De Civitate Dei

Augustine, 414-25, City of God (De civitate Dei), books 17-18 (Early Church Fathers): Building upon Paul, other Biblical writers, and early patristic writers, Augustine formulated the medieval view of Jews. Cohen identifies six Augustinian points—

1. God has punished the Jews for rejecting Jesus by sending them into exile and slavery, while Christians have flourished.

2. Jewish disbelief fulfills biblical prophecy.

3. Jews are important for Christians because God gave the law to the Jews.

4. Jews are to be admired for not abandoning their law.

5. Psalms 59:12 says “slay them not,” so Christians are to allow the Jews to continue practicing their religion without harm.

6. Jews will eventually convert, in accordance with Paul’s prophecy (35-7). In brief, Augustine portrays the Jews as antiquated relics who adhere to the now obsolete Old Law in a physical sense, while blind to the spiritual truth of the New Law—the Jews, ironically, cannot read their own law correctly since they cannot move beyond its literal level to see its symbolical meaning.