Judaism & Christianity Challenge for sibling religions is to move from rivalry to new respect As a Lutheran growing up in Seguin, Texas, I had little awareness of Judaism. I loved the Sunday school Bible stories of Abraham and Sarah’s journey to a new land, the Exodus from Egypt, and King David and his psalms. I knew Jesus and the Apostle Paul were Jews. But my grasp of Judaism after the biblical period was limited and typical, I think, of most Christians since encounters between us and Jews are rare in many places, including many small towns. There are only an estimated 15 million Jews in the world, with 5 million in Israel and another 5 million in metropolitan New York City, compared with 2 billion Christians across the globe.
Often it’s this kind of personal link that motivates interest in interreligious matters. I maintain that all Christians have a unique bond with the Jewish people. Judaism and Christianity developed as sibling religions over the centuries. Jews and Christians are so intertwined in their origins and history, as well as in scriptures, religious concepts and practices, that Christianity can’t be understood without reference to Judaism. Our challenge is to transform this relationship from rivalry and estrangement to new respect and love. This requires serious effort. Two things are especially important for Christians to understand. First, Judaism today is different from both the Israelite religion of the Old Testament and that practiced by Jews in the New Testament. The several branches of Judaism in the U.S. each represent a distinctive response to modernity. The largest is Reform Judaism, the progressive branch that took root in 19th-century Germany and adopted many aspects of the dominant culture. This branch seeks to distinguish between Jewish traditions that are divinely inspired and eternally valid for ethical monotheism and those that, as laws and customs of a former age, can give way to new religious expressions. Orthodox Judaism is on the other end of the spectrum. It’s comprised of diverse groups dedicated to observing a traditional Jewish lifestyle, as interpreted by rabbinic authorities. Conservative Judaism and Reconstructionist Judaism both have emerged more recently and share a commitment to distinctive Jewish practices and communal identity within contemporary society. Second, Jews have a distinctive interpretation of our common scriptures. Known to Christians as the Old Testament, to Jews it’s the TaNaKh (an acronym composed of the first letters of the three divisions of the Jewish Bible—Torah, divine teaching, or law, given through Moses; Nevi’im, prophets; and Ketuvim, other writings). Concept of Torah Jewish interpretation of the TaNaKh emphasizes Israel’s emergence as a nation when God established the covenant at Sinai through the giving of the Torah. As the concept of Torah developed within Judaism, it encompassed the first five books of the Bible, the Written Torah. The scroll of the synagogue includes these books, which are read in an annual cycle. The concept of Torah came to include the interpretive traditions of the rabbis (scholarly teachers and jurists), known as the Oral Torah—through which Jewish scriptures, laws and traditions are applied anew for each succeeding generation. Establishing positive relations with the Jewish community also requires acknowledging that past misunderstanding, prejudice and violence have marred our interactions. Events of the 20th century—including the attempted annihilation of European Jewry during World War II and the founding of the state of Israel in 1948—have been pivotal in reshaping Jewish identity. These events also have spurred Christians to reconsider traditional attitudes toward Jews and Judaism. Certain traditional positions have been officially rejected by Roman Catholics and many Protestants, including holding Jews responsible for crucifying Christ. Lutheran-Jewish relations involve distinct dynamics related to our history and theology. Most Lutherans in the U.S. don’t know that, late in his life, Martin Luther wrote virulent, anti-Jewish works, including “On the Jews and Their Lies.” The 1994 “Declaration of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to the Jewish Community” rejects these writings and repudiates anti-Semitism as “a contradiction and affront to the Gospel.” It expresses “our urgent desire to live out our faith in Jesus Christ with love and respect for the Jewish people.” Recalling Luther’s own witness to God’s forgiveness and grace, Lutherans today can move forward boldly to a renewed relationship with the Jewish community. A deeper understanding of Judaism also is vital for Christian self-understanding. Christianity began as one of only two of the diverse forms of first-century Judaism that survived the destruction of the second temple by the Romans in the year 70. The other was rabbinic Judaism, which continues in contemporary Judaism.
Jesus also participated in lively debates concerning the interpretation of Torah—how to live a pure and holy life, how to observe the Sabbath and how to relate to the Roman occupiers. Jesus’ earliest followers were also Jewish and drew on concepts from their scriptures to confess his identity as messiah, divine wisdom, Passover lamb and bread from heaven. Christian worship practices and sacraments incorporate significant elements from first-century Judaism. Encounters with contemporary Judaism are a source of inspiration and renewal for Christians, as anyone who has been invited to participate in Jewish holidays and observances already knows. The experience of Shabbat, or the Sabbath, as a day set apart, of holidays and life-cycle rituals, and of the sacredness of everyday family life can generate new thinking about our Christian worship and practice. They may also lead to constructive developments in Lutheran theology. The recent ELCA “Talking Points: Topics in Christian-Jewish Relations” and its companion book set out issues posed by this new stage in Jewish-Christian relations. For example, the positive understanding in Judaism of Torah as divine “teaching,” as a gracious way of life and not as a condemning law, may lead to further reflection about the Lutheran understanding of God’s word in terms of law and gospel. The conversation with Judaism may encourage a retrieval of positive views of divine guidance for daily life within the Christian tradition. Points of difference, even disagreement, remain between Judaism and Christianity. Jews find certain Christian doctrines objectionable, including the Incarnation, the crucified Messiah and the Triune God. Christians have difficulty with the concept of a “chosen people” defined not by faith alone but also by ethnicity, culture and geographical orientation. Many don’t comprehend the special place that Israel holds in the life and thought of the Jewish people. And so discussions of the situation in the Middle East become particularly sensitive, involving the risk of misunderstanding and hard feelings. Despite real differences, Jews and Christians are called to cooperate with each other and with the other world religions and to be a positive social force. Together we can participate in what Jews call tikkun olam, Hebrew for “mending the world.” As ELCA members, we can dedicate ourselves to “the care and redemption of all that God has made.” Looking to the future, the words of the 1994 declaration to the Jewish community express our hope: “We pray for the continued blessing of the Blessed One upon the increasing cooperation and understanding between Lutheran Christians and the Jewish community.” |
| David R - 10/22/2007 |
| I enjoyed reading the article and find within the Lutheran church a very limited awareness of Hebrew heritage issues or even anything promotoing positive aspects of having a lifestyle that observes God's commandments. Individual Weakness is played up and while we are saved by grace through faith and ot of ourselves, there is something to be said for encouraging holiness and a steadfast walk of obedience out of love for the Lord. Where are the Marvin Wilsons and David Bivvins in Lutheran circles who propose a faimiliarity with our Hebrew heritage as believers. More articles like this are definitely needed. David R |
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