dedicated to pastordan and offered as a diary in order not to side-track The Word For the Week.
In his sermon last Sunday, pastordan spoke in passing of "the Old Testament book II Kings." I complimented on the sermon, but asked him to consider using the term "Hebrew Bible" to avoid the supersessionist claim that Christianity replaces God's covenant with the Jews, a claim implicit in the expression "Old Testament," as in the "ancien regime."
pastordan generously took my point, writing:
I do try to refer to "Hebrew Scripture" instead of the "Old Testament" for these very reasons.
But another poster offered:
there is indeed a New Covenant, different from the Old. It does indeed supercede the Old
As a non-Christian, I don't want to tell anyone what to believe on matters of Christian faith.
continued below
But because of the importance I attach to Christian-Jewish relations, because of the historical role of supersessionism and Replacement Theology in producing antisemitism, and because of the fear I have of the disruptive potential of the poster's replacement theology position (both within American society generally and the liberal community in particular), I respectfully offer this diary for general consideration.
THESES
1. "For centuries Christians claimed that their covenant with God replaced or superseded the Jewish covenant." (The Christian Scholars Group on Christian-Jewish Relations (Christian Scholars Group), A Sacred Obligation: Rethinking Christian Faith in Relation to Judaism and the Jewish People, Point 1.) "A classical Christian tradition sees the Church replacing Israel as God's people, and the destruction of the second temple of Jerusalem as a warrant for this claim. The covenant of God with the people of Israel was only a preparation for the coming of Christ, after which it was abrogated." ( World Council of Churches, "Ecumenical Considerations on Jewish-Christian Dialogue" Point 2.3 (1982).
2. This "long history of anti-Jewish attitudes and actions in which Christians, and sometimes the Church itself, have been deeply implicated" culminated in the Shoah (Holocaust). ("Building New Bridges in Hope," adopted by the United Methodist Church 1996, readopted 2004.)
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In the long history of Christianity there exists no more tragic development than the treatment accorded the Jewish people on the part of Christian believers. Very few Christian communities of faith were able to escape the contagion of anti-Judaism and its modern successor, anti-Semitism. (Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, "Declaration of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to the Jewish Community (1994).)
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The madness, the hatred, the dehumanizing attitudes which led to the events known collectively as the Holocaust did not occur overnight or within the span of a few years, but were the culmination of centuries of such Christian theology, teaching and church-sanctioned action directed against the Jews simply because they were Jews. ("A Statement on Jewish-Christian Relations from the Alliance of Baptists".)
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Discrimination and persecution of the Jews led to the 'teaching of contempt', the systematic dissemination of anti-Jewish propaganda by Church leaders, teachers and preachers. Through catechism, teaching of school children, and Christian preaching, the Jewish people have been misrepresented and caricatured. Even the Gospels have, at times, been used to malign and denigrate the Jewish people. Anti-Jewish prejudice promulgated by leaders of Church and State has led to persecution, pogrom and finally, provided the soil in which the evil weed of Nazism was able to take root and spread its poison. The Nazis were driven by a pagan philosophy, which had as its ultimate aim the destruction of Christianity itself. But how did it take hold? The systematic extermination of six million Jews and the wiping out of a whole culture must bring about in Christianity a profound and painful re-examination of its relationship with Judaism. (Report of the Dogmatic and Pastoral Section Lambeth Conference of Bishops of the Anglican/Episcopal Communion (1988), "Jews, Christians and Muslims: The Way of Dialogue" Point 17.)
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The churches failed [during the Shoah (Holocaust)] because of indifference and fear, pride and weakness; but they also failed, above all, as a consequence of wrong interpretations of texts from the Bible and the terrible theological errors to which they led. Sometimes in Christianity there has been an idea that the rejection and devaluation of Judaism, even to the extent of overt antisemitism, could be considered an important aspect of how Christians understand themselves. ("Church and Israel: Contribution from the Reformation Churches in Europe to the Relationship between Christians and Jews" at 93 unanimously adopted at the 2001 Belfast Assembly of the The Community of Protestant Churches in Europe - Leuenberg Church Fellowship (CPCE).)
3. Most contemporary Christian churches have repented of this "theology of contempt" and have disavowed supersessionism or Replacement Theology, affirming the continuing validity of God's covenant with the Jewish people.
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For centuries Christians claimed that their covenant with God replaced or superseded the Jewish covenant. We renounce this claim. We believe that God does not revoke divine promises. We affirm that God is in covenant with both Jews and Christians. Tragically, the entrenched theology of supersessionism continues to influence Christian faith, worship, and practice, even though it has been repudiated by many Christian denominations and many Christians no longer accept it. Our recognition of the abiding validity of Judaism has implications for all aspects of Christian life. (Christian Scholars Group, A Sacred Obligation Point 1. (Emphasis added.)
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God holds the Jews most dear for the sake of their Fathers; He does not repent of the gifts He makes or of the calls He issues Nostra Aetate (1965) (otherwise known as "The Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions"). (Emphasis added.)
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"the people of God of the Old Covenant, which has never been revoked" (Pope John Paul II, quoted in Commission of the Holy See for Relations with the Jews, "Notes on the correct way to present the Jews and Judaism in preaching and catechesis in the Roman Catholic Church". (Emphasis added.))
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We rejoice in the continuing existence and vocation of the Jewish people, despite attempts to eradicate them, as a sign of God's love and faithfulness towards them. This fact does not call into question the uniqueness of Christ and the truth of the Christian faith. We see not one covenant displacing another, but two communities of faith, each called into existence by God, each holding to its respective gifts from God, and each accountable to God. (World Council of Churches, Consultation on the Church and the Jewish People "The Chuches and the Jewish People: Toward a New Understanding" Affirmation No. 8 (1988). (Emphasis added.)
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[T]he Jewish covenant has not been revoked and remains salvifically effective for Jews (William Cardinal Kasper, Commission of the Holy See for Relations with the Jews, in Joint Communique of the 17th meeting of the International Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee.) (Emphasis added.)
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Christians can and ought to admit that the Jewish reading of the Bible is a possible one (The Pontifical Biblical Commission: "The Jewish People and Their Sacred Scriptures in the Christian Bible Par. 22 [Preface by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger].)
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As his people God has called Israel to faith (Is.7:9) and has shown it through his guidance the way to life (Ex.20:1-17; Deut.30:15-20) and has in this way made it the light of the nations (Is.42:6). This promise to Israel has not been rendered invalid by the Christ event because God's faithfulness upholds it (Rom.11:2, 29) (CPCE, Church and Israel at 94.)
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[I]t is fundamentally inappropriate to maintain that the Church has replaced Israel as the people of God. This is true not only because Israel continues to see itself as the people of God on the basis of its assurance of faith and truth, but above all because the Christian faith itself understands the Christ event and the election of the Church not as outdating God's promises to Israel but as proof of his faithfulness to it. All the approaches described below therefore rightly assume that the theory of the "disinheritance" of Israel or of the "replacement" of Israel by the Church is false. (CPCE, Church and Israel at 121.) (Emphasis added.)
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It is misuse of the title `people of God' to apply it to the Church in a way which denies it to Israel. (CPCE, Church and Israel at 143.)
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We believe that just as God is steadfastly faithful to the biblical covenant in Jesus Christ, likewise God is steadfastly faithful to the biblical covenant with the Jewish people. The covenant God established with the Jewish people through Abraham, Moses, and others continues because it is an eternal covenant. Paul proclaims that the gift and call of God to the Jews is irrevocable (Romans 11:29). Thus, we believe that the Jewish people continue in covenantal relationship with God. (United Methodist Church, Building Bridges. (Emphasis added.)
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As Christians we acknowledge that Jews are in covenant relationship with God. (General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (1987), "A Theological Understanding of the Relationship between Christians and Jews.")
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Our understanding of the faithfulness of God would be at risk if we were to say that God had abandoned the covenant with the Jewish people. (United Church of Canada, "Bearing Faithful Witness: Statement On United Church - Jewish Relations Today.") (Emphasis added.)
4. Many Christians renounce efforts to target Jews for conversion.
In view of our conviction that Jews are in an eternal covenant with God, we renounce missionary efforts directed at converting Jews. At the same time, we welcome opportunities for Jews and Christians to bear witness to their respective experiences of God's saving ways. Neither can properly claim to possess knowledge of God entirely or exclusively. (Christian Scholars Group , "A Sacred Obligation" Point 7.)
The Southern Baptist Convention aggressively affirms its mission to the Jews:
BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the messengers of the Southern Baptist Convention, meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, June 11-13, 1996, reaffirm that we are not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek (Rom. 1 :16); and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That we recommit ourselves to prayer, especially for the salvation of the Jewish people as well as for the salvation of "every kindred and tongue and people and nation" (Rev. 5:9; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, That we direct our energies and resources toward the proclamation of the gospel to the Jewish people.
