Tolerance and Transformation: Jewish Approaches to Religious Pluralism (review)

Topical Book Reviews 131 offers resources for the kind of constructive critique ofthe concepts of"experience" and "knowledge" I am suggesting here. With such a critique in hand, theology may find the grounding for taking a tum to the mystic and symbolic much like the one for which Keenan argues in this fascinating book. Tyler T. Roberts Religious Studies Department Grinnell College Tolerance and Transformation: Jewish Approaches to Religious Pluralism, by Sandra B. Lubarsky. Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press, 1990. 149 pp. $45.40. Christian and Jewish scholars involved in interfaith dialogue consider the experience of religious pluralism to be one of the most significant issues of our time. Because there are few full-length works devoted to Jewish views of religious pluralism, Sandra Lubarsky's fme book should be warmly welcomed. Dr. Lubarsky is trained in both the history and the philosophy of religion, and her knowledge of the discussions between Buddhists and Christians emiches this work. In the first ofthe book's seven chapters, Lubarsky explains her vision of religious pluralism, a position which she labels "veridical pluralism." Central to it is the belief . that "there is more than one tradition that 'speaks truth.' ... Veridical pluralism is not simply the recognition that there are many ways by which humans seek salvation. It is the affirmation that several of these are ways of truth" (p. 6). Also fundamental to veridical pluralism are the ideas that "there may be important truths within another tradition that are not now present within one's oWh" (p. 7) and that "all religious traditions are historically conditioned" (p. 7, her emphasis). Lubarsky argues that dialogue carried out in the spirit of veridical pluralism can lead to major transformation of one's own religious tradition. Her model for this work is John B. Cobb, Jr. 's Beyond Dialogue: Toward a Mutual Transformation ofChristianity and Buddhism (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1982). Cobb, whom Lubarsky acknowledges as her "master teacher," is a leading Christian involved in BuddhistChristian dialogue, and his concept of the "transformative dialogue" is important to Lubarsky's thinking. Chapter Two, "The Non-Jew through Jewish Eyes," contributes substantially to our understanding of the traditional Jewish attitude toward other faiths. Lubarsky examines in detail the "Seven Commandments of the Sons ofNoah," which is the major Jewish doctrine which determines the Jewish view of other religions. According to the Talmudic doctrine, which the rabbis derive from Genesis (e.g., 9:4-7), all non-Jews who fulfill these commandments are considered to be the "righteous of the world" who will 132 SHOFAR Spring 1999 Vol. 17, No.3 share in the world-to-come. Many Jewish scholars cite this doctrine as evidence that the Jewish tradition grants validity to other religions. But Lubarsky correctly claims that according to this doctrine non-Jews attain salvation because they are following the Noahide Laws, not because they adhere to a particular religious tradition. In fact, following a particular religion may conflict with the Noahide Laws. Lubarsky's chapter clearly illuminates the traditional Jewish attitude that Judaism is the only true religion revealed by God and therefore is radically different from all other religions, which are the creations of human beings. In chapters three through six Lubarsky critically reassesses the attitudes toward non-Jewish traditions held by four thinkers whose "intellectual leadership was and is formative for liberal Judaism in the current century" (p. 24). They are Leo Baeck, Franz Rosenzweig, Martin Buber, and Mordecai Kaplan. All have dealt with Christianity, going well beyond the traditional Jewish understanding of it. Their tolerant attitudes deserve careful study, since they move in the direction of transformative dialogue. Of the four, Lubarsky claims that it is Martin Buber "who is best able to acknowledge the theological importance of other traditions for the self-understanding of Judaism and who moves farthest in that direction" (p. 98). But according to Lubarsky even Buber fails to enter into transformative dialogue in a "sustained" manner. Lubarsky's chapter on Rosenzweig is very helpful in clarifying his "double covenant theory," which views both Judaism and Christianity as true religions. She correctly argues that according to Rosenzweig, Christianity is "subordinate to Judaism," a position not always made clear by other...