Seventeenth-century Christian philosemites blamed past persecution for Jewish refusal to convert.

Evidence

First, there was a strand of Christian philosemitism from the seventeenth century that argued that past persecution of the Jews had itself been responsible for the refusal of Jews to embrace the “true” faith. By recognizing the mistakes of the past and by treating the Jews sympathetically in the present, they hoped that Jews would convert en masse and thereby hasten the coming of the messianic age. — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 484

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 484