Adversus Judaeos (Ancient Greek: Κατὰ Ἰουδαίων Kata Ioudaiōn, "against the Jews") are a series of fourth century homilies by Saint John Chrysostom directed to members of the church of Antioch of his time, who continued to observe Jewish feasts and fasts.
Indeed, during World War II, the Nazi Party in Germany abused his homilies, quoting and reprinting them frequently in an attempt to legitimize the Holocaust in the eyes of German and Austrian Christians.
[7] The most recent scholarly translations, claiming that Chrysostom's primary targets were members of his own congregation who continued to observe the Jewish feasts and fasts, give the sermons the more sympathetic title Against Judaizing Christians.
[9] He described it as a place worse than a brothel and a drinking shop; it was a den of scoundrels, the repair of wild beasts, a temple of demons, the refuge of brigands and debauchees, and the cavern of devils, a criminal assembly of the assassins of Christ.
"[16] British historian Paul Johnson stated that Chrysostom's homilies "became the pattern for anti-Jewish tirades, making the fullest possible use (and misuse) of key passages in the gospels of Saints Matthew and John.
According to Walter Laqueur, it was argued that in the 4th century, the general discourse was brutal and aggressive and that at the time when the Christian church was fighting for survival and recognition, mercy and forgiveness were not in demand.
[23] Samuel Krauss, Jean Juster and later Marcel Simon argued that the Adversus Iudaeos literature is a form of continuation of earlier Jewish-Christian encounters, specifically until the reign of Julian in 361,[24] though other writers see the documents as more about strengthening Christian self-identity.