Thinking the Tradition Anew: A New Reading of Genesis 32 and Matthew 26 in Light of the Shoah and Dialogue

Thinking the Tradition Anew THINKING THE TRADITION ANEW: A NEW READING OF GENESIS 32 AND MAITHEW 26 IN LIGHT OF THE SHOAH. AND DIALOGUE by James F. Moore 13 Christian theology must now be done in the light ~f two basic factors that make all theologies new for us. First, all Christian theologies are postShoah theologies and cannot proceed as if the events ofthe Shoah had not happened or have no impact upon how Christians think even about their basic faith commitments. Second, all Christian theology is dialogical, taking account of a full generation of a new Jewish-Christian dialogue. This second factor is linked to the first as well since even in the solitude of thought of a single Christian thinker, there must always be the image, the presence of Jews in conversation. These two factors become for us. two principal criteria for judging the adequacy of any view. It is for this reason that creative theology has a most appropriate place and role in the work of the Scholars conference. What better way to examine the impact of the two criteria above than to focus on scripture. Not only does scripture play an important role in the shaping of all Christian theology, but scripture is also the center place of . all Christian worship. Thinking about scripture is the linking point between doing theology, even in the academy, and doing theology in the midst of the church's life. Thus, all Christian theology is fundamentally hermeneutical and takes the form of midrashic interpretation, akin to the homiletical task of the preacher or the teacher. Even without the necessity of dialogue and the challenge of the Shoah, Christian theology would be midrashic, re-thinking together, with the intent of speaking to and for Christians. Insofar as we also speak in dialogue, we deign to speak also to and with Jews. To this latter point, I now add the last ingredient of our work together. If all Christian theology is dialogical, then the open interchange of public dialogue is the ideal forum for doing theology. Not only do we 14 SHOFAR Fall 1996 Vol. 15, No. 1 publicly acknowledge the partnership of peoples and thinkers which challenges every effort to drive a wedge between us again inside and outside of Christian communities, but we also make ourselves vulnerable to the surprises of dialogue, the creative flow and spirit of actual interchange . We make evident what we always take for granted, that our theologies are done in dialogue. Such public conversation, long the hallmark of the dialogue, now moves to this appropriate stage-the community of scholars committed together to think about our traditions, our scriptures. There is yet one more feature of this work we pursue today. Given the immediate challenge of the Shoah, all theology moves forward to the relationship between Christian thinking and Christian acting. We cannot afford any longer a gap between our best thinking and actions of the communities we represent. All theology is praxis in this way, not only providing a challenge to moral action and conviction but also giving a foundation for thinking about the connection between thought and act, faith and morality. We cannot do this haphazardly expecting that such links will naturally arise, even though the remarkable insights that have emerged in dialogue do show how even accidental progress can happen in the context of open and earnest conversation. Still, we must proceed with a structure for seeing the link between thought and action, which surely was evident during the Shoah and must be considered as essential in postShoah Christian theology. I have provided just such a model in my book on post-Shoah Christian theology,l but that work is too complex to reproduce here. Besides, that would not be valuable for us now. Still, certain components of that approach will be valuable for my reflections on the texts we have selected. A spectrum of possibilities for action can be discovered by any critical analysis of the role of Christians in and during the Shoah. Four possible responses are potential symbols of present Christian responseindifference , collaboration, resistance, and rescue. Indeed, models for these responses can be easily seen through the narrative figures...