Opening the Covenant: A Jewish Theology of ChristianityOxford University Press, 2007 M12 17 - 300 pages The Vatican II Council of 1965 signaled a new era in the relationship of the Jewish and Christian faiths. Determined to free the Church of the anti-Jewish polemic which led to such widespread suffering of the innocent, Catholic authorities completely revised their conceptions of Jews and Judaism. Soon, many mainstream Protestant churches also issued a series of official statements that affirm the eternal nature of God's ancient covenant with Israel. An entirely new category of theology emerged as part of the developing Jewish-Christian dialogue, and gradually Jewish theologians began to respond. Opening the Covenant represents a significant advance in Jewish thinking about Christianity. Michael Kogan delves deep into the theologies of the two faiths to locate precise points of difference and convergence. He sees Christianity as the breaking open of the original Covenant to include Gentile peoples. God has brought this about, says Kogan, through the work of Jesus and his interpreters. If Christianity is a divinely inspired movement, then Judaism must reevaluate its truth-claims. This will in no way compromise the truth of Judaism itself but will cause Jews to understand their own faith more fully by locating it in the larger context of God's universal redemptive plan. Kogan calls for each tradition to receive the wisdom of the other as a means of self-understanding. Once each faith is freed to find God's purpose in the other, the way will be open to a liberating pluralism in which Jews and Christians come to see each other as Israelite siblings sharing a universal role as God's witnesses, the builders of God's Kingdom on Earth. Neither faith can do this world-redemptive work alone. Kogan argues that an affirmation of one's own religion can still provide space for the truth of the "other," and presents a theory of multiple revelations of truth flowing from the one God of all. |
From inside the book
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Page 4
... divine creation. ''And God created humanity in his own image'' (Gen. 1:27). Has there ever been so noble a depiction of men and women? We are the earthly images of the divine, called in the text to create (''be fruitful and multiply ...
... divine creation. ''And God created humanity in his own image'' (Gen. 1:27). Has there ever been so noble a depiction of men and women? We are the earthly images of the divine, called in the text to create (''be fruitful and multiply ...
Page 6
... divine project of bringing humanity back to its proper relationship of obedience to its divine Creator. God decides to choose one man, and from him to create a family, and from the family a tribe, and from them a people. The Holy One ...
... divine project of bringing humanity back to its proper relationship of obedience to its divine Creator. God decides to choose one man, and from him to create a family, and from the family a tribe, and from them a people. The Holy One ...
Page 7
... divine plans to destroy the wicked city of Sodom (Gen. 18:17–33), Abraham, now sensitized to his moral role in the world, risks all—his own life and that of the son as yet hidden in his loins—to plead for sinners who are virtual ...
... divine plans to destroy the wicked city of Sodom (Gen. 18:17–33), Abraham, now sensitized to his moral role in the world, risks all—his own life and that of the son as yet hidden in his loins—to plead for sinners who are virtual ...
Page 8
... divine and human— that is our role and our holy calling. And when we act it out, the Holy One bestows on us fragile creatures the mind-boggling capacity to affect God's decisions and alter God's plans. And remember that the people for ...
... divine and human— that is our role and our holy calling. And when we act it out, the Holy One bestows on us fragile creatures the mind-boggling capacity to affect God's decisions and alter God's plans. And remember that the people for ...
Page 9
... divine inner agony that the plan for the human race seems to require the lives of human individuals. The more spiritually developed and morally sensitized we become, the more completely we share the divine pathos. Our faith calls us to ...
... divine inner agony that the plan for the human race seems to require the lives of human individuals. The more spiritually developed and morally sensitized we become, the more completely we share the divine pathos. Our faith calls us to ...
Contents
3 | |
2 The Question of the Messiah | 37 |
3 Three Jewish Theologians of Christianity | 69 |
How Far Can Jews and Christians Go? | 85 |
Christian Churches Reevaluate Judaism | 121 |
6 Engaging Two Contemporary Theologians of the Dialogue | 143 |
ChristianJewish Dialogue Moves Forward | 165 |
8 Truth and Fact in Religious Narrative | 183 |
9 Bringing the Dialogue Home | 199 |
10 Does Politics Trump Theology? The IsraeliPalestinian Dispute Invades the JewishChristian Dialogue | 213 |
11 Toward a Pluralist Theology of Judaism | 231 |
Notes | 247 |
Bibliography | 257 |
Index | 263 |
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Common terms and phrases
Abraham accept affirm anointed believe Buber called Catholic century Chris Christ Christian theology christology church claims commandments conception course covenant Dabru Emet David divine earlier earth eternal ethical finite Franz Rosenzweig gentiles God’s Gospels grace Greenberg Hebrew Scriptures Heschel Holy human Ibid individual infinite interpretation Irving Greenberg Israel Israelite issue Jacob Jesus Jewish messianic Jewish theology Jews Jews and Christians Jews and Judaism Judaism and Christianity king kingdom liberal Christians live Lord Me’iri meaning Messiah moral Moses Moses Mendelssohn nations Noahide Noahide laws Nostra Aetate one’s ongoing Paul Paul’s Pawlikowski pluralism pluralist Presbyterians prophet question rabbi rabbinic Judaism recognize redemption rejected relationship religion religious resurrection revelation righteous Rosenzweig salvation salvific seems self-transcendence servant spiritual statement story suffering synagogue T. S. Eliot Talmud teaching Testament texts theologians thought Torah tradition true truth ultimate understanding universal validity vision witness words worship