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rior, antisemitism depicts Jews as an all-
powerful collective, threatening non-Jews
by aiming to harm them (Harrison 2019;
Julius 2024). This has also been highlighted
by Schraub (2019), as discussed in the sec-
tion on the social psychology of intergroup
relations and social identities.
Despite the complexity of many key
terms, definitions are still important as
both conceptual under-specification and
conceptual expansion are endemic. It is dif-
ficult to observe, for example, if antisem-
itism or ethnic identity is incompatible with
observed variability without at least some
idea about what antisemitism, ethnicity
and identity are all about. Fragmentation
and change can be understood only when
it is clear what is fragmented and subject to
change (Verkuyten 2018).
The cultural roots of much of the world’s
antisemitism and its core demonology
Owing to its ever-changing nature, anti-
semitism cannot be understood without
tracing its origins in history. In Europe
carries problematic connotations rooted
in racial hierarchies and colonial legacies.
While engaging with such language criti-
cally is important for understanding the
context in which it was written, it is equally
necessary to acknowledge its offensive
nature and avoid its use in contemporary
discourse.
Approaching Religion * Vol. 16, No.1 * March 2026
and in a large part of the world, a system
of antisemitic traditions has since antiquity
been used to identify the Jewish “Other”.
According to a number of scholars (e.g.
Mayerhofer and Lange 2021; Rutgers 2021;
Teter 2023), Jew-hatred also significantly
served the construction of a Christian
identity. Although anti-Judaism was not
born with Christianity, Christianity was
born as a negation of Judaism, and was,
like Islam, formed over several hundred
years as emerging groups breaking with
their parent religion(s) (Rutgers 2021, 34).
Naturally, there are geographic and cul-
tural-historical differences in antisemitism,
e.g. in the “Muslim world” and in Christian
majority societies, although commonalities
also exist (Herf 2024).
From a social-psychological perspec-
tive, what all emerging groups have in
common is the need to recruit new mem-
bers. Consequently, they need to stand out
in a positive way compared to their parent
group(s), that is, they need to acquire so-
called positive distinctiveness (e.g. Castelli
and Carraro 2010). A strategy often used
for that purpose is to engage in active inter-
group comparison and depict the new ide-
ology, in this case Christianity or Islam,
as superior to the old one(s). Describing
the Old Testament Divinity as unforgiv-
ing, vengeful and bloodthirsty compared
to the Christian one is one example. This
alter-ascribed characterization of Judaism
emerged in the long, successful process of
acquiring a positively distinct Christian
identity. Through missionary work Chris-
tianity and Islam became majorities, while
Judaism remained a minority, also because
the new religions, when in power, forbid
Jews to proselytize. The conception of the
superiority of Christianity culminated in
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Christian supersessionism, i.e. the idea that
Christianity would finally replace Judaism.
The social psychological notion of the
need for early Christianity to acquire posi-
tive distinctiveness is entirely theoretical.
However, it is independently corroborated
by original sources, although not all histo-
rians may agree with their interpretation.
Professor Leonard Rutgers (2021) noted
that:
Early Christian texts dealing with