20th Century Jewish Religious Thought: Original Essays on Critical Concepts, Movements, and Beliefs

Christianity

Christianity David Flusser O ne of the principal tenets of the Jewish religion, together with its universalistic and monotheistic outlook, is the concept of the election of Israel by God. Christianity accepted monotheism; its God is identical with the God in whom Jews believe. The election of Israel, however, remains problematic. While some Christians today no longer hold that the election of Israel was abolished by the emergence of the Church, election still means something different to them than it does to the Jews. In the view of most such Christians, Israel remains God's people de jure, but it will again become the elect people de facto only when the whole of Israel accepts the Christian truth. The roots of this kind of Christian theology of Judaism go back as far as chapter eleven of Paul's Epistle to the Romans, but it reached full development in some Christian groups only after the Reformation. Several fundamentalist groups have maintained the hope that in the eschatological future the time of the Gentiles will come to an end and the Jewish people, converted, will be the principal herald of Christianity. This approach picked up strength particularly after the Six Day War in June 1967, which seemed 62 CHRISTIANITY to witness the partial fulfillment of God's promises to Israel. Even according to such an ideology, however, Israel is not an end unto itself but a means. That is to say, those Christians who do not regard the post-Christian existence of Israel as an ontological impossibility view the post-Christian jewish people, like ancient Israel, as an object of the Christian faith rather than as an autonomous spiritual reality. In the jewish religion, the existence of Christianity (and Islam) can be understood as the fulfillment of God's promises to Abraham to make him the father of many peoples, and Jews (like Moslems) are consequently less prone to occupy themselves with the theological meaning of the existence of Christianity than Christians are to speculate on the theological meaning of Judaism. The Jews, moreover, can view Christians (and Moslems) as "God fearers," Gentile descendants of Noah who have rejected paganism and will be saved if they behave in an ethical way. Christians can be admitted to this category even if they believe in the Holy Trinity and adore the saints, for the jewish definition of the God fearers dwells only upon what is forbidden to them and not upon positive obligations. Several jewish authorities were thus in agreement as early as the Middle Ages that religious syncretism is not forbidden to Noachites. Only the Jews are obliged to fulfill the law, while others can be saved without jewish religious precepts. For Christian theologians, on the other hand, the jewish people and its survival constitute a theologoumenon inherent to the very structure of Christian belief. It is almost impossible for them to believe that one who does not accept the Christian faith can be saved. Moreover, Christianity saw judaism as its point of departure and claimed to be its heir. judaism thus poses a more essential question to Christianity than does Islam, which came into being only later. The Christian faith on the one hand knows no national boundaries, and on the other hand we have seen that it is not particularly open minded toward those who would not embrace Christianity,--this in marked contrast to the rabbinic doctrine acknowledging the "righteous Gentiles." The Church's attitude, as several medieval Jewish thinkers already understood and accepted, need not prevent the building of spiritual and even theological bridges between judaism and Christianity. There is a further issue involved, however, and it is one that has largely been neglected by jewish participants in the Jewish-Christia~ dialogue. The Christian religion is not only highly exclusive; it is also, by its very nature, Christocentric. The central religious experience of the overwhelming majority of Christian believers is not theological or ethical but rather that of their personal redemption through the vicarious offering o£ Christ on the cross and Christ's subsequent resurrection. Even Christianity's belief in the divine nature of Christ is not CHRISTIANITY 63 as important for the living Christian faith as is the violent death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Yet, surprisingly, this dimension of the Christian experience is muted in the synoptic gospels. This requires explanation. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are our main historical sources for information about...