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A New Relationship between Christians and Jews
The central claim of supersessionism, an ancient Christian mindset that can be traced way back to the first century, is the forfeiture of God’s covenant with the Jews due to their collective guilt over the death of Jesus (Cunningham 1). This ancient thinking can still be found before Vatican Council II and even found expression from Pope Pius X in a personal message to Theodor Herzl in 1904: “The Jewish faith was the foundation of our own, but it has been superseded by the teachings of Christ” (Cunningham 2). Saint Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome, saying: “The Jews are the enemies of God only with regard to the Good News, and enemies only for your own sake” (11:28a; Jones NT 285). This message could be one of the many New Testament passages that supersessionists use in invoking their point of view of Divine disavowal of the Jews.
However, in the same verse in his epistle to the Romans, Saint Paul continued: “But as a chosen people, they are still loved by God, loved for the sake of their ancestors. God never takes back his gifts or revokes his choice” (11:28b-29; Jones NT 285). Along this line, the Second Vatican Council affirmed the irrevocability of the Covenant that God made with the people of Israel. All post-Vatican II bishops of Rome, from Pope John Paul II to Pope Francis, affirmed this teaching, refuting supersessionism, and even established a deeper relationship among Catholics and Jews through regular dialogues.
The first impetus towards a renewed relationship between the Catholic Church and the Jews came from Pope Paul VI and the Vatican Council II (JP2 “Address at the Great Synagogue of Rome” 178). In Nostra Aetate, the Council declared the principles, which to govern the relationship with the Church and non-Christian religions, including Judaism. Paragraph 4, number 4 represented a turning point in the relationship between Christians and Jews through three significant points. First, the Church discovers a bond with Judaism that is not outside herself, but an integral part of who she is. This bond is so unique that no other religion has this bond with the Church. Second, the Church disapproved any imputation of ancestral blame to the Jews over the passion of Christ. And, third, the Church declared unlawful any statement that declared the repudiation or curse of the Jews even on the basis of the Christian Scriptures, whether the Old or the New Testament. In the third point, the Vatican Council II finally and effectively refuted the ancient Christian viewpoint, which came to be known as supersessionism or the theology of replacement.
In his first visit to the Great Synagogue of Rome in April 1986, Pope John Paul II (180) reiterated the teachings of the Vatican Council II, which expressed the Christian recognition of the “common spiritual patrimony” between the Jews and the Christians. Before the gathering of the Jews of Rome, the Pope declared without subtly: “You are our dearly beloved brothers our elder brothers.” He emphasized through Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans, as earlier stated, that the Jews is always beloved of God and was called irrevocably so. He reaffirmed the three points of the Council regarding the Jewish question.
In this visit, Pope John Paul II (181) clarified this attachment as that in the order of faith, of the “free assent of the mind and heart” through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Pope also expressed his intention to deepen the dialogue between the Church and the Jews “in loyalty and friendship” (182). The focus of the Christian-Jewish collaboration, he suggested, should begin in jointly addressing the problem of morality in the field of individual and social ethics where an acute crisis exists, which threatens human life from conception until natural death, in a society “often lost” in agnostic and individualistic thoughts. He proposed that the Jews and Christians should jointly act against those threats as trustees and witnesses of the ethics expressed in the Ten Commandments in the pursuit of truth and freedom both in Rome and around the world.
In 1997, Pope John Paul II (“Address before the Pontifical Biblical Commission” 191), before the Pontifical Biblical Commission, declared the current effort to bridge the deep divide between Christians and Jews due to centuries of “reciprocal prejudice and opposition” and the strong bond between the Church and the Jews through the Lord Jesus Christ. He reiterated that the conciliar impetus also led to changes in the Catholic liturgy (e.g. increasing the use of Old Testament contents in the liturgical Lectionaries and in the Catechism of the Catholic Church). The Pope clarified that the mystery of Christ cannot be fully expressed without reference to the Old Testament because the Lord’s identity is deeply rooted from the people of Israel, being himself an authentic son of Israel (F 236). As such, the teachings of the Lord did not aim to abolish the old revelation but instead to fulfill it. Indeed, it was the Old Testament, which revealed to Christ his prophetic destiny. Thus, separating the Old Testament from the New Testament is depriving Christ his relationship with the Old Testament, detaching him from his roots, emptying his mystery of all meaning, and removing him from human history (192). The Pope declared that it is not the will of the Lord that the Jews be despised and ill-treated, requesting that exegesis be advanced always in this direction to decrease the tensions originating from the apostolic times and clear up misunderstandings thereafter (193).
Moreover, on March 26, 2000, the visit of Pope John Paul II to Jerusalem occasioned an opportunity to affirm the roots of Christianity to Abraham and the distinction of the Jews as the “people of the Covenant”. The Pope also expressed the sorrow, and sought forgiveness in behalf, of the Kingdom of God for the sins that mankind committed against the Jews (JP2 “Prayer at the Western Wall” 207).
When Pope John Paul II died, Pope Benedict XVI continued the effort of bridging the Christian-Jewish relationship with a new goal of confirming and deepening it (B16 223). In January 2010, during his first visit to the Great Synagogue of Rome, the Pope reiterated the common bond between Catholics and Jews. He also declared a renewed Christian respect “for the Jewish interpretation of the Old Testament” (226).
Unlike Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, in his address, openly declared the Catholic Church as “the People of God of the New Covenant” and the Jews as the people of the Old Covenant (225). Although the gist of his context indicates the roles of Catholics and Jews as people of different Covenants with God, there is no telling the potential misinterpretation this statement can generate from the listening Jews, considering the Jewish mindset of recognizing no other Covenant with God but theirs. He also openly used the name of Jesus in interacting with the Old Testament scriptures (e.g. 226-227). By these gestures, the Pope declared a stand of equality of respect in the differences in the faith of the Catholics and Jews, which he apparently hope the Jews, too, will respect despite their non-recognition of Jesus as the Son of God.
The Pope, however, confirmed, like Pope John Paul II confirmed, that the Covenant that God made with the Jews was irrevocable. Moreover, he emphasized the role of the Decalogue in guiding the faith and morals of the “people of God”, which refers together to the Catholics, the Jews, other Christians, and other non-Christian people (B16 226). He pointed out three diverse areas of cooperation and witness between Catholics and Jews centered on the Ten Commandments. The first area constitutes the demand of the Decalogue to recognize one Lord against the temptation to construct other idols (“golden calves”), which continue to transpire in the present times among those who do not recognize God. The second area involves its call to respect and protect life against injustices and abuses, encouraging a joint witness to the supreme value of life against all selfishness towards the transformation into a world of justice and peace (226-227). And, finally, the third area encompasses its call to preserve and promote the sanctity of the family and its witness to the gift of new life (227). The Pope reiterated a joint exercise of generosity towards the poor, the women, the children, the strangers, the sick, the week, and the needy; all acts of mercy, which are central to the Jewish tradition.
Pope Benedict XVI (227) invited the Jews for a common journey, while remaining aware of the differences of tradition, in responding to the common call from God. This common journey has already borne fruits through common projects, such as the establishment of a common Catholic-Jewish teaching on creation and the environment (228). He reiterated an invitation towards a joint cooperation for the good of humanity as a sign of growing fraternal love between the two communities, particularly in Rome.
The Pontifical Biblical Commission document, The Jewish People and Their Sacred Scripture in the Christian Bible, provided a scriptural account on the changes in the Catholic-Jewish relationship over time (PBC 260). The Commission proposed a re-reading of one testament in the light of the other as a means to enrich and deepen the Catholic-Jewish bond (261) as well as to understand the changes of this bond through centuries.
However, the PBC (262-263) warned of certain approaches to re-reading the scriptures that may lead to errors. Allegorical re-reading, for instance, while enables the reinterpretation of the biblical teachings into the contemporary contexts, creates the danger of superimposing private and arbitrary interpretation of “the biblical text and the concrete reality of salvation history”. Saint Thomas Aquinas observed that this approach will only allow the reader to discover in a biblical text what he already knows. However, the literalist approach, too, although had been proven valuable, holds the danger of denying outrightly the value of the allegorical method. The contemporary challenges remained the Christian interpretation that avoids arbitrariness while respecting the original meaning of the scriptures.
The PBC (263-264), however, recommended an approach parallel to the development of the salvation history, which is characterized both by unity and gradual progression and realization, including the respect of the reality of continuity in certain areas and discontinuity in others. This approach includes an openness to the unforeseen, which was the case of Christ’s mystery, which failed to be anticipated by human imaginations in advance and thus capable of breathing a new life and reality in the present times. Consequently, it insisted that the apologetic approach in attributing, with excessive insistence, probative value to the fulfillment of prophecy must be rejected (264-265). This insistent, the PBC pointed out, had contributed to the harsh judgments of Jews by Christians based on readings from the Old Testament.
Consequently, the definitive fulfillment of the promise will be realized during the resurrection of the dead and the appearance of the new earth (PBC 265). Like the Jews, Christians, too, continue to live in expectation of something to come. The only difference in this expectation is the Christian certainty that the One who will come will be the Jesus Christ the Apostles knew and lived among them. That same Jesus Christ, for Christian, is already present and active among mankind; that is, among citizens of the Kingdom of God. It proposed a Christian interpretation of the Old Testament, which does not blur the differences between the Law and the Gospel, while carefully understanding the clear differences between the successive phases of revelation and the salvation history. Thus, it should be a theological interpretation that is historically grounded as well.
Currently, Pope Francis continued the deepening of the Catholic-Jewish relationship as two communities of God’s people. In his address to the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations in June 2013, the Pope make a more definite Catholic stand in the Church’s relationship with the Jews: “Due to our common roots, a Christian cannot be anti-Semitic!” (F 236). His experienced convinced him that such relationship should be based on friendship and joyful companionship with a resultant enrichment of both communities through encounter and dialogue as both grow as people and as believers (237).
Moreover, Pope Francis believes that constructive dialogues must be characterized by a common respect for cultural distinctiveness among Catholics and Jews as well as mutual fraternal responsibility (F 237). This cooperation will show fruits in their common role as leavens of society and as a joint life-giving force for democracy. He believes that continuing dialogue is the only means to the growth of individuals, families, and societies as the benefits of the goods of all culture are enjoyed together in the mutuality of exchange. In his address to the Brazilian leaders in July 2013, he reminds: “Either we stand together or we all lose” (238).
In line with the unity of all people, including the Jews, Pope Francis devalued the contemporary role of proselytism as “downright nonsense” (238). Instead, the impetus must be towards understanding each other, listening to one another, and increase knowledge of the world around. This world is “full of streets that converge and diverge” towards the one true Good.
Since the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church has worked to deepen the relationship between Christians and Jews through brotherly dialogues and enriching Catholic teachings with Old Testament contents. From Pope John Paul II to Pope Francis, the Catholic Church reemphasized its stand of brotherhood through common spiritual roots with the Jewish people as the relationship grew in depth through the years, each respecting the commonalities of their roots and the differences of their respective traditions.
The declaration of the Pontifical Biblical Commission on the inseparability of the Old Testament and the New Testament in the Christian Scriptures indirectly reaffirms the inseparability of the Catholics and the Jews. Without the Old Testament, the New Testament will never be able to understand the “life, death, and glorification” of the Lord (PBC 261; cf. 1 Cor. 15:3-4). Indeed, the Catholic Church believes that the relationship between the two testaments are reciprocal. The New Testament must be read in the light of the Old Testament; while the Old must be re-read in the light of the New.
This mutuality appears to be the direction of the current Catholic-Jewish relations and cooperation. Each people are trying to respond and fulfill the call of God from their specific faith contexts, both in their commonalities and differences, but acting together as brothers and sisters, one diverse but unified people of God.
Works Cited
Cunningham, Philip A. “A Catholic Theology of the Land? The State of the Question.” Studies
in Christian-Jewish Relations 2013, 8 (1): 1-15. PDF file.
Jones, Alexander (Ed.). The Jerusalem Bible. London/ New York: Darton, Longman & Todd/
Doubleday & Company, 1966. Print.
Pontifical Biblical Commission. “The Jewish People and Their Sacred Scriptures in the Christian
Bible (excerpt).” (260-267). In Franklin Sherman (Ed.), Bridges: Documents of the Christian-Jewish Dialogue. Vol. 2: Building a New Relationship (1986-2013). Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2014. Print.
Pope Francis. “Comments on Christian-Jewish Relations.” (236-240). In Franklin Sherman (Ed.),
Bridges: Documents of the Christian-Jewish Dialogue. Vol. 2: Building a New Relationship (1986-2013). Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2014. Print.
Pope John Paul II. “Address at the Great Synagogue of Rome.” (177-183). In Franklin Sherman
(Ed.), Bridges: Documents of the Christian-Jewish Dialogue. Vol. 2: Building a New Relationship (1986-2013). Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2014. Print.
Pope Paul II. “Address to the Pontifical Bible Commission.” (184-206). In Franklin Sherman
(Ed.), Bridges: Documents of the Christian-Jewish Dialogue. Vol. 2: Building a New Relationship (1986-2013). Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2014. Print.
Pope John Paul II. “Prayer at the Western Wall.” (207-221). In Franklin Sherman (Ed.), Bridges:
Documents of the Christian-Jewish Dialogue. Vol. 2: Building a New Relationship (1986-2013). Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2014. Print.
Pope Benedict XVI. “Address at the Great Synagogue of Rome.” (222-229). In Franklin Sherman (Ed.), Bridges: Documents of the Christian-Jewish Dialogue. Vol. 2: Building a New Relationship (1986-2013). Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2014. Print.
