walked away from this audiobook read knowing even more about the roots of both antisemitism and racism, and despite already knowing that these two forms of prejudice are more likely to show up together, now I understand how they're linked when it comes to Christian Supremacy.

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fabulously deep history of systemic anti-Blackness and antisemitism, particularly the relationship strewn the two. The central idea of Christian Supremacy is established convincingly in the early part of the book, yet the rest strangely avoids connecting it to most of the histories it painstakingly covers. Definitely worth a read, but I would have like the relationships spelled out in more detail throughout its interior.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't have the energy to finish this book but the first third or so was both maddening and excellent. It reads similarly to Stamped From the Beginning except we start all the way back in Roman-occupied Judea and it's like 250 pages shorter.

[C F · Rating 5 out of 5]

An essential read by an accomplished and insightful scholar of Jewish history.

[super secret sexy bookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is fascinating and very expansive - it covers a 2000 year stretch of history to shed light on the history behind Christian supremacy. Opening with a discussion into supersessionism, the book also covers topics such as the French Reconstruction Era which challenged Christian leaders to think differently about the way that the sociopolitical rights of other religious and ethnic groups should be defined. It’s fascinating to see how the theory of Christian supremacy has impacted social structures and governments to the extent that it has today. The book ends with a discussion of western democracy, and my main takeaway was that these ideas, while reflective of a rich religious history and tradition, can be dangerous for a society where equality and diversity should be the norm - not difference.

[E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

big thanks to libro.fm for providing the ALC copy

I requested this audiobook because it seemed interesting but I didn't think ahead to the review part because I'm way out of my depth subject-wise.

All I can say is I've learned a lot about both antisemitism and racism as well as the similarities and differences between those two and how the ideas behind them influenced the world we live in.

(And that some Polish words and names weren't pronounced correctly in the audiobook but that's a minor thing, mostly in the last chapters.)

Definitely worth the read and educating yourself!

[Lindzie]

This is a very in-depth and well researched book. At the time of picking it up I’m not quite ready to delve this far into this subject. I appreciate the author’s intent. She included a quote ‘history is not merely something fi be read…we carry it within us, are unconsciously controlled by it in many ways, and history is literally present in all that we do…it is history that we owe our frames or reference, our identities and our aspirations.’ James Baldwin - White Man’s Guilt

I hope to pick this up at another time but for now if you need a in-depth history read this is for you.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s tragic when a boring book has a fascinating topic. This is the problem with Christian Supremacy. Teter traces the histories of antisemitism and racism in Christian thought, showing their consequences and how they intertwined in two millennia of Western society. You’ll learn a lot from the book. You’ll also constantly wonder where it’s going and why certain chapters needed to be so long. At times Teter seems to lose the thread completely. Sadly, Christian Supremacy is a timely book for a limited audience.

[Antonis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating overview of the religious roots, real or supposed, of antisemitism and anti-black racism. It was very interesting to examine the parallelisms in the history of these two forms of racism beginning with the Roman period. However, the author goes to such extraordinary lengths and presents so many unnecessary details that I frequently found myself skipping pages and thinking “OK, you’ve made your point, don’t belabour it, let’s move on”. In general, extremely well researched and very informative, but it could easily have been 100 pages shorter.

[M Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whew. What a book. This is perfect for those who enjoy academic books. It is thorough and filled with incredible research that created excellent historical context. However, it is very heady and dense. I found it interest it really struggled keeping focused and comprehending the text.

Thanks to Librofm and Princeston University Press for this complimentary audiobook. My thoughts are my own.

[Lynn Davidman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a meticulously researched historical narrative analyzing the links between two deeply ingrained social hatreds: racism and antisemitism. The author argues, convincingly,that both these two types of hate are rooted in White Christian supremacy and it's taken for granted power to marginalize all who differ.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a book that traces white Christian supremacy through the two parallel streams of racism and antisemitism, but it doesn’t really compare those much. Perhaps because no one is trying to win the Oppression Olympics, but I think the main premise of this could have been strengthened through more comparison and contrast.

[Ken Bruss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very slow read, but incredibly well-researched analysis of anti-semitism, beginning with the original replacement theory with its roots in early Christianity, the connection to racism and the evolution over the centuries to white supremacy on display on Jan 6th

[John Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

4-1/2⭐️ book! Very interesting book that illustrates and documents racism and anti-semitism in Europe and the United States from Roman Empire to the Trump administration! A must read for Anti-racists!

[Andrew Jampol-Petzinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-structured and insightful book, which suffers only (at times) from too much “reading along” with its sources. (Large swaths of the text are extended recountings of material from primary sources, rather than digestive readings of those sources…)

[Dannie Lynn Fountain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whew. This is a heavy (and heavily academic) but necessary read. I received a complimentary audiobook from the publisher via libro.fm.

[Heather Morse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Content was excellent and necessary. Reads like a research text, so a bit difficult for me to get through.

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historical and cultural context on Christian Supremacy and its modern affectation, White Christian Supremacy in the US.

[Mannie Liscum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Teter has constructed, during her COVID ‘alone time,’ a masterful piece of comparative historiography and analysis. The roots of racial prejudice are often common, and in the case of antisemitism and anti-Black racism, their themes are too common, overlapping and dangerous to ignore. That the Nazis learned from post-Reconstruction American legal and social systems is now beyond doubt. That white supremacy finds common cause to hate Blacks and Jews is also without doubt. That there are common and persistent themes of bigotry and racism toward Blacks and Jews running through Christian theology, thought and culture is what Teter brings powerfully to light. This will be an uncomfortable read for many, especially those raised in the white American church, but it is one that should be broadly read. It pulls no punches and relies not on ‘feelings’ or ‘beliefs’ but evidence and actions from the earliest years of Christianity to the present. Readers should not see Teter’s book as an indictment of Christianity as a single cause of racism and bigotry, but a major influence on antisemitism and anti-Black racism we see around us that has persisted through time.5 stars.

[Jimmacc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting!!! Interesting the comparison of racism in US vs antisemitism in Europe.

The use of the Bible and the constitution to justify slavery… the deliberate sabotage of post civil war black participation in voting/government…

Lots to chew on.