“From the reign of Nero to that of Antonius Pius, the Jew discovered a fierce impatience of the dominion of Rome, which repeatedly broke out in the most furious massacres and insurrections.
Humanity is shocked at the recital of the horrid cruelties which they committed in the cities of Egypt, of Cyprus and of Cyrene, where they dwelt in the treacherous friendship with the unsuspecting natives; and we are tempted to applaud the severe retaliation which was exercised by the arm of the legions against a race of fanatics, whose dire and credulous superstitions seemed to render them the implacable enemies not only of the Roman Government but of human kind.
The enthusiasm of the Jews was supported ... by the flattering promise which they derived from their ancient oracles, that a conquering Messiah would soon arise, destined to break their fetters and to invest the favorites of heaven with the empire of the earth.”
En las notas a pie de página de este pasaje, Gibbon ofrece detalles repugnantes de los métodos utilizados por los judíos de dicho periodo.
En toda esta labor, la Idea Judía cuenta con la asistencia de ciertas sectas cristianas que encubren la inhumanidad y la inmoralidad de ciertos cursos de acción al decir que «dichos medios son sin duda aquellos mediante los cuales Dios le está dando al judío el control del mundo que le fue prometido».
Esta es una forma de la concepción antibíblica, de la enseñanza antiescritural, de que los judíos son el Pueblo Elegido de Dios.