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Christians in America, of course, have a wide variety of attitudes toward Israel. Dispensationalists tend to view the country as a significant landmark of eschatological topography. Members of mainline Protestant denominations, on the other hand, are often critical of Israel for its policies toward the Palestinians.

What should not be in doubt is the absolute Christian indebtedness to the Jewish people. They gave us the Scriptures and the prophets, and the Messiah himself. Christianity shorn of its Jewish origins simply would not be Christianity. It would be a collection of milquetoast ethics without a metaphysic, roots, or the semblance of any truth.

Christians may—indeed should—have a variety of attitudes toward the Israeli government. But to Jews as a whole—our "elder brothers," as Pope John Paul II called them—we owe far more than we can ever repay. In the face of Europe's rising tide of anti-Semitism, let us never forget it.

Copyright © 2006 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

More about David Aikman is available from his website. He is author of Jesus in Beijing and A Man Of Faith: The Spiritual Journey of George W. Bush. His latest book Qi, a novel, is now available.

The BBC ran a series on anti-Semitism in Europe.

Time Europe also investigated the issue in 2002.

Other Christianity Today articles on anti-Semitism include:

'The Longest Hatred' | Evangelicals must fight the resurgence of anti-Semitism.—A Christianity Today editorial (March 24, 2004)

The Latest Temptation of Christians | Troubling spite in the debate over The Passion shows that the church needs to take anti-Semitism more seriously. (Feb. 24, 2004)

CT Classic: Who Killed Jesus? | After centuries of censure, Jews have been relieved of general responsibility for the death of Jesus. Now who gets the blame? (Aug. 24, 2000)

The Latest Temptation of Christians | Troubling spite in the debate over The Passion shows that the church needs to take anti-Semitism more seriously. (Feb. 24, 2004)

The Passion and Prejudice | Why I asked the Anti-Defamation League to give Mel Gibson a break. (Feb. 24, 2004)

Why some Jews fear The Passion | Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ gives Christians the chance to disavow a shameful history of anti-Semitism. (Feb. 20, 2004)

Good News to the Jew First | Critics of The Passion of the Christ assume the story embodies an anti-Semitic message. But does it? (Nov. 21, 2003)

Jews Against Jesus? | Critics of Gibson's film The Passion distort the truth. (Oct. 30, 2003)

Poland's Catholic Bishops Ask Forgiveness for Wartime Massacre of Jews | Theologian says continued anti-Semitism overshadows gesture. (June 12, 2001)

Oberammergau Overhaul | Changes make the Passion play more sensitive to Jews and more faithful to Scripture. (Aug. 24, 2000)

At Jerusalem's Holocaust Memorial, Pope Regrets Persecution of Jews | Catholic Church 'deeply saddened by anti-Semitism directed against the Jews by Christians.' (March 20, 2000)

Is Holocaust Museum Anti Christian? | Six prominent Jews are accusing the U.S. Holocaust Museum of anti-Christian bias in showing a 14-minute film on the roots of anti-Semitism. (April 27, 1998)

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June 2006, Vol. 50, No. 6