ds in our liturgical hymns. The minds of those
who in various times represented the earthly organisation of the
Church could be poisoned by hatred of the Jews, in whom they suspected
Christ's enemies, precisely because it seemed to them that the Jewish
nation was already void of the true Jewish spirit and was not of
Abraham's seed. But what do all these errings mean in face of the
single testimony of the apostle Paul?

I have placed myself, in these lines, on the standpoint of religious
thought, and I wish to remind people of the truth that to be a
Christian means to be not a heathen, not simply an Aryan by blood, but
to become through baptism, which sacramentally includes also
circumcision, a child of Abraham, and, therefore, in a sacramental
sense a brother to Abraham's descendants, who, according to the word
of the apostle, are not deprived of inheritance, and whom, according
to Christ's word, we must bless even if they curse us. Personally, I
do not believe that the Jews hate Christ, unless it be that they hate
Him in spite of their secret, presensuous love for Him, hate Him with
that peculiar hatred which comes from jealousy and which the Hellenes
defined as the negative hypostase of Eros, as anti-Eros.

I think that Providence has appointed the Jews eternally to test the
Christian peoples in their love for Christ and in their faithfulness
to Him. And when His work will be consummated in us, then their
demands and expectations will be fulfilled and they will be convinced
that they need not wait for another Messiah. As for us, if we were
walking with Christ, we would not fear our examiners: for love
conquers fear.

The accounts the Russian soul has to settle with that of the Jew are
complex. In spite of the fact they have frequently and most completely
been united in suffering, the Jew is loath to love that which is most
sacred to the Russian soul. For the benefit of those in whom resound
the separate clashing voices of this spiritual dispute, I shall quote
in conclusion this final and irrevocable verdict of Dostoyevsky, who
had the reputation of being an anti-Semite:

"All that is demanded by humanity, justice and Christian law, must be
done for the Jews. I shall add to these words that in spite of the
considerations exposed above, I definitely stand for an increase of
the Jewish rights in formal legislation and, if possible, for the
removal of all the legal disabilities which stand in the way of their
equalit