Jews and Christians: People of God

Book Description

While Christians and Jews have always been aware of their religious connections - historical community, overlapping theology, shared scriptures - that awareness has traditionally been infected by centuries of mutual suspicion and hostility. As this important volume shows, however, theologians and scholars of Judaism and Christianity alike are now radically rethinking the relation between their two covenant communities. Jews and Christians presents the best of this work, introducing readers to a coherent Jewish theology of Christianity and a Christian theology of Judaism. Here are leading Christian and Jewish thinkers who have engaged in extensive conversation, who take each other's work seriously, and who avoid the pitfall common to Jewish-Christian dialogue - watering down distinctive beliefs to accommodate both partners. Indeed, these pages show how the new theological exchange goes to the roots of that "olive tree" of which both Judaism and Christianity are branches, and the book as a whole represents post-Holocaust Jewish-Christian dialogue at the highest theological level.

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Jews and Christians: People of God.......2006-05-23

Jews and Christians: People of God, edited by Carl E. Braaten and Robert W. Jenson, is a compilation of eight essay's by various authors (both Jews and Christians) written in the interest of Jewish and Christian Dialogue. As stated in its introduction the purpose of this book is to address how Jews and Christians "can together speak about God and their shared and distinctive beliefs, in ways that are faithful to their sacred texts." (Viii) Combined with a number of articles originally deriving from a set of lectures in Minneapolis at Augsburg College (2001), additional sections were later added including the Dabru Emuet as well as commentary and a poignant account of Holocaust survivor Reidar Dittmann. Located below is a review of the following four chapters: Toward a Christian Theology of Judaism by Robert W. Jenson, Salvation is from the Jews by Richard John Neuhaus, The Church as Israel: Ecclesiology and Ecumenism by George Lindbeck and From Supersessionism to Parallelism in Jewish-Christian Dialogue by David Novak.
Toward a Christian Theology of Judaism by Robert W. Jenson
Summery
As Robert W. Jenson states, "What I hope to do is to strike up a conversation with Jews and Christians about a topic of Christian thinking, and that topic is the Jews themselves." (2) Crucial to this discussion is the dual claim by two distinct religious camps, each believing itself to be the valid and sole expression of Gods covenant with Israel. First there are those who claim Israel to be identified as the physical descendants of Abraham. For the Jews, subsequent to the fall of Israel as a land and nation with Temple and sacrifice, Israel became defined as an ethnic blood line of people separated from their promised land. Secondly however, there are also the Christians who see themselves as the embodiment of Gods chosen people. In this view lies the contention that Christ raised has inaugurated a new era or "New Israel" by the extension or supersession of the covenant people through faith in a fulfilled promise.
In contrast to supersessionism (the view that the Church has fully replaced Israel as the chosen people) Jenson asserts that both Judaism and Christianity represent two distinct "detours" from the eventual goal of a completely fulfilled covenant.
Critique
In recent years supersessionism (especially in regards to Dispensational theology) has fallen out of favor for many Christians. According to Jenson a number of factors have contributed to this reality on two central grounds. The first of these reasons is the guilt of the Christian community over supersessionisms' association (even if only a loose association) between supersessionists and anti-Semitism. The second of these reasons being the "present attention paid to Judaism" whereby both Christians and Jews notice more and more similarities between the two streams of faith leading to an increase in dialogue, understandings and reconsideration of older ideas. For Jenson this decline is a positive. His proposal: for Christians to seek out a new theology of Judaism.
In opposition to the idea of supersessionism Robert W. Jenson suggests that the full fulfillment of God's promises to his people are not present and because Christ has not yet returned in what the Christians refer to as the second coming, the Church has been established as Jenson writes, "as a detour from the expected straight path of the Lord's intentions, a detour to accommodate the mission to Jews and gentiles." (7) It is because of this Jenson asserts, that the Church should see Judaism as a second and simultaneous detour rather than an identity to be assumed or replaced. At the center of this discourse is the belief that had a fulfillment really come (in full) there would not be two tiers of faith either in Second Temple Judaism or in present times.
Why does Robert W. Jenson claim God to have fashioned two detours along the path to full prophecy fulfillment? To answer this Jenson has come up with three proposals. 1. The promise lies in the lineage of the people as descendants from Abraham and Sarah which "must continue, until the day when lineages shall end. For the promises, as St. Paul insists to himself and his gentile readers, are the property of that lineage." (9) 2. A "peculiar" people set aside as holy and different must be a community devoted to the study of Torah not as supersessionists often do by using the Old Testament as a backdrop, but as the sacred words of God written upon doorposts and hearts. (11) 3. And Jenson's final proposal is that "so long as the time of detour lasts, the embodiment of the risen Christ is whole only in the form of the church and an identifiable community of Abraham and Sarah's descendents. The church and the synagogue are together and only together the present availability to the world of the risen Jesus Christ" (13)
Interaction
Most certainly I agree with Robert Jenson's rejection of replacement theology. Not only does supersessionism attempt to discard the very basis of the Christian faith but in doing so we are then left with a New Testament absent of much of its meaning. What for instance does the death of Christ mean without the demand for the first born son, the sacrificial system or purifying; atoning blood. (Lev. 17:11) If the New Covenant relationship is truly "New" then the promises of God are left in a place of subjection. Additionally I disagree with Jenson's idea of dual tiers or "detours". The argument is insubstantial and it suggests that were a complete fulfillment in Christ all Jews would then recognize this fact. The concept that a fulfillment would be undeniable as Jenson suggests is perhaps a bit overstated. (7) In fact the very idea that there could be even one "detour" implies (even if unintentional) that God is lackadaisical or worst yet not truly omnipotent.
In response to Robert W. Jenson's three proposals I would have to disagree with them as well. I am not so certain that Paul would suggest a lineage that must be thought of by the rather narrow terms of a literal blood line, nor do I believe the Hebrew Bible to be so stringent lest there be far less attention paid to "foreigners in your midst" or calls for all to "come and drink" as Isaiah puts it. (Isaiah 55:1-5) Additionally Jenson's concept that the Jews are to be uniquely set apart neglects to recognize that Christians also are to be set apart from the world as whole different. (Matthew 5:14) Lastly I disagree with Jenson's synopsis that each "detour" is a valid expression of the people of God and that the truest expression of Christ is their unity. Personally I believe this skirts the issue of whether or not there is salvation apart from Christ.
In my opinion a far better way to deal with the issue at hand is to suggest the alternative of Covenant Theology which does not reject the old covenant nor does it restrict the New as half-done. Instead we should know that there is but One God with one covenant people consisting of the saints of Old and New. The Church exists through the working out of God's plan from the very beginning. There is but one covenant of grace worked out which came about through the work of Jesus Christ. (Jer 31:3; Rom 9:6; 11:1-7)

Salvation is from the Jews by Richard John Neuhaus
Summery
In this chapter Catholic Theologian Richard John Neuhaus explains in simple language how important Christian - Jewish dialogue is. According to Neuhaus, "Dialogue between Jews and Christians should be marked by an element of curiosity, by shared exploration of what we do not know, and perhaps cannot know until the end time." (76)
Richard John Neuhaus' argument is much less about "salvation is from the Jews" as it is about the Jewishness of Jesus (even as an eternal incarnate being) and about the need to recognize the benefits of interchange. Through a vague and quite indiscriminate analysis Neuhaus presents a case for discourse through his look at: "salvation is from the Jews" as well as several commentators interpretations, the need for dialogue, a short devotion to the Dabru Emet, post-Holocaust concerns, and the need for distinctive traditions within the larger picture of a shared father and the question of his son that perhaps will not be settled "until the end of time". (76)
Critique
Beginning with a quotation from John 4:19-22 Richard John Neuhaus suggest that Christ's answer to the Samaritan woman that "salvation is from the Jews" serves as an important guide in understanding supersessionism today and how it should be understood. For Neuhaus, the Samaritans represented a kind of ancient supersessionism. After noting the common an understandably natural difficulty many commentators have had with such a phrase, Neuhaus moves on to condemn supersessionists interpretations of the covenant which he believes to neglect the obvious Jewishness of Jesus. Instead of choosing to understand such statements as a progression from historical Israel to a New Covenant Neuhaus suggests that this statement might be viewed as the revelation of a continuing promise. Instead of an end it is seen much more in the light of renewal or as an extension to the Gentiles. In a way Neuhaus suggest that Jesus, as a Jew, was confronted with a supersessionist much in the tradition of what would later become the Christian Church. The idea, according to Neuhaus (though not the central topic of the text) was to see Jesus contradict the opinion that a new form of "true Israel" could ever fully take the place of its predecessor. (67) At the same time Neuhaus stands his ground and asserts a clearly Christian perspective with Christ as redeemer. Yet instead of taking things to their ultimate conclusion Neuhaus becomes quite vague and quickly turns the topic to dialogue avoiding terms such as "salvation" or "conversion".
Here Richard John Neuhaus beings to focus on his true topic: the importance of dialogue between the two faiths in a post-Holocaust world stating further that, "The salvation that is from the Jews cannot be proclaimed or lived apart from the Jews". (68-69) Simultaneously Neuhaus declares that Judaism and Christianity must remain distinctly their own; rejecting Replacement Theology without attempting to blur the lines between the two tradition with any watered down statements of agreement. What Neuhaus does suggest is that Christians realized that we are living in an age of eschatology that will be realized fully in the second coming and that while Christians know the name of the messiah, Christ's function upon the cross (at least in part) was to reconcile the Jews and Gentiles. (73; 76) According to his final conclusions Neuhaus states, "for in the beginning, all along the way, and in the final consummation, it will be evident to all that the Lamb - which is to say salvation - is from the Jews." (77) To Neuhaus there is no replacement but a "continuing presence and promise". (77)
Interaction
In regards to this article I have three main points to make. The first of these is in regards to the incredible strength in which Richard John Neuhaus uncompromisingly states his opinion. Though he politely or perhaps cautiously never takes the discussion to its final resting place in the dividing of sheep and goats, Neuhaus respects the traditions and expression of faith that is Judaism without pretending not to hold points of divergence. In his concluding statements Neuhaus writes, "Along the way to fulfillment, Christians and Jews will disagree about whether we can name the name of the Lamb. And when it turns out that we Christians have rightly named the Lamb ahead of time, there will be, as St. Paul reminds us, no reason for boasting". (77)
The second point I should like to make is in regards to a statement made on page 68 where Neuhaus discusses the topic of "two people of God" stating that, "it is misleading to speak of "two covenants"' (68). To this I wholeheartedly agreed. There is but One God and one covenant. While critics often fall back on quotations such as "New Covenant in my blood," to do so neglects the reality that an all knowing God has no need to change plans. Additionally these types of arguments must disregard phrases such as "new moon". Indeed, the covenant did not precede or exist before Christ who is eternal. Instead the Covenant of Grace renewed and extended with sinful people and eventually came "even unto the gentiles" who knew of Jesus just as the covenant was extended unto Abraham who too was saved through faith in Christ whom he had not yet come to know. (Rom 4:1)
The third point I would like to make is quite simple. Although the phrase that "salvation is from the Jews" is not central to the affixed text, it is nevertheless an area worthy of discussion. Due to dispensationalism the Jews have been neglected by Christians in our past as well as today. Due to anti-Semitism (intentional or unintentional) we have lost ground that is in fact common. Especially in a post-Holocaust world are Christian-Jewish relations a point of immense value and biblical verses such as these which have gone too long ignored are surely in need of illumination.
The Church as Israel: Ecclesiology and Ecumenism by George Lindbeck
Summery
In this article George Lindbeck writes from a historical perspective on the need for unity both within the Christian traditions as well as between the Church and the Jewish faith. From a Calvinistic standpoint Lindbeck provides a historical overview of the churches identification as New Israel. Ultimately Lindbeck concludes that this unity is a necessity for Christians and that the Church must seek to recover its identity as Israel not by rejection of the Jews but through a non-supersessionist understanding of the Church as Israel. According to Lindbeck, "the recovery of a non-supersessionist practice and understanding of the Church as Israel is an indispensable though not sufficient condition for ecumenical advance." (93) In his opening statements Lindbeck writes, "The present essay seeks to help remedy this omission [of unity] by looking at the positive relation between the church and Israel and Christian unity." (78)
In pointing out the advances of various ideals and the pitfalls associated with Replacement Theology, George Lindbeck speaks of the nature of the Church as Israel in history, notes the progression of the concept throughout numerous stages of the Christian past, suggests the need for "the practice of viewing the church in the mirror of Israel" and advocates unity and dialogue with Judaism as a necessity for the survival of the Historic understanding of the Church as "New Israel". (90)
Critique
From the beginning George Lindbeck offers little benefit to Rejection Theology asserting that the idea of God's outright rejection of the Jews has prevailed throughout history and has therefore been the forbearer to anti-Semitism and the backbone of the Holocaust. (79) Going a step further Lindbeck then suggests that the elimination of such theologies then "gives hope for the future". (80) In Lindbeck's mind, this is because "Jesus Christ fulfills, though he does not replace, the Torah". (80)
George Lindbeck then beings his search into historic understandings', speaking about the Jews within the church and the original separation between Jewish Christians and the Church as Jews became expected to assimilate into a new community which (even if unintentional) sought to deprive them of their Jewish identity rather than they themselves grafting into the olive tree as Paul suggested (Rom 11:17-24). (83) Reporting also on the move to a Marcion Canon and what he considers to be "hyper anti-Judaism" Lindbeck suggests that the first century was marked by divisions as Christians came to see themselves as improving upon a flawed and legalistic religion. (85) By the second century as Linbeck reveals, Christians began to loose the very idea that Jews and Christians were connected through "New Israel" and by the third century saw resurgence as Christ's body itself became thought of in those very terms. (85)
In his next section George Lindbeck asserts that Israel is the "crucial unifying power of the church" as a point of unity within all Christian traditions. (86) According the Lindbeck, by the time of the Reformation everything Jewish "came increasingly under attack" as the Jewish heritage came to be seen as "primitive" and "intolerant" and this became a wedge not only between the Church and the Jews but also between the various denominations that would arise from this split. (90)
According the Lindbeck the recovery of the view that the Church is Israel through non-supersessionist theology is "and indispensable though not sufficient condition for ecumenical advance." (93) For Lindbeck, "Only by gazing at itself in the mirror of Israel can the church as a whole learn how to lament biblically for its intramural and extramural divisiveness and lovelessness." To regain its identity as a loving community, Lindbeck contends, that the church must first dispense with the harmful notion that God has rejected the Jews.
Interaction
By far this chapter contains the most intriguing statement I have thus found in this book. On page 92 George Lindbeck states, "The difficulty of communal repentance was increased by the supersessionist conviction that the covenant with Israel has been revoked. This conviction presupposes that the election of the Jews as a people was conditional on their faithfulness: because they rejected the Messiah, God annulled his promises to them and transferred these to the church. When churches become equally unfaithful, so the logic of the reasoning implies, God will cast them out just as he has Israel. This makes their situation precarious." (92) Clearly this is the most frightening opposition to the present Rejectionist Theology. If the Jews who had received the covenant relationship directly from the God-head and in the tangible realities of land and lineage, how much more easily might it be for God to remove his favor from those whose identity stands on the metaphorical grounds of "New Israel".
Though perhaps outside the boundaries of where George Lindbeck intended this essay (which is focused on the idea of unity), my opinion nonetheless remains that while Lindbeck does a wonderful job assessing the situation, as well as creating a convincing argument for the eviction of supersessionism, what he neglects to do is to determine or even suggest an alternative view.
From Supersessionism to Parallelism in Jewish-Christian Dialogue by David Novak
Summery
In his chapter Jewish Theologian David Novak brings into the equation the idea of a counter-supersessionism in Jewish theology. After renouncing supersessionism and its Jewish equivalent, dubbed the counter-supersessionisms, Novak takes the reader on a short tour through the need of Judaism for understanding Christian theology. By the same token Novak as well presents a case for Christians to think theologically about Judaism. In both cases Novak argues for and end to the arrogance of Replacement Theology which he feels to be substandard. Additionally Novak, that mutual and respectful dialogue creates an atmosphere where by Jews and Christians can stop talking to each other and begin speaking with each other.
In his conclusions David Novak quickly shifts to a view of Christianity and Judaism that he believes to be mutually beneficial as well as theologically accurate. For Novak the alternative to supersessionism is parallelism. (112) While espousing the importance of remaining two distinct traditions, Novak also promotes the idea that the two are "related to the same sources". (112) With his final words Novak then relates a short section of his work to the fears of both Jews and Christians on what the supposed negative affects of Jewish and Christian dialogue might be stating all the same that, "the renunciation of supersessionism by Christians suggests that Christians have no more arguments for our conversion than we have arguments for their conversion" and this Novak states, "opens the ground for God to make the truly final demonstration of an end that will include us all, making our presently parallel lines converge in eternity." (113)
Critique
Taking at times a more emotional perspective than theological one, David Novak begins with the claim that the concept of supersessionism is so foreign and anti-Judaism that it all but cancels out the possibility of dialogue. According to Novak the only reasonable repose one might expect form Jewish Theologians would be to meet Christianity with equally negative responses. (95) For this reason Novak reveals the existence of a developed anti-Christianity that confronts the idea that Christianity developed out of the Judaism of which God has since rejected with the opposition that the Christians have rejected the covenant and so God by splitting with traditional Judaism by way of a new renegade form of the faith. (96) By taking supersessionism as well as counter-supersessionism to their ultimate conclusions Novak reveals two faiths which must, by their own minimalism reject the other as "pagan". (97) On the other hand, Novak sees the rejection of these ideas and the declaration of the perpetual nature of the covenant as the basis for which the lines of communication might be opened. (97) After all as Novak writes, "Whenever the Jews reject God's covenant with them, God keeps offering it to us again and again." (99)
David Novak also spends a great deal of time dealing with the positives and negatives associated with cross-theological understanding. For Novak one of the central realities is the anti-Semitism that could be avoided through a view of parallelism as well as the Christian benefit of learning how to deal with persecution through utter devotion to God. (100) In the example of possible modern political and legal rejection of the Jewish rite of circumcision, Novak states that through dialogue the Christian understanding of the importance of such rites can help to assist the Jews in their struggle. (106)
For Novak, the negative discussion of origins found in some Christian circles (such as supersessionism) must be abandoned stating further that, "Christianity today need look to Judaism today as its source no more than Judaism today need look to Christianity today as its outcome. Both Jews and Christian today do, however, need to look to our common historical roots in the Old Testament and the Pharisaic Judaism of the late second temple period." (111) And even more so, "some of that theological research can be done mutually to the deep benefit of both communities in our perpetual search for the truth." (111)
Interaction
I think the most interesting section of David Novak's essay dealt with something that was actually not the main topic at hand but found rather in a small section of conclusion where he writes about proselytism. In this section Novak talks about a fear of many Jews that prevents dialogue from taking place: namely fear of Christians attempting to convert people of the Jewish faith. Interestingly Novak does not see this as a one way street. Instead Novak argues that just as counter-supersessionism effectively combats Replacement Theology so to does Jewish proselytism. Though not the main thrust of David Novak's thesis this topic interested me perhaps more than anything else he wrote. Most interesting to me is how Novak describes proselytism. Novak writes, "-Jewish proselytism is much more subtle and covert... it can simple tell Christians to come home like prodigal sons." (112)
What is perhaps even more intriguing is not only that Novak does not outright reject the possibility of such concerns but rather acknowledges them stating, "that does not mean, of course, that either of us should abandon proselytism. Christians must hope that everyone will accept Christ." Personally I found these words to be amazingly powerful coming from a Jewish Theologian. Being that the crux of this book concerns the idea of Christians and Jews coming to an understanding of one another without allowing the dilution of their doctrines, I found this blatant honesty and acceptance of an opposing view to be refreshing and encouraging. It is may hope that future generations will not feel the pull to concede fundamental principles of their faith in search of ambiguous and extraneous agreements, but to seek understanding despite differences.

The Monotheists: Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Conflict and Competition, Volume I: The Peoples of God

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The 3 M.E. Monotheisms Compared

The Monotheists: Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Conflict and Competition, Volume I: The Peoples of God
F. E. Peters
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0691123721

Book Description

The world's three great monotheistic religions have spent most of their historical careers in conflict or competition with each other. And yet in fact they sprung from the same spiritual roots and have been nurtured in the same historical soil. This book--an extraordinarily comprehensive and approachable comparative introduction to these religions--seeks not so much to demonstrate the truth of this thesis as to illustrate it. Frank Peters, one of the world's foremost experts on the monotheistic faiths, takes Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and after briefly tracing the roots of each, places them side by side to show both their similarities and their differences.

Volume I, The Peoples of God, tells the story of the foundation and formation of the three monotheistic communities, of their visible, historical presence. Volume II, The Words and Will of God, is devoted to their inner life, the spirit that animates and regulates them.

Peters takes us to where these religions live: their scriptures, laws, institutions, and intentions; how each seeks to worship God and achieve salvation; and how they deal with their own (orthodox and heterodox) and with others (the goyim, the pagans, the infidels). Throughout, he measures--but never judges--one religion against the other. The prose is supple, the method rigorous. This is a remarkably cohesive, informative, and accessible narrative reflecting a lifetime of study by a single recognized authority in all three fields.

The Monotheists is a magisterial comparison, for students and general readers as well as scholars, of the parties to one of the most troubling issues of today--the fierce, sometimes productive and often destructive, competition among the world's monotheists, the siblings called Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

Customer Reviews:

The 3 M.E. Monotheisms Compared.......2004-08-31

For clarification, there are actually 2 different books here with the same title, except for different volume numbers. The title to both books is: "The Monotheists: Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Conflict and Competition." Both books have the same bluish-color cover, so they may seem to be the same in small pictures. To differentiate, you need to see the fine print: "Volume I: The Peoples of God" versus the altogether separate book "Volume II: The Words and Will of God." Vol. I: tells the story of the foundation and formation of the three monotheistic communities, of their visible, historical presence (ISBN:0-691-11460-9; 328 pages). Volume II: is devoted to their inner life, the spirit that animates and regulates them (ISBN:0-691-11461-7; 406 pages). Other books by F.E. Peters are: "Islam: A Guide for Jews and Christians", "Judaism, Christianity, and Islam", and "The Children of Abraham."

The Body of Faith: God and the People Israel

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A Tour de Force From a Great Soul and Great Mind
Correction
Fantastic Book!!!

The Body of Faith: God and the People Israel
Michael Wyschogrod
Manufacturer: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1568219105

Book Description

The original edition of this book describes it as an attempt to develop a comprehensive understanding of traditional Judaism in conversation with contemporary philosophical and Christian thought. This book has been praised by many as one of the most exciting and inspiring books of Jewish theology to be published in a long time.

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A Tour de Force From a Great Soul and Great Mind.......2007-01-10

Wyschogrod is a Modern Orthodox Jewish scholar-philosopher, born in Germany, who taught at Baruch College (New York) and at the University of Houston. He is formerly director of the Institute for Jewish-Christian Relations of the American Jewish Congress, and has taught at Bar-Illan University (Israel), Princeton Theological Seminary, and elsewhere in the U.S. and abroad. He is perhaps the closest thing the Jewish community has to a biblical theologian, and for this reason, is more accessible to Christian readers than most.

He holds for the priority of election as a category that must be recovered by the Jewish community. He sees the entire seed of Abraham and Sarah as elect and as one, despite ideological variations and differences. All Jews as obliged to live out the meaning of their election through maintining Jewish communal coheshion and intergenerational survival. Despite denials and avoidance of all kinds, Jews are meant to live lives of Torah faithfulness as a context and manifestation of authentic relationship with the Living God. He sees the Jews as "the abode of the divine presence in the world. It is the carnal anchor that God has sunk into the soil of creation" (256). As such, Jewish survival and fulfillment of its communal mission is important not simply to the Jews, but to the entire world--for God has chosen to make Himself one with this people, and to join His name to theirs.

Chapter 1, "A Partial Knowledge," discusses the eclipsed role of philosophy in Judaism, and deals with Jewish revelation as being a "dark knowledge," because it awaits an apocalyptic and therefore discontinuous future consummation. Chapter 2 continues the discussion of philosophy, and how the Christian theological tradition has embraced a philosophical approach alien to Jewish epistemology. Christian theology and philosophy abstracts principles, while Jewish revelation and experience are focus on story. The Christian and Jewish worlds contrast both epistemologically and ontologically. Israel's election is communal and corporeal, and this people coheres as an extended family rather than in ideological mutuality. "The foundation of Judaism is the family identity of the Jewish people as the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob . . . the seed of Abraham elected through descent from Abraham, This is the crux of the mystery of Israel's election" (57).

Chapter 3 , "The Personality of God," further confronts the divide between the Jewish and biblical revelation of God and that of philosophical theology. He helps us see how God has revealed himself to be a character in the great story in which Israel plays a central role. He is a person who, by creating a real world of real actors, and by becoming part of the story, freely takes on a certain vulnerability. This God is diametrically opposite to the static Prime Mover of the philosophical theological tradition, whether Christian or Maimonidean.

Chapter 4, "Created Being," is even more philosophical than the foregoing, and examines the relationship between being and God. "The chapter argues that nonbeing is the necessary corollary of being and that nonbeing, expressed in action, is violence" (xxxv). It also considers the issues of being, non-being, and existence, and how these pertain to thought about and the reality of God.

Chapter 5, "Ethics and Jewish Existence," considers the issue of the nature and purpose of law, especially God's law. Again, philosophical theology is seen as concerned with generalities and overarching principles, while Judaism concerns itself with particulars. Here he also discusses how God's specific-incident-based law can be rightly applied to new circumstances in such a manner as to conform to the Lawgiver's desires. The Jewish people and the reality of God are seen to be prior to and other than principles and philosophy. The reality that is Israel partakes of the unassailable otherness of existence itself: "God appears in history as the God of Israel and there can therefore be no thought about God that is not also thought about Israel" (175).

Chapter 6, "The Unrealized," speaks of the apocalyptic again, and contrasts a minimalist and a maximalist messianism. The former postulates a conservative and somewhat rigid and fearful continuity between the Torah Judaism of today and the eschaton, while the latter recognizes that in the nature of the case, the saving acts of God bring unforeseen newness. He advocates for a Judaism open to the future, one that preserves the Jewish people, faithfully awaiting a surprising consummation.

For its scope, clarity, and brilliance, "The Body of Faith" stands alone, a tour de force that welcomes us into the mind and soul of a great man and profound thinker who, in Abraham and like Abraham, yet stands before God (Gen 18:22). Bold and courageous, he confronts and overturns comfortable assumptions, Jewish and Christian, secular and religious. He challenges the Jewish world to live out the meaning of its corporeal election, and the Christian world to recognize that its supersessionism is not only inappropriate, but that any dismissal of the continuing election of Israel removes God from the world.

Wyschogrod's language is unfailingly careful and precise, his voice authoritative without self-aggrandizement. He comes across as a humble man, who, out of service to the truth, has had to speak prophetically to communities that may not like what they hear. While some books must be reread because they are obscure, this one warrants rereading because Wyschogrod calls us to greater depth and breadth than we are accustomed to. The book merits a hadran: a final word which says, "hadran alach--we shall return to you." Like a classical Jewish text, this one warrants repeated, even perpetual study.

Correction.......2006-03-11

Please note: The Title of the book is not God AND the People Israel, as Amazon currently reads, but God IN the People Israel. This is a crucial distinction as Wyschogrod wants to argue that Israel has a corporate and corporeal or incarnational sense of its relation to God that need not be expressed in the Aristotelian language of Christian doctrine.

The book is, as another reviewer wrote, written with clarity and thought. It is important to know that Wyschogrod pulls no punches with respect to Christianity. He admires the Christian theologian Karl Barth, and like Barth does not shy away from frank criticisms, some of which extend to Jesus, Paul, and Christianity in general. This makes for a lively read that should alert Christians to the idea that something is at stake in these discussions.

Fantastic Book!!!.......2003-06-02

This author does a fantastic job of bringing out the deep meanings of Judaism. I find him profound and yet profoundly easy to read. He blends traditional Jewish theology and thought with modern philosophy. I particularly enjoyed his dialog with Christianity throughout the book. While making distinctions between the two faiths he also brought out deep similarities. Highly recommended for the Jew who wants to understand his faith more deeply and for the Christian to get a good understanding of Modern Orthodox Judaism and the role of Israel in the history of God's redemption!

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The covenant is still secure...

Has God Rejected His People?
Clark M. Williamson
Manufacturer: Abingdon Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The covenant is still secure..........2004-01-16

Clark Williamson, professor emeritus of systematic and philosophical theology, has spent a great deal of his career in an effort to strengthen Jewish-Christian dialogue, and in particular, examining and working to correct subtle and blatant anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism in the Christian church. Unlike other minority groups (people of colour, women, etc.) who might be found among the members of a church's congregation, it is unlikely the Jewish people will be found regularly in Christian congregations, hence their voices are unlikely to be heard from within the community.

Anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism are related but not precisely the same phenomenon. In this book, Williamson looks at the history of the relationship between Judaism and Christianity, with a special emphasis on the strains of anti-Judaism that have been present in Christianity since the first century of the Common Era. Beginning with a look at the historical Jesus, Williamson claims that the principle of dissimilarity does a disservice to both Christianity and Judaism. There is a tendency in biblical scholarship to position Jesus over against the Judaism of his time, particularly Pharisaic Judaism, concentrating on those features and attributes of Jesus most different from Judaism, and virtually ignoring the things that are the same. Jesus was a rabbi, proclaimed such before and after the resurrection, according to the biblical witness -- why not treat him as such?

Williamson proceeds to examine the crucifixion, the witness of Paul, and the growing division between the followers of Jesus (many of whom were Jewish) and developing rabbinic Judaism in the aftermath of the destruction of the Temple, and later Jerusalem. The fact that the gospels were written for an audience that included Jews was lost in later centuries; Paul's struggle to keep the traditions together failed due to a backwards reading of his theology.

Williamson traces the longer history of anti-Judaism in the church in his chapter 'From Barnabas to Barth'. Looking at the work of many influential figures, such as Irenaeus, Tertullian, John Chrysostom, leading up to the Reformation, and then later, to figures such as Bonhoeffer and Barth. Williamson is sensitive to Bonhoeffer's status as a martyr against Hitler, but makes the somewhat surprising statement that both Hitler and Bonhoeffer ultimately sought a world without Jews -- only Bonhoeffer's wish would be to convert the Jews to Christianity, a very different project than the Holocaust, but underpinned by the same kind of anti-Jewish strand that made events such as the Holocaust possible. In addition to the theological development of anti-Judaism, there was the canonical/administrative development of anti-Judaism, whose history Williamson also recounts.

The final section of this text begins Williamson's project, to be continued in his later works, of a post-Holocaust theology that recognises the contribution of Judaism to Christianity, and seeks to find a better way for Jewish-Christian relations based upon respect and mutual recognition of God's covenant for each community. This included various practical suggestions, such as reinterpreting anti-Jewish statements in the gospels when preaching in recognition of the rabbi Jesus, and including a more pluralistic theology in church affairs.

Book Description

Lovingly illustrated, these stories teach children what it means to be part of the Jewish people, to cherish learning, and to love God. For ages 3 to 7.

Customer Reviews:

Great first book about God.......2000-07-17

This book has several stories in it, each one illustrated with a nice picture. Some of them are probably appropriate for slightly older children, but two of them have been very much enjoyed by my 4 year old son. One story describes a fish who wants to know what water is,as a way of understanding God's presence even though we can't see God. Another story is about a little mouse learning about love. Highly recommended.

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