Our Hands Are Stained With Blood: The Tragic Story of the "Church" and the Jewish People

by Michael L. Brown, Don Wilkerson (Designed by)

From the first "Christian" persecutions of the Jews in the fourth century to the unspeakable horrors of the Holocaust, from Israel-bashing in today's press to anti-Semitism in today's pulpits, this shocking and painful book tells the tragic story of the "Church" and the Jewish people. It is a story every Christian must hear. No one can be the same toward the Jewish people...after reading Our Hands Are Stained With Blood. —From the Foreword by Pastor Don Wilkerson, Times Square Church Words are tragically inadequate to express the pain, the horror, the unbelief, the shame I felt in reading this work. It is conceivable that this book will be the catalyst God uses to awaken followers of Christ to recognize their legacy from the Jews, and Jews to appreciate the identification followers of Christ feel with the Old Testament faith, as well as helping both Christians and Jews understand the meaning of love as Christ lived it. —Rev. Richard Halverson, Chaplain of the Senate Though strongly disagreeing with the book theologically, I was deeply moved as I read it. I pray that Dr. Brown's message penetrate the souls of Christians everywhere. If his words are absorbed "like showers on young grass, like droplets on the grass," glory will indeed be given to God (Deuteronomy 32:2-3). —Rabbi William Berman, formerly instructor of Bible, Jewish Theological Seminary I was pained, provoked and profited as I read this book. It left me with scars—and with tears. Every true believer needs to read this vital work! —Leonard Ravenhill, Author, Why Revival Tarries

Genres: History, Israel, Religion, Christianity, Christian, Church History, Nonfiction

251 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1992

About the author

Michael L. Brown (born March 16, 1955) is a Messianic Jewish Old Testament scholar, professor, activist, itinerant speaker, and author who has preached in numerous countries and written twenty books. He is the founder and president of ICN Ministries. His writings have been translated into more than a dozen languages. He was married to Nancy Gurian on March 14, 1976 and they have two daughters, Jennifer and Megan, and four grandchildren.

Reviews

[Ross Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe not a 5 star rating for everyone, but it was for me. This book is somewhere between academic analysis and popular reading. Brown does not refrain from presenting a graphic glimpse at how the Church has repeatedly brought calumny against the Jewish people. It evokes powerful emotions. If one cannot handle reading Holocaust accounts or tales of persecution, this is not a book for you.

There are other authors who have written more impressive works than Brown's, but his motive is unique: the author hopes for a brotherhood between Jews and Christians and a reconciliation between Jews and Jesus which relies solidly on repentance. The heartfelt penitence and asking for forgiveness must be taken on the part of Christians individually and corporately first. Brown, who wrote this in the early '90s, already sees this fulfillment of Judaism and Jesus coming together.

[Anthony English · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book angered me, disgusted me, & ultimately, encouraged me. The way the Christian Church has treated God’s chosen people (the Jewish people), in the name of the Jewish Messiah, is demonic. And yet, there has always been a remnant of Christians who have loved the Jewish people & have labored to see them come to faith in Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah & have believed that the land of Israel still belong to them.

I love the Jewish people because I’m loved by the Jewish Messiah & I hope to see the day all of Israel is saved at the return of Jesus.

While I didn’t agree with everything in the book, I agreed with the vast majority. This is a great, yet sobering, book & every seminarian, seminary professor, pastor, Christian leader, & lay Christian should read it & take this message to heart.

[Davar Chaim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent and detailed, well documented overview of the systemic antisemitism in the Christian church. Brown, a Messianic Jew who believes in Yeshua (Jesus) is uniquely qualified to broach a topic that is challenging to explore and more challenging to read.

This is a book EVERY Christian should read to understand why they have so little success among the Jews. Repentance and tears are needed on behalf of the sins of our fathers and the ongoing sins of the pulpits that teach antisemitic doctrines. Heavy, but necessary reading! Highly recommended.

[Brent · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yikes!

The amount of informal fallacies and rhetorical devices used by Dr. Brown to push his untenable thesis through is startling! Moreover, the book is so wishy-washy given any thesis, that the main theme wobbles back and forth between clever rhetoric and angry diatribe. I went into this book with so much expectation, as it had been on my 'to-read' list for seven months; nevertheless, I left this one utterly disappointed in Dr. Brown's approach with Our Hands Our Stained With Blood

Given the nature of the book, it's obviously going to be written in an extremely pathetic manner, and as such, his pathos themes dominate the substance of the book insofar as emotion is deliberately and overwhelmingly targeted as seen in the first chapter and henceforth. With that being said, the work is really largely pathos diatribe, and although Dr. Brown has an extensive amount of end-notes, the work can hardly be called scholarly, given the amount of large quotations and themes from Malcolm Hay among others, and random musings in the end-notes as Dr. Brown tries to justify his position.

My biggest contention is with Dr. Brown's understanding of Israel, as he holds tightly to a "Israel within Israel" theology exegeted from Romans 9, but this is clearly not what the Apostle was saying. Israel is only Israel insofar as they have been born-again through Jesus Christ. Paul explicitly states that even if one was a descendant from Abraham, if they denied Messiah, they were not Israel. Israel is a compilation of the spiritually reborn ethnic Israelites who have accepted Messiah, both past, present, and the future elected remnant at the end of the age.

Further problems arise in Dr. Brown's exaltation of current rabbi's and Jewish scholars as he attributes them as having "the greatest religion man has made" (33). But what is a "great religion" but enmity and hatred towards God (2 Cor 2:14, Js 4:4)?

Dr. Brown's confusion about political Israel is very disheartening; Israel as a nation-state is the prophetic fulfillment of Scripture, at least in part; however, Israel as Paul clearly discussed in Romans 9 is not made up of secular atheists--to the contrary! Although the Jews are obviously God's chosen people--no one is calling for replacement theology here--"For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children" (Rom 9:6-7). On the contrary, Gentiles who believe in Christ are grafted into the commonwealth of Israel as wild olive shoots, thereby sharers in the covenantal promises and also children of Abraham. "And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God's promise to Abraham belongs to you" (Gal 3:29).

Dr. Brown is hesitant to accept Gentile believers as a part of Israel, even though he accepts that they have been grafted into the "vine" and are children of Abraham. So: what is the vine that Paul is talking about in Romans 9? Dr. Brown himself identifies the vine not as Christ, but as the Fathers of Israel. How anyone can admit that Gentile believers are grated into the vine of Israel yet deny them a part of Israel--albeit not the foundation as ethnic Israel who believed in Messiah and the elected remnant is the foundation of the vine, i.e. the natural branches--is beyond me, yet, this is precisely what Dr. Brown does. Instead Dr. Brown sees the elected remnant of Israel as 'the spiritual,' and the unregenerate Israel as 'the natural,'--something that Paul clearly did not state in Romans 9 when he said that not all natural Israel is Israel.

Notwithstanding all of that, Dr. Brown still believes it's every Christians duty to support Israel the nation-state financially--as he praises the "Christian Zionists today who remain active on all fronts" (55)--even though he readily admits that "not every military action of Israel is justifiable" (47). Even still, he rakes numerous amounts of Christian ministers through the mud for making "preposterous" and "frightening" statements, such as this one--which I wholeheartedly agree with--"[We] can work for the conversion of Israel without becoming the pawn of...nationalism" (56).

More problems arise in Dr. Brown's chapter entitled Lies, Lies, Lies! wherein he tries to refute common misconceptions about Jews. Although most of the misconceptions truly are fallacious, Dr. Brown's style is hardly scholarly, as he doesn't actually refute any of the claims, but resorts to 'reductio ad absurdum' arguments that are hardly convincing. His diatribe can be felt through the pages where in his zeal he writes utterly sarcastic remarks that seek to win the reader over through rhetoric, and not scholarly work. For example, his use of 'arguments from ignorance' to dispel conspiracy by simply brushing it off at "world domination rubbish (65)" is hardly convincing. Arguments from personal incredulity--i.e. "Let's be realistic..(65)--are replete throughout the book and are in no wise a scholarly refutation, but rather, just an appeal to sense and emotion through informal fallacies and rhetoric.

Dr. Brown's false dichotomy of either being a zealous Christian Zionist, or else you are a replacement theologian who hates the Jews filled with anti-semetic hatred which is from the devil (see chapter 15), is simply untenable. Although Dr. Brown certainly does have words that would cut the theology of radical fringe Christians, such as Texe Marrs, in half, the majority of Christians today do not embrace such enmity towards Israel, which Dr. Brown sees as the logical outworking of replacement theology. No; Dr. Brown is missing a crucial middle platform that doesn't embrace either extreme.

Lastly, Dr. Brown's understanding of ecclesiastical history is riddled in presentism and the historian's fallacy; viz., Dr. Brown is utilizing current day standards to vilify ancient Christian theologians and clergy. This is demonstrably fallacious and simply a naïve way to treat history, a classic textbook historical fallacy. Dr. Brown is anachronistically hammering down a 21st century American ethical understanding on past Reformers such as Martin Luther which he as no short amount of words for. The problem with this view of history is that Dr. Brown doesn't take into account of the highly complex socio-antrhopological factors that were contributing to the current thought of Christians during the 15th century. Before someone get's up a screams that time should not be a factor, I want to concede the fact that, yes, God's Word is transcultural and timeless. However, it is still reflected given the specific socio-cultural time period it is written in as well! There is a reason why the civil laws of the Mosaic covenant are strikingly similar to Hammurabi's code of the same era. I'm not excusing many of the sentiments of the Great Reformer, among others, but such a presentism judgment of historical figures is a demonstrably naïve and fallacious way to regulate history, regardless of the subject.


I could write much more, but I'll spare the pen.

Brent McCulley

[David McGuire · Rating 5 out of 5]

A needed wake up call

I couldn't wait to get my hands on this book. I even knew quite a bit about the history and current antisemitism. Yet, still this book was an intensely heavy read. I had to take it in small doses. So much hard hitting truth.

As a Jewish believer in Jesus it was a lot to take in. Sometimes I was deeply saddened, others I was intensely angered but most of all grieved. What the Church has done has been the exact opposite of what is in the scriptures.

I don't know how Dr. Brown was able to write the first edition and then go through and do this one. God bless him. This book will open many eyes to the truths of antisemitism. What has happened in the past is happening now. He lays this out perfectly and in such detail.

I wish I could buy hundreds of copies and personally distribute them to the churches where I live. That's how much I believe this book is needed. How much replacement theology has infected the Church. Replacement theology most often morphs into antisemitism. Antisemitism is now running rampant in too many places.

This book will surely educate many who are ignorant because they just have never been taught themselves. These truths for love of Israel have never been preached. This book is sure to ignite the passion for Israel and the Jews.

Chapter by chapter Dr. Brown walks us through the bloody history and the present. He debunks many hate myths and lies. He provides many resources for us to research ourselves. Dr. Brown also provides steps we can all take.

This is the wake up call the Church needs

[Rachel Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

As can be presumed from the title, this was hard to read. But it well documents and discusses a significant subject that every Christian ought to know about and grapple with. There is a vital connection between the Jewish people and our faith in the Messiah, which includes the enduring and meaningful promises of God and the unending grace that Jesus preaches. When this connection is forgotten, or spurned, the ground is tilled for warped thoughts to sprout inside the Church, which give way to worse actions, often without our noticing or understanding. Brown takes you through all these concepts and several of their nefarious manifestations throughout history with a multitude of facts, logical wisdom and sincere passion. Not only a worthwhile read; essential.

One stand-out excerpt: “The fact that the Jews have even survived this long is an outstanding miracle. No people has ever been completely displaced from its land and continued to exist for centuries as a distinct people. In spite of incredible odds, the Jews have done this. (Or, to put it more accurately, God has done this for the Jews.) But there is an even greater miracle than that. Not only have the Jews survived as a people, but after centuries of wandering they have also returned to their ancestral homeland and made it their own country again. The Bible said it would happen. What the prophets spoke is literally true! And who would have believed that the language being spoken in this resurrected nation would again be Hebrew? Our God is an awesome God” (208).

[Manasseh Israel · Rating 3 out of 5]

For some time now I've been interested in the history of the Jews, and the prospect of reconciliation with their gentile brethren who are in Christ. It occurred to me that the Church, as it generally operates now, had departed at some point from the original way of the disciples, and that it would be a good thing to study the trajectory of the Church from its beginnings so as to discover the ways in which a good course can be corrected to and maintained now and in the future. This is not a new observation or endeavor, but it is one that must be made by at least some number of believers in every generation so that we don't find ourselves lost among the weeds. Pursuing that end I have been making a survey of whatever literature I can find on the subject of the practical progression of the Church throughout the centuries. And this book by Michael L. Brown has been my latest stop along the way.

---

Michael L. Brown opens up with a description of what life might be like for you if you were a Jew being led into a concentration camp. He describes such a tragic journey from the surprise at the notice to move, to trains, dividing old and young, embarrassing shameful moments of orientation, all the way to gas chambers and pitiful mass burials. These atrocities rightfully beg the question of how such a thing as the Holocaust could have come to be. It is from here that Brown goes back to the beginning of the first century Church, and the schism between the Jews and the Gentiles in the early centuries after Christ.

In his historical recounting, Michael L. Brown identifies, and I think correctly, that the congregation (or Church) was initially Jewish. And that it was due to an unfortunate cocktail of historical accidents that the division between the early Jewish followers of Yeshua and the early Gentile followers of Jesus occurred. Whole books could be written about this division, as some no doubt have been, but Brown argues that it is precisely because the Church forgot its first century Jewish roots, and Jewish patterns and ways of Bible interpretation, that it ended up becoming so anti-semitic in the ensuing centuries.

Indeed, many of the accounts in the book are beyond tragic, running into the territory of insane, barbaric, and animal. Brown writes of one medieval event in which 100,000 Jews were murdered over the course of weeks in a certain Eastern European country. And where the youths took it upon themselves to search out the pregnant mothers, cut off their hands, then open their wombs and replace their babies inside them with live cats. Truly horrifying, though not unique in the seemingly demonically inspired animosity of Christians towards Jews over the past two thousand years.

Brown shows that these terrible, almost unbelievable, events are, for Jews, a longtime source of righteous resentment toward Christians. And, he argues, that it is the gentile Church's nascent anti-semitism and unrepentance that keeps the Jewish people in waiting for spiritual renewal.
While I do agree with Brown's position on the eternal inheritance of the land of Canaan by the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, I am not convinced by his prognosis that tears and repentance on the part of the Church are the things that will lead to Jewish acceptance of Yeshua Messiah; and spiritual renewal in their homeland.

Surely, tears would help, and repentance could only mean the conversion of Gentile hearts away from anti-semitism in mind and theology. But it seems more that the true problem and point of division between Jews and Gentiles is not so much the long list of bad history between them but two profoundly different ways of understanding God and the world.

It is known and accepted that the early followers of Yeshua were Jewish and followed him in such a way as to be zealous for the Torah - and understanding the Torah in a way long passed down by their fathers. But with the death of Paul and the other early apostles, certain of the Jews declared alternative messiahs (kings) which subsequently led the Romans to come and destroy Jerusalem, making being a Jew a byword and anything remotely attached to things Jewish to be strongly disdained by the Romans and other Gentiles.

So very early on the infant Church was pre-maturely weaned from its mother Jewish congregation - even before it could acquire any of the home church's Jewish culture or thought. Thus the early Church lost the original Jewish understanding of the one God; it lost the feasts, and the Sabbath, and the minor food laws required for gentiles; and it became very easy for well-meaning and ill-informed new believers to bring their pagan beliefs and customs into the congregation and lead many astray. Paul predicted this last thing, and so did Yeshua when he asked if he would find the faith on his return. (Luke 18:8)

So we know that the original Jewish faith in Yeshua was lost, or maybe 'hidden' is more appropriate. And that the early gentile Church had to find its own way in the dark because it had rejected the light of the Torah to guide its feet. This leaving it unguarded and susceptible to being used for the many atrocities accomplished in its name and against the Jewish people.

---

While reading I really could not come to the same conclusion as Brown that merely repenting for bad history would suffice as the cure. There has to be a reason for bad history; That reason so far as I can tell is a complete misunderstanding of who Yeshua was in the first place. Accepting that he was a Torah observant Jew is a good start, but Christians have to go further to understand what that meant and what its implications are for us as followers of Messiah now. I think acquiring a right understanding of Yeshua necessarily requires Gentile Christians to go all the way back to the source of the commandments: the first commandment that God is one LORD.

Leaning in the direction of recovering the image of the true faith, Brown includes a poignant quote by Nicolai Berdyaev that I think sums up the heart of the issue perfectly: "Christians set themselves between the Messiah and the Jews, hiding from the latter the authentic image of the Savior." Brown includes this quote to prop up his idea that it is specifically the anti-semitic actions of the Christians that are the main root of the animosity so shown in a lamentable history between Gentile Christians and Jews. I think it is that, and a certain theology not rooted in Jewish thought, but in Greek, that keeps the monotheistic Shema reciting Jews away from Yeshua - who according to the gentile Christians is also God.

Of course, it would not do to here recount the entire argument against the Greek and Platonically inspired ideas that "Jesus is God" and that "God is Triune." Pointing to certain books/resources suffices:

1. "The God of Jesus In Light of Christian Dogma" by Kegan Chandler
2. "Jesus Was Not A Trinitarian" by Anthony Buzzard
3. "The Closing of The Western Mind" by Charles Freeman
4. "Trinities Podcast" run by Dale Tuggy

It seems to me that the reason that Gentile Christians keep mis-representing Yeshua the Messiah to Jews is that they don't have an accurate representation of the totality of who he really was and is - Missing from most pictures of Yeshua include the so-important facts that he was a man of faith; a perfectly torah observant Jew; a Shema reciting Jew.

For those of us who would be humble ministers of reconciliation between Jews and Gentiles, the key to spiritual recovery for Israel is to start with the commandments and by them to pursue an accurate picture of Jesus: a man appointed by God, miraculously begotten by the power of God, perfectly righteous, resurrected in power; one who followed the commands of God perfectly - especially the first one: That God is One.

It is my belief that until Christians get God and his human son right - without distorting the image of Christ by also thinking, erroneously, that he is God - they will ultimately find themselves ineffective in their mission of reconciliation to the Jews.

As I finished Brown's book I couldn't say that I would recommend it. It has its moments. And he is right about the eternal promise of Israel to the Jews. He is right about the two standards for Jews and Gentiles concerning some of the finer points of the Torah (Law). He is right that the Church does need to recognize its past sins and act sensitively in light of them when sharing the good news of the future Kingdom and its King Yeshua with the Jews. But beyond those good points, the book reads like a collection of pet arguments poorly thought-through.

For me, the end notes are better and more instructive than the chapters. And in light of the fact that one of the main Jewish contentions with Christianity is that they (Christians) believe in three gods instead of one, the real cure for Israel and the gentile congregation (Church) is for the Gentiles to recover the reality of the first commandment - that God is one single person, and NOT a platonically inspired Trinity; that is the cure. The tears that Brown speaks of could be helpful during this recovery, but to my mind they are at best secondary. We must recover what is first: the first commandment.

The first commandment is the one after which all other final truth follows. Any lasting contribution toward the goal of spiritual renewal for Israel will depend on its recovery by the gentiles.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

He is very pro-Israel in terms of politics. Stressed that references to blessings for "Israel" in the Bible is for Jewish people who believe in Christ, NOT the body of the Christian Church. :) Raised some thought-provoking points. I particularly liked how he pointed out that Jesus's death, resurrection, and the coming of the Holy Spirit all coincided with Jewish holidays (Passover, Feast of First Fruit, Feast of Weeks), thus it's probably to suspect Jesus's second coming will coincide with other Jewish holidays (e.g. Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, Feast of Tabernacles) as well. He also cited Bible verses to argue that Christians should weep and repent for any past and present wrongdoing of the Church, regardless whether one was involved in the wrongdoing or not.

[CrystalIsReading on StoryGraph · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't brilliant writing, and definitely was written from a specific perspective. It's been a long time since I read this book, but I found it educational. It was also refreshing in that for once it acknowledged the horrible history that Christians have with the Jewish people, but in a hopeful way. the author seemed to say that, yes, Christians have done many, many horrible things to Jewish people over the centuries, often specifically in the name of Christianity, and that was wrong, but by acknowledging and repenting of those sins, today's Christians can move on and hopefully reconcile with Jewish people.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Neither a horrible or a great book

If you're not familiar with the history of antisemitism (even in the church) and how this has led to the shedding of Jewish blood, you would probably find this book informative. If you are already familiar with this history, you will probably be disappointed in this book. I was expecting this to be an academic work and its not. Each chapter really feels like an extended blog post. His heart is definitely in the right place, but sometimes his tone is off-putting.

[Misty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book with a lot of information. It was difficult to get through at times because you don't want to believe that human beings could be that horrible to each other, but you know they could and still can be. Must read.

[Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

We Christians are conscious enough that the church throughout history has not always lived up to her calling to the 'ministry of reconciliation' (2 Cor. 5.18-19). How we have dealt with that fact has varied, sometimes totally rejecting the institutional church, downplaying or over-contextualising the offences, dissociating ourselves from, for example, 'those Catholics', or making our own accusations in return. However true some of this may be, "Our Hands are Stained with Blood" invites us to face up to the wrongs that have been done by the church in the name of Christ, specifically the crimes that have been perpetrated against the Jewish people.

The most important part of the book for me was that in which these crimes are detailed - or at least a sampling of them - in all their shocking detail. The average gentile Christian is blissfully ignorant of this history, but not so, I would say, is the average Jew. This litany of persecutions has been their history in every century. Dr. Michael Brown invites us to weep tears of repentance for the sins of our forebears. Yes, these crimes could not have been committed by people walking in Jesus' teachings (he, after all, was the one who said 'Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do' [Luke 23.34]). We see the apostate church, denying Jesus' gospel, and proving it by demonic acts of evil. But as Brown says, 'We who are the spiritual representatives of the Lord Jesus must repair what our carnal predecessors have done in his name'.

But not only apostates are guilty, but also Christian figures whom I deeply respect, such as John Chrysostom, Bernard of Clairvaux, and Martin Luther. God has done great things through these men, but for the Jew, their legacy is suffering. If we the church want to fulfil our ministry of reconciliation and see the Jews in relationship with the God of Abraham, the King of the Jews, Jesus the Messiah, then we must look this part of our history in the eye, and make amends wherever we can.

Much of the book also deals with the flaws of replacement theology (the doctrine that Israel has been deposed by God on account of rejecting Jesus, replaced by the new and improved Church model), which Brown sees as partly responsible for many of these errors. While on the whole his criticism is not bad, Dr. Brown paints his own Dispensational view as the only valid alternative. Despite this, I am grateful that unlike many Dr. Brown at least does not conflate Replacement Theology with Covenant Theology, so I can say with another reviewer of this book, Rabbi William Berman, 'though strongly disagreeing with the book theologically, I was deeply moved as I read it. I pray that Dr. Brown's message penetrate the souls of Christians everywhere. If his words are absorbed "like showers on young grass, like droplets on the grass," glory will indeed be given to God (Deut. 32.2-3).'

[Aaron Dranoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book like this is so rare. “Our hands are stained with blood,” is such an important book for Christian’s to understand. Dr. Brown justly diagnoses and explains an issue in the church that for the most part it’s ignorant of.

If you are a Pastor, a missionary, a Christian leader of any kind, or if being a part of the church means more to you than just going to a Sunday service: please read this book!

[Luis T · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life changing. History has always been my worst subject, so I can't say I knew about a lot of the details described in this book. But, it was enlightening on so many concerning perspectives to learn about the roots that enveloped my childhood. My upbringing, being raised mainly non-denominational. I definitely recommend this book to any Christian, non-believer, or history fanatic that is curious to learn more about why our hands are stained with blood.

[Elle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent book with lots of good excerpts from scholars, history, and of course, the Bible. As a non-Jewish Christian, I found this book very enlightening and helpful in seeing more of the context for Christianity and the Bible in Judaism without feeling pressured to convert to Messianic Judaism (something I was cautious about when starting this book). I’ll be sharing this book with my family and friends!

[Larry Guthrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a challenging read. The Jewish people have been marked for thousands of years. Some of the stories recounted here outside the Holocaust are horrendous. It is unfortunate that anti- Semitism is still rampant even within the "Church". It may not be a violence based hatred, but an ideological and theological arrogance towards the chosen nation. An excellent, enlightening read.

[Monte Hickingbottom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr. Michael Brown lays out a brilliant case for the discrimination of Jews throughout history by the Christian church, up to modern times with theologies of replacement theory and covenant theology. While I don’t agree with all of his points, he makes a compelling argument for underlying antisemitic thought in much of seminary academia.

[Dave Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Brown discusses many aspects of anti-semitism including pervasiveness, expressions, theology (both good & bad), and history. The major theme is the Church's participation (both active and passive) in resisting Jewish culture (both spiritual & secular). He examines the role of Jews in God's plans. Good scholarly work. I recommend reading the end notes as you read the main text.

[Jonathan Faggotter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tears of sorrow. Also tears of joy. God is good.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an eye-opener for me. I learned a lot of history from this book. I recommend it.

[Douglas Michalak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Desperately needed information for those who have never been informed regarding the Christian Church's persecution of the Jewish people through the centuries.

[Bryan Bolivar Antunez]

Es estupendo este libro

[Zdenek Sykora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding book that is revealing many interesting things not to shared by the official church.

[Tim Sivils · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful! This is a MUST READ if you are a Christian with the slightest interest in the horrors of anti-semitism and the 2nd coming of the Messiah.

[Becky Hornick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very Good to get facts and ponder an thinkiing what to do about it

[Brett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rejected, Mistreated, Persecuted, & tortured - are the Jewish People really singled out to be treated in such a manner or is it all pretend? Throughout the Old Testament it is obvious the love and care God has for the nation of Israel. Did their rejection of God's Son bring such consequences to where they were replaced and deserving of cruel treatment? Dr. Michael Brown writes a revealing book regarding the persecution of the Jewish People. Using the Bible, Historical accounts, and even personal stories - Dr. Brown gives clarity to an overlooked truth that the Jewish nation has been gravely mistreated and persecuted for centuries and their persecutors range from atheists even to those who claim the name of Christ. This is a good read, not because it will leave you feeling warm and fuzzy because it shows the true story of a group of people that for centuries have been lied about, abandoned, abused, and even attempted to eradicate. It is good because it shows you the wickedness of man and it also shows you the hope and glory of God & how He will rescue His chosen people.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written by a Messianic Jew for Christians, this book gives an introduction to the horrific history of Christian-Jewish relations in the West with many tales of antisemitism and persecution. But if I remember correctly, the work is hopeful and aimed not to slam the Christian community, but to educate, inform, and move the Church into paths of love and truth towards those of Jewish descent for His name's sake.

[Kamil Zagorski · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read for every Christian out there. It is not an easy book, it won't make you feel good nor will it leave you uplifted. Oh, how un-modern of Michael Brown to write in such unapologetic and uncompromising way!

The book tackles inconvenient truth about "our" Christian history, in particular in relation to Jewish people throughout the ages. It really uncovered my ignorance about the topic.

I would recommend this book to any Christian brother or sister.

[Dr. Paul T. Blake · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great introduction to having a heart for the Jewish people, as he tells many historical stories of persecution against the Jews. He includes a few theological points also, so probably the book you'll want to read first if you are new to Jewish things.

[scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sad history of Christian persicussion of the Jewish.