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Bridges: Documents of the Christian-jewish Dialogue: The Road to Reconciliation (1945-1985)
Documents of the Christian-Jewish Dialogue is a comprehensive collection of statements on Christian-Jewish relations issued by churches and interfaith organizations around the world since the end of World War II. Vol. 1 contains such groundbreaking documents as the World Council of Churches' statement "The Christian Approach to the Jewish People" issued at its founding assembly in 1948; the Episcopal Church's "Deicide and the Jews"; the Second Vatican Council's historic declaration Nostra Aetate (1965), addresses by Popes Paul VI and John Paul II and other Roman Catholic documents; and official statements by Lutheran, Reformed, Methodist, Baptist, and other Protestant denominations, as well as ecumenical bodies. Joint Christian-Jewish documents include the famous "Ten Points of Seelisberg" and other statements from national and international interfaith organizations.
All of these documents show the Christian churches in a posture of radical repentance for the hostility towards Jews and Judaism that has often marred their teachings, as well as an eager desire to engage contemporary Judaism in dialogue and to learn from its spiritual richness. The book is edited by Franklin Sherman, a longtime participant in and interpreter of the Christian-Jewish dialogue, and introduced by three eminent scholars in the field, each writing from a particular Alice L. Eckardt (Protestant), Philip A. Cunningham (Catholic), and Michael S. Kogan (Jewish). The volume concludes with pivotal essays on the possibilities and limits of interfaith dialogue by the eminent Jewish scholars Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel. All documents are presented unabridged. Several statements by European church bodies are presented in English translation for the first time.
All of these documents show the Christian churches in a posture of radical repentance for the hostility towards Jews and Judaism that has often marred their teachings, as well as an eager desire to engage contemporary Judaism in dialogue and to learn from its spiritual richness. The book is edited by Franklin Sherman, a longtime participant in and interpreter of the Christian-Jewish dialogue, and introduced by three eminent scholars in the field, each writing from a particular Alice L. Eckardt (Protestant), Philip A. Cunningham (Catholic), and Michael S. Kogan (Jewish). The volume concludes with pivotal essays on the possibilities and limits of interfaith dialogue by the eminent Jewish scholars Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel. All documents are presented unabridged. Several statements by European church bodies are presented in English translation for the first time.
442 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
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September 28, 2024
hard to rate since it's a collection of documents. i learned a lot about christianity, how it relates to other religions, and some major thematic differences from judaism that explain a lot but i hadn't know about before (mostly wrt salvation, sin, obedience, and faithfulness). one of my favorite of the christian documents was "Bridge in Hope" from the United Methodist Church in 1972.
i was pleasantly surprised by some of the later documents which were very respectful towards judaism and showed knowledge and understanding that can only have come from listening to and learning from jews. but i was also very uncomfortable and frustrated with a lot of the documents, especially the earlier protestant ones.
the main pitfalls were the insistence on continuing "the mission to the jews" and how jews need to be converted. and then you can see a few years later they'd release another statement wondering why antisemitism is still prevalent in their communities lol. i don't like treating judaism as something up for grabs for christianity to graft itself onto. im having trouble putting it into words, but it's the way some documents speak with the assumption that jews see christians as another valid branch of israel that became part of our covenant just because christianity sees itself that way. im really uncomfortable with that whole idea. some of them even debated whether judaism is still a valid part of the elected of israel or if only christianity is which was WILD.
i appreciated that all of the documents rejected the charge of deicide and new testament anti-judaism, but some of them had a bit of a condescending tone as if they're doing us a great service by absolving us of sins that they accused us of, and some really shied away from new testament anti-judaism or just pretended it doesn't exist and it's just been misinterpreted.
i also didn't like when they would say that the jews are beloved *for the sake of our ancestors because God doesn't revoke gifts.* if you can't see us as worthy for our own sake, today, as living people, how can you say you respect and love us? similarly, a lot of the documents explained that antisemitism is a sin against christianity because christians are also part of the people of israel and can't understand themselves without understanding judaism, the religion of jesus. again: are we not worthy for our own sake? the primary reason antisemitism is bad is because it hurts us, not because we're a gift to you.
all in all, a very eye opening roller coaster. sometimes i would finish a document feeling great and hopeful and very appreciative of the communities that worked on it, and sometimes i would feel sick and angry or just be cringing.
i was pleasantly surprised by some of the later documents which were very respectful towards judaism and showed knowledge and understanding that can only have come from listening to and learning from jews. but i was also very uncomfortable and frustrated with a lot of the documents, especially the earlier protestant ones.
the main pitfalls were the insistence on continuing "the mission to the jews" and how jews need to be converted. and then you can see a few years later they'd release another statement wondering why antisemitism is still prevalent in their communities lol. i don't like treating judaism as something up for grabs for christianity to graft itself onto. im having trouble putting it into words, but it's the way some documents speak with the assumption that jews see christians as another valid branch of israel that became part of our covenant just because christianity sees itself that way. im really uncomfortable with that whole idea. some of them even debated whether judaism is still a valid part of the elected of israel or if only christianity is which was WILD.
i appreciated that all of the documents rejected the charge of deicide and new testament anti-judaism, but some of them had a bit of a condescending tone as if they're doing us a great service by absolving us of sins that they accused us of, and some really shied away from new testament anti-judaism or just pretended it doesn't exist and it's just been misinterpreted.
i also didn't like when they would say that the jews are beloved *for the sake of our ancestors because God doesn't revoke gifts.* if you can't see us as worthy for our own sake, today, as living people, how can you say you respect and love us? similarly, a lot of the documents explained that antisemitism is a sin against christianity because christians are also part of the people of israel and can't understand themselves without understanding judaism, the religion of jesus. again: are we not worthy for our own sake? the primary reason antisemitism is bad is because it hurts us, not because we're a gift to you.
all in all, a very eye opening roller coaster. sometimes i would finish a document feeling great and hopeful and very appreciative of the communities that worked on it, and sometimes i would feel sick and angry or just be cringing.
Displaying 1 of 1 review