Jaco Beyers

Understanding the Other: An Introduction to Christian and Jewish Relations

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword ...................................................................................................................... i

Introduction ...................................................................................................................... iii

SECTION 1: HISTORIC OVERVIEW

Chapter 1 An overview of the history of relations between Judaism and Christianity ............................................................................... 1

Chapter 2 The God of the Jews and the God of the Christians ........................................ 21

Chapter 3 Messiah and Trinity ....................................................................................... 41

Chapter 4 On being human: Ethics and sin ................................................................... 53

SECTION 2: THEOLOGY OF RELIGIONS

Chapter 5 Continuity ..................................................................................................... 72

Chapter 6 Discontinuity ................................................................................................ 83

Chapter 7 A Jewish theology of religions: Inclusivity ..................................................... 91

Chapter 8 A Jewish theology of religions: Exclusivity .................................................... 98

Chapter 9 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 105

References ...................................................................................................................... 108

Index ...................................................................................................................... 114

i

FOREWORD

During the winter of 2014 I had the privilege of visiting Vienna. My stay in Vienna was not for vacation purposes. In Vienna I presented a set of lectures to a group of masters students at the University. When I planned my trip to Vienna, my academic host indicated to me upon my inquiry, that I should present lectures on the relationship between Jews and Christians. For a South African associated with the faculty of theology at the University of Pretoria it came across very peculiar that an Austrian would request lectures on Christian Jewish relations. My first thought was what can a South African Christian tell Austrians of all people about Jews and Christians in relation to one another?

My attempt at the lectures resulted in the content of this book. After careful research on the topic, I came up with what is now encapsulated in this book. Thank you Austria and Vienna for the inspiration! My gratitude also to the University of Pretoria for enabling me to do this research.

My wish is that this book is not the first nor the last word on Jewish Christian relations. In fact I wish this book to be the invitation for Jews and Christians everywhere to consider discussions with one another.

Jaco BeyersUniversity of Pretoria, 2017

iii

INTRODUCTION

Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions; fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, heal’d by the same means, warm’d and cool’d by the same winter and summer as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge. The villainy you teach me, I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.

– William Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice, Act III, scene I

In a pluralistic religious world, dialogue with the other is the only possibility in order to co-exist when you are serious about peace. We live in a time where we are in need of peace and not revenge. One avenue to attaining peace is by trying to understand one another. As Shylock the Jewish character in William Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice so eloquently states, there is much in common between Christians and Jews, unfortunately also the natural reaction of revenge upon infliction.

This book originates in the historical context of war and terror attacks based on religious convictions. These include the attack on a synagogue in Jerusalem during November 2014, the ongoing fighting in Syria, the terror attacks in Europe, and the victimisation of Jewish citizens in the UK and USA. Of course, not all the attacks and threats are religiously based, but the victims belong to religions that have had a turbulent history with one another. Threats and clandestine attacks do not contribute to peace but only exacerbate the unwillingness to talk to one another.

Is it at all possible for Jews and Christians to talk, especially if we are not even sure whether we truly understand one another? As this book will show, historic reasons make conversation very unlikely. There will always be the suspicion as to what the agenda and ‘hidden agenda’ of such conversation will be. Stereotyping creates hindrances for conversation. To constantly think you know what the other is about to say does not encourage open conversation. Jews may be suspicious of attempts and invitations made by Christians to talk. There may be many reasons for Christians to talk. Is this another attempt to convert Jews through a missionary conversation? Is this a conversation trying to encourage Jews to relinquish land claims? Is this invitation to conversation an enticement to illustrate the

UNDERSTANDING THE OTHERiv

unwillingness of Jews to talk? There are constant reminders of why Christians and Jews should not talk. Economic, political, social and historical reasons not to talk abound. But there are also theological reasons why we should engage in conversation.

Purpose of the bookThe purpose of this book is twofold: The first section sets out to identify theological reasons for Jews and Christians to engage in conversation. The theological discussion also serves as a means of understanding the other. Some of the theological topics are historically part of Jewish-Christian conversations. This book introduces no new topics. In this sense, this book intends to give an introductory overview of the historic development of relations between Christians and Jews with emphasis on theological issues that dominated the conversation and yet still provide enough reason to try and understand one another and then converse.

Secondly, in this book the author attempts to formulate a theology of religions based on the relationship between Christians and Jews. This is the focus of the second section of the book.

Conversation can only follow upon understanding the conversation partner. Coming from the domain of speech, ‘conversation’ is concerned with the informal, leisurely exchange of views, ideas or information. The intent is not to create an opportunity to convince or convert the other. The term ’dialogue’ seems to refer to a more formal conversation where statements are exchanged between different parties. Dialogue might be a second phase following upon an informal conversation. Conversation and dialogue are, however, preceded by an attempt at understanding the other.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) subcommittee on Dialogue with People of Living Faiths and Ideologies conclude that dialogue may include joint actions in terms of social and ethical matters (Riegner & von Hammerstein 1975:18). Dialogue, therefore, is not limited to conversation but may include joined activities. This book intends to facilitate understanding of the other in order to bring about conversation and cooperation.

With this purpose in mind, the expected readership can be identified. In concentric circles, a broader readership is expected from those interested in inter-religious relations and its historic development. In a narrower inner circle, scholars and students of theology and religious studies might find sections of the book relevant to their studies. A smaller inner core of the book would represent material for the reader especially interested in relations between Christians and Jews.

vIntroduction

Overview of literature on the topicThis book cannot claim to comprehensively include references to all possible related publications. It can also not claim to present a complete Jewish perspective on theological matters. But it does endeavour to give a fair and balanced view. The intent is not to exclude nor to affront any religion.

References include a selection of Jewish as well as Christian authors who have published on the topic. A preference was made to authors who have tried to engage with readers from the other religion.

This book presents a wide variety of topics (ranging from theology, history and theology of religions) concerning the two religions. Edward Kessler (2010) provides useful information on the history of relations. On theological matters, publications from authors such as Karen Armstrong (1993), Wyschogrod (2004), Neusner (1991) and Flusser (1988) proved useful. On diverse topics, publications such as those by Cunningham, Sievers, Boys, Henrix and Svartvik (2011) and Frymer-Kensky, Novak, Ochs, Sandmel and Signer (2000) were very helpful. Works by Brill (2010), Ruth Langer (2011) and Adam Becker and Annette Yoshiko Reed (2003) on the theology of religions are very pertinent. The work of Cohen (1961) on the Jewish belief system was consulted as a standard reference. Other publications provided a general overview of Jewish and Christian belief. Of course, this list is not exhaustive.

What has been written about the relationship between Jews and Christians? Neusner (1991:2) believes that Jews and Christians have nothing to say to one another because their interpretations are so divergent. Wyschogrod, however, contends that Christians and Jews have the Hebrew Bible in common. Christians interpret the Old Testament and do not discard it. This suggests that there is still a form of Judaism within the church, which necessitates Christianity to reflect on its own identity and connectivity to Judaism (Wyschogrod 2004:167). Rendtorff (1998:16) maintains that any reflection on the relationship between Jews and Christians is in effect a reflection on Christian identity. David Flusser believes that since Christianity has its roots in Judaism, Christianity has no choice but to engage in conversation with Judaism (Flusser 1988:617). For Flusser, Judaism is not confronted with the same problem and can exist without concerning itself with Christianity. Christianity even inherited a certain set of values from Judaism, strengthening the link between the two religions (Flusser 1988:618). The link between the two religions becomes even more intense when it is considered that Jesus himself was a Jew who, according to Flusser, did not intend to start a new religion (Flusser 1988:619). There are reasons to converse; even if we are unwilling to converse we need to state the reasons to one another.

UNDERSTANDING THE OTHERvi

Who are we talking about?Before answering the question of whether Jews and Christians understand one another, it might at first be necessary to assess whom we are trying to understand. To whom or what do Judaism and Christianity refer to? Who are the Jews and who are the Christians? Clearly, Judaism and Christianity cannot be perceived as monolithic blocks of religion. Since its early history, Judaism as well as Christianity, consisted of various factions. Over history, these groups crystallised into formal separate bodies, which now, by their own choice, refer to themselves as either Christian or Jewish. The question then would be: Which of these groups are considered to be the true version of Christianity and Judaism?

The book makes no attempt to evaluate different strands (existing or no longer existing) of Judaism or Christianity in order to judge which group is the preferred conversation partner. When referring to Christianity and Judaism, the assumption is that the institutionalised forms of these religions do converse. This already alludes to another problem: institutions do not talk to each other; people talk to one another. In discussing the alterity in the conversation, it is important to humanise the other. People have experiences and feelings and think. It is, therefore, important to recognise the human face in the conversation. The attempt here is first to show how people over the centuries did talk (or not talk) to one another, and second, to suggest relevant topics to talk about in the future.

This book can be seen as the attempt by Jews and Christians everywhere to understand one another. It is not Eurocentric or Afrocentric; it is not the intention to have two ideological worlds (the West and the Middle East) engage with one another. The broader frame of reference for this conversation is theology, and to a lesser degree that of the science of religion. Although a historic reflection of the relationship between the two is given here, it is only in a broad perspective. It would be wrong to assume that there has never been contact or attempts at understanding one another, or that this doesn’t happen now. This book does not deny it either. Later, this introduction gives a brief overview of efforts to reach out and understand the other by listing the different attempts of the past.

Based on the claim that Judaism and Christianity share similar roots, but have divergent interpretations, the question is whether it is at all possible for these two religions to converse. If the answer is ‘yes’, it confirms the similarities and willingness to exchange ideas. If the answer, however, is ‘no’, the reasons for the unwillingness and/or irrelevance of the conversation need to be discussed. An encounter with the ‘other’ can easily be arranged along the line of a ‘we-they’, with the ‘we’ standing at the centre and the perspective of the ‘other’ relinquished to the periphery (Kraus 1991:1). This reflection tries to give a fair perspective from two sides; that of Judaism as well as Christianity. This is not a document in defence of any religion, but an honest reflection on issues to be considered when Jews and Christians interact.

vii

MethodologyThe author used a quantitative method to gather information for the book. Different publications were investigated to draw information as to how and when and about what Christians and Jews did and ought to talk. As much as the author would like to have followed a qualitative approach where individuals are approached and invited to share their experiences of the other, this might have ended up as a collection of narratives, not presenting enough or presenting too many perspectives.

The approach followed here is theological; reflecting on human interaction based on interaction with the divine. The methodology is quantitative-investigative trying to reflect a range of perspectives as wide as possible.

How do we know? How do we gain knowledge? How do we get to know someone we do not know? Our first response would be that we get to know someone we do not know through an attempt at a conversation with first-level informative questions. After a neutral conversation, we can move on to a deeper level of exchanging more personal information. This is only possible if a relationship of trust is established and maintained. After several conversations, we can start to claim to ‘know’ someone, even if it is only partially. In this phase, differences may occur when we discover we do not necessarily agree with the other on certain things. To understand our differences is not to know the weaknesses of the other but is an opportunity to first reaffirm our own identity, and second, to understand the other.

These remarks on epistemology and heuristics are an attempt to clarify the reasons for and expectations of this investigation. The following guidelines will determine the way in which the conversation is planned.

• Knowledge is a process. This is not the first nor the last word on the relationship between Jews and Christians. This is merely a segment in a long history of engagement. Knowledge of the other is not gained through one short introduction. To understand the other, a continuous connection needs to be established.

• Knowledge is unbiased. How can one know if you think you already know? To truly understand, one needs to put one’s own assumptions aside. Compare Husserl’s use of the mathematical term ‘epoché’ as a way of blocking your own subjective opinion when engaging new knowledge (Krüger 1982:17-18). Although complete objectivity is impossible, at least being aware of one’s own subjectivity tempers one’s assumptions.

Introduction

UNDERSTANDING THE OTHERviii

• Knowledge is not a power game. To know something or someone does not imply that one has a grasp on the other. Knowledge opens up the unknown. There is no intention or assumption that after surveying the history of relations between Jews and Christians, everything has been disclosed about one another.

• Knowledge is to understand. The intention of engaging in conversation with the other is to understand and not to control or manipulate. The process of understanding the other includes understanding oneself better.

The way in which Judaism is understood will decide the approach of investigating the possibility of Jewish and Christian conversation. This study views Judaism not as a cultural phenomenon; therefore, this study is not an anthropological or ethnographic investigation. This is also not an attempt at a comparative study of Judaism and Christianity and so phenomenology will not play an important role. The holy literature of the two religions are merely viewed as sources for information and are not the object of this study, therefore this is also not a literary scientific study.

If then an indication is necessary as to the nature of this study, two cards will be on the table: sociology and theology. The interaction between Judaism and Christianity requires a sociological understanding of the relations of religions in society. People have religion and people converse. A historic overview of the relationship of Jews and Christians must be seen in the social context of a specific historic period. Placing events in their proper contexts will limit inappropriate deductions and generalisations about relationships. Gaining information on the relations between Jews and Christians also requires that the stories relating to incidents between Jews and Christians should be read against a particular social backdrop.

This research is in many ways schizophrenic. As an outsider to Judaism, the author can only present a Christian perspective on relationships between Jews and Christians, although this study can never claim to represent all Christian positions. In this sense, it is simultaneously an insider and outsider perspective, depending on the lens. This study, however, never intends to judge history. Historic events have only assigned value. Inherently history is non-evaluative

Besides much dissimilarity, the commonality between Judaism and Christianity is the belief in God. Judaism and Christianity share this ‘family resemblance’. Talk about God (theology) then becomes the common ground. Without implying a common content, an opportunity arises for Christians and Jews to share their understanding of and expression of belief in God. Discussions on themes and concepts relating to theology then become the basis for the possibility of a conversation between Jews and Christians.

ix

Limitations of this studyAny book is born from and written in a context. When a publication is perceived from a different context, it might of course seem inapplicable to a different context. The author acknowledges that there might be contexts where relations between Christians and Jews developed differently (and still differ) from the contexts addressed in the publication.

The moment a book is completed, it already becomes outdated. The author therefore acknowledges that not all recent publications can be included or referred to in this publication. That does not mean that publications not cited here are irrelevant.

A publication is an organic endeavour. A publication is born and in itself gives life to new ideas and perspectives. This publication does not pretend to cover all possible perspectives. Any reader may, after reading this book, come up with a new perspective.

The possibility of a conversation between Judaism and ChristianityOne of the main hindrances for conversation between Christianity and Judaism is the hegemonic history between the two religions. Mocking, misrepresentation, stigmatisation, persecution, banishment, cursing, and murdering have all been part of the history of these two religions. Many presentations and accusations lodged against one another are the result of misunderstanding one another. Perhaps the question is not as much as whether conversation is possible, but rather whether the conversation is desirable. Alan Brill shows how serious dialogue between Jews and Christians only started in 1967 after the Catholic Church published the Nostra Aetate document resulting from the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), which presented the position of Catholics on other religions (Brill 2010:5). Nostra Aetate is an extremely important document as it changes nearly two millennia of thinking. Boys (2011:32) indicates how Nostra Aetate, in paragraph 4 changes the traditional declaration that Jews should be held accountable for the death of Jesus. Nostra Aetate changes this position by stating that the death of Jesus ought not to be ascribed to all Jews.

Introduction

UNDERSTANDING THE OTHERx

A Jewish response in this manner would be the document entitled Dabru Emet: A Jewish statement on Christians and Christianity, published in 2000. There have been attempts from Christians towards dialogue as the list of documents below attest to:1 These documents, however, represent attempts during the twentieth and twenty-first century. Before that there were already conversations between Jews and Christians.2

• The 1982 document entitled ‘Ecumenical Considerations on Jewish-Christian Dialogue’ was the result of a long process of consultations of the committees of the WCC on ecumenical relations with Jews. The document resulted from the work done by the Consultation on the Church and the Jewish People (CCJP) trying to formulate guidelines for dialogue with Jews.

• In June 2001, the 5th General Assembly of the Churches of the Leuenberg Church Fellowship (Protestant churches in Europe) gathered in Belfast to formulate a declaration on how partner churches should view and approach dialogue with Jewish people. The document entitled ‘Church and Israel’ was accepted as guideline for conversation with Jews.

• The 2002 document entitled ‘A Sacred Obligation: Rethinking Christian Faith in Relation to Judaism and the Jewish People’ is one of the many declarations of the Christian Scholars Group on Christian-Jewish Relations. This group was established in 1969 and consists of Protestant and Roman Catholic scholars. The document declares, among other items, the commitment of Christians to engage in dialogue with Jews without the intent of conversion.

• In 2003, the United Church of Canada released a document entitled ‘Bearing Faithful Witness: Statement of United Church-Jewish Relations Today’, which was accepted at the 38th General Council of the United Church of Canada. The document acknowledges, among other topics, a history of anti-Semitism within Christianity. The document rejects supersessionism and affirms that Christianity and Judaism developed from a common root.

• In September 2006, the Archbishop of Canterbury (Dr Rowan Williams) and the chief rabbis of Israel (Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar and Chief Rabbi Yonah Metzger) signed a joint declaration confirming the commitment to continuous dialogue.

• The traditional papal Good Friday Prayer includes prayer for the Jews. In 2008, Pope Benedict XVI caused controversy with his prayer for Jews when he prayed ‘that God may enlighten their [Jews] hearts so that they recognise Jesus Christ.’

1 Jung (2008) ends his work Christen und Juden: Die Geschichte ihrer Beziehungen, with an elaborate discussion of documents prepared by the Evangelische Kirche Deutschlands (EKD) (Evangelical Church in Germany) in preparation for dialogue with Jews after the Second World War.

2 The attempt here is not to give a detailed account of the multiple existing examples of conversations between Christians and Jews over the centuries.

xi

This prayer was intended to be a softening of the original intent of the meaning as formulated in 1962. The revision of the Tridentine Rite Good Friday Prayer by Pope Benedict, however, did not lead to affinity, but rather to controversy (Henrix 2008).

• In July to August 1947, Jews and Christian leaders gathered at Seelisberg, Switzerland. The conference entitled, ‘International Emergency Conference on Anti-Semitism ‘concluded with a joint declaration with ten points of agreement. In July 2009, the International Conference and the Annual General Meeting of the International Council of Christians and Jews met in Berlin to reconsider the ‘Ten Points of Seelisberg’. At the conference, 12 statements were formulated as guidelines for Jewish-Christian relations.

What would be the desirable and acceptable nature of such a proposed conversation: theology or cultural? When asking of the relationship between Judaism and Christianity, it all depends on whom you are asking. The Jewish rabbi will give a different answer than the Christian pastor, as will the secularist. The different disciplines will present different views. A sociologist, geographer, artist, historian and psychologist will all present different views than a theologian. This book presents different theological positions as coming from different historical contexts hoping to reach a point where a road forward is delineated.

This book consists of two parts. The first section consists of a historic overview of the relations between Jews and Christians in the past. The second section considers the more recent attempts at engaging in conversation. This second section includes some guidelines on how the suggested conversation could be planned and refers to possible content and topics for discussion.

The underlying premise throughout the book is an honest search for a theology of religions. How should Christians and (if we dare to ask) Jews see the existence of the other theologically? Are the two religions the same, worshipping the same God, leading to salvation for both? Are there differences, and if so, why and what are they? A theological conversation with and a theological discussion of other religions requires a theology of religions (Theologia religionum). A Christian perspective, as well as a Jewish understanding of the other, will be helpful. This study emphasises on the Christian theology of religions, although an attempt is also made to present an outsider (etic) view of the Jewish understanding of Christianity. Theologically, a discussion of the relationship with Judaism remains at the centre of a Christian identity (Rendtorff 1998:16). This implies that we cannot talk about a relationship with Jews unless we also talk about Christian identity. This would imply that there exists a continual need for conversation. The need for finding one’s own identity and to understand the other is an ongoing process. So, let’s talk!

Introduction

SECTION 1

HISTORIC OVERVIEW

1

Chapter 1

An overview of the history of relations between

Judaism and Christianity3

Origin and divergenceScholars seem to agree that Judaism and Christianity had a clear close connection. Compare in this regard discussions by Jung (2008), Rendtorff (1998), Kessler (2010:4) and Frankemölle (2006). Among the first Christians were people who belonged to Judaism. Crossan stresses this point by showing that Christianity in its time of origin cannot be separated from Judaism. When Crossan uses the word ‘Christianity’, he declares that he means ‘Christian Judaism’ (Crossan 1999:xi).

The original relation between Judaism and Christianity is, however, unclear. This is because Judaism at that stage was already a heterogeneous community, consisting of the identifiable groups such as the Sadducees, Zealots, Essenes and Pharisees. To this list, Frankemölle (2006:27) adds the Galilean and Alexandrian versions of Judaism as well as the messianic renewal movement represented by Jesus and his followers. One such faction within Judaism was Christianity (Kessler 2010:4). This is confirmed by Neusner (1984:22) when he argues that for a long time Christianity was a form of Judaism. Giffen indicates how a Talmudic reference (Tractate Sanhedrin 29c of the Order Nezikin) mentions that at the time of the Temple destruction (70 CE), 24 varieties existed within Judaism (Giffen 2013:80).

3 The chapter follows the discussion by Kessler (2010) as a basic matrix for the division of history. More detailed accounts of the history of the relations exist (cf. Jung 2008). Kessler, however, provides a non-confessional approach to the discussion, whereas Jung produces information from a German, ecclesial perspective.