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APPENDIX 7. Message Concerning the Jewish Question (Council of Brethren of the Evangelical Church, Darmstadt, April 8, 1948) I In obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ the council of brethren has come together to study what Holy Scripture says about the burning question of Judaism and the Christian Church, and we feel that we can no longer remain silent about this question, which lies on our hearts like a stone. It may rightly be said that after what has happened, after all that we allowed to happen in silence, we have no authority to speak now. We are distressed about what happened in the past, and about the fact that we did make any joint statement about it. We have not forgotten that a number of pastors and churches did speak out, and suªered for doing so; we thank God for it, and we thank them. We thank all who, in our own country and abroad, have helped us with old and new insights into the Word of God, and who have taken action by setting up warning signs. Today when retribution is being meted out to us for what we did to the Jews, there is increasing danger that we may take refuge from God’s Judgment in a new way of anti-semitism, thus conjuring up all the old devils once again. In this perilous situation and amid this temptation God’s Word speaks to us and helps us to find the right attitude to the Jews. It is under the pressure of this Word that we speak, because we are filled with anxiety about the future and burdened by the past, and because we feel obligated to express our gratitude to all those individual people who spoke out, took action and suªered for doing so. There is nothing final about our message. Its purpose is rather to ask you, pastors and congregations, to think about this question with us in the light of Holy Scripture, to help us and to ask God with us, that we may perceive things aright and be guided in the right way. II The Bible tells us, and the Creeds of our Churches confirm, that Jesus of Nazareth was a Jew, a member of the chosen people, Israel. When the eternal Word of God became man, it pleased God that he should enter human history as the son of Abraham and of David, and that he should die and rise again from the dead. But the Church is not allowed to teach that Jesus is a member of the Jewish people, just as it is not allowed to ascribe him to any other nation or race. For the relation of Israel to the Church this means: This translation is from the WCC publication The Relationship of the Church to the Jewish People: Collection of Statements by the World Council of Churches and Representative Bodies of Its Member Churches (Geneva, 1964), 48–52. 1. That since the Son of God was born a Jew, the election and destiny of Israel found its fulfillment in him. The Church must oppose any other concept of Israel, including Judaism’s understanding of itself as the prophet of an idea of human universality , or even as the savior of the world. 2. That since Israel crucified the Messiah, it rejected its own election and its own destiny . And thereby the resistance of all men and all nations to Christ becomes God’s Event. We all share the guilt for the crucifixion of Christ. Therefore it is not permissible for the Church to brand the Jews as solely responsible for the crucifixion. 3. That through Christ, and since Christ, the chosen people is no longer Israel but the Church, which is composed of all nations both Jews and Gentiles. Christians (both Jewish and Gentile) are members of the Body of Christ and brethren. It is not permissible for the Church to separate Jewish Christians from Gentile Christians. At the same time, however, the Church is waiting for the erring Children of Israel to resume the place reserved for them by God. 4. That God remains true to Israel and does not abandon it, despite its disloyalty, despite its rejection of Christ. Christ was crucified and rose again, also for the Jews. That is the hope of Israel, since Golgotha. The fact that God’s judgment still pursues Israel until today is a sign of His patience. The Church is guilty...

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