Why did Christians believe that Jews murdered Christian children?

Answer 1

Answer 1

I doubt if they actually believed the blood-libels. These were simply an excuse to kill and rob Jews.

The earliest-known blood libel is found in the writings of the Graeco-Egyptian anti-Semitic author Apion, who claimed that Jews sacrificed Greek victims in the Holy Temple. In the fifth century, Socrates Scholasticus made another blood-libel, the first to claim that Jews sacrificed Christians.

Later, in the medieval period, blood-libels occurred frequently, beginning in 12th-century England. In almost every instance, Jews were killed.

Answer 2

I dissent with the view in Answer 1 and hold that many poor and uneducated Christians did honestly believe that their Jewish neighbors committed atrocious activities. They had been brainwashed for centuries to expect this by their leaders who used Biblical verses to inflame people's passions. In order to know that Jews do not murder Christian children, a Christian would have to trust a Jew as a fellow human being who loves and unfortunately, many people (both Christians and non-Christians) found it impossible to make such a leap. In fact, many modern individuals who are very educated find it impossible to make such a leap because of prejudices that have only been strengthened by their education.

The leaders were barely better educated themselves. They could not explain the diseases that robbed them of their children, the floods which decimated their crops, nor any other affliction they suffered. Making the "unknowable" Jews the culprits for all of this savagery as opposed to the now obvious scientific explanations brought the problem to a "solvable" level. Jews could be put on trial. Jews could be executed. Normal peasants could see success in these endeavors. Disease, pestilence, floods, and earthquakes could not be handled in such a way. So, the leaders made the choice to believe the quickest answer they could draw and not attempt to test their views. Had they done so, blood libels may not have become so common and so rampant.