Christianity Without Anti-Semitism: James Parkes and the Jewish-Christian Encounter (review)

126 SHOFAR Winter 1997 Vol. 15, No. 2 of sophistication. This is so for two reasons. First, it is clearly more thorough than much that has been offered in the past. Specifically I have in mind Martin Buber's two essays, "The Way of Man According to the Teachings of Hasidism," and "The Place of Hasidism in the History of Religion," Eugene Horowitz's essay "Dynamic Sunyata and the God Whose Glory Fills the Universe," as well as Masao Abe's two essays, "A Rejoinder," and "Zen Buddhism and Hasidism-'Similarities and Contrasts." Teshima's presentation is both highly informative and very accessible. He allows both Zen and Hasidic masters to present themselves in their own words, while he helps explicate and guide the uninitiated through their wisdom. This study is filled with insightful passages from the whole tradition of Zen Buddhism and Hasidism, offering us, beyond simply a comparison of the two religions, a fine introduction to both. Secondly, Teshima presents each religion separately and for its own sake, with appreciation for both sides. Only after they are each presented does he draw his comparisons, being sure to maintain the integrity of each. This small book is a model for future dialogic discourse. Too often within interfaith discourse one religion is assessed in terms applicable only to the other. Teshima writes, [i]n this study I attempt to describe two different images of men in their efforts to attain their ultimate goals. What to believe or which religion is superior is not my subject. (p. xiv) Teshima remains faithful to this unbiased standpoint throughout his study. Dialogic discourse thus need not be a tacit battle for superiority, but an honest sharing with one another one's own truths, appreciating both the similarities and differences that arise. It is precisely this that Teshima carries through in his work, ever aware that Zen is not Hasidism and that Hasidism is not Zen. Todd Lavin Department of Philosophy Purdue University Christianity Without Anti-Semitism: James Parkes and the JewishChristian Encounter, by Robert A. Everett. Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1993. 346 pp. £49.50. James Parkes, one of the most outspoken Christian preachers who condemned antisemitism, argued hard and· eloquently but often without a great deal of support. Yet the fact that Nazi agents made an attempt on Book Reviews 127 his life (mistakenly hanning his valet instead) indicates that some of his words-oral and written-had some impact. Parkes (1896-1981) spent most ofhis adult efforts at fighting Christian discrimination againstJews; this even though early in his theological career members of both groups distrusted his motives. But, as author Robert A. Everett points out, one reason for the Nazi attempt on the English cleric's life was his convincing denunciation ofthe forgery known to history as The Protocols ofthe Elders ofZion. In a prophetic 1939 sennon, unheeded as it was, Parkes insisted that antisemitism was against God's will. And he concluded that "our immediate duty to the Jews is to do all in our power to make the world safe for him to be a Jew." Six years later Parkes published his book An Enemy of the People: Antisemitism, which later appeared in American and Gennan editions. In reacting to one writer's statement that "Jews were under God's wrath," Parkes claimed, as summarized by Everett, that Judaism and Christianity are religions with universal application; that their relationship has implications for Christian concepts of missionary activities; that both Sinai and Calvary are channels for God's power; that both faiths are part of one revelation of God and Christians must understand the meaning of Sinai in order to see God more clearly. Everett points to World War I and Modernism as the two major influences on Parkes' early theological development. The latter was a contemporary movement condemned by some for its liberalism, which held that experience must be trusted even when it contrasted with tradition. For Parkes, progress in history is intimately connected with God and His relationship to creation. Things change, Parkes insisted, and theology must keep up with these changes. Parkes opted for a theocentric theology where people needed God more than Christ. It is easy to see...