Christian Theology Without Supersessionsim? Challenges and Possibilities

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444). This special issue belongs to the section "Religions and Theologies".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2021) | Viewed by 14234

Special Issue Editor

Department of Theology, University of Notre Dame, Lancaster, PA 17601, USA
Interests: Reformation and post-Reformation Protestant Theology, especially Luther, Calvin, Schleiermacher, Kierkegaard, and Barth; history of Christian thought; Jewish–Christian relations

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The purpose of this Special Volume is to explore the remaining challenges confronting Christian–Jewish relations after the abandonment of the “teaching of contempt” that dominated the Christian view of the Jews for almost two millennia. This would include the disturbing presence of the teaching of contempt in Christian lectionary guides and in statements by representatives of various Christian communities. The central question of this volume is whether it is possible to formulate a genuinely Christian theology that does not contain some kind of supersessionism. The volume will do so by addressing the various topics that remain to be resolved in Jewish–Christian relations, including the understanding of command and obligation, the salvation of the Jews, the interpretation of Scripture, the people and the land of Israel, the distinction between hard and soft supersessionism, Jewish identity and conversion, and how to understand Christ as fulfillment. The goal of the volume is to come to a greater understanding of the challenges and opportunities that still remain to be explored in the relation of Christians to Jews.

The volume will contribute to the contemporary explorations of supersessionism by scholars such as Shaul Magid, Gavin D’Costa, Harold Smith, Michael Vlech, and Adam Gregerman but will address issues that the existing literature has not yet explored.

Prof. Dr. Randall C. Zachman
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Anti-Judaism
  • supersessionism
  • obligation
  • exegesis
  • tikkun olam
  • promised land
  • Jewish identity
  • conversion
  • Zionism
  • fulfillment

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 233 KiB  
Article
Supersessionism: Admit and Address Rather than Debate or Deny
by Amy-Jill Levine
Religions 2022, 13(2), 155; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rel13020155 - 10 Feb 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 5688
Abstract
Supersessionism, in the sense of advancing upon and thereby replacing an anterior tradition, is intrinsic to both Jewish and Christian identity. The move forward is to acknowledge it rather than debate or deny it, and then to determine how its presence does not [...] Read more.
Supersessionism, in the sense of advancing upon and thereby replacing an anterior tradition, is intrinsic to both Jewish and Christian identity. The move forward is to acknowledge it rather than debate or deny it, and then to determine how its presence does not preclude positive roles for the superseded group. Because Christian supersessionism is today a primary interest in inter-religious dialogue, this article focuses on how it has been and might be approached. Attempts to deny supersessionism in the New Testament must be based in hermeneutics since historical-critical exegesis cannot secure this conclusion. Today, interest in Christian supersessionism is driven not only by theological concerns but also factors concerning identity, including the role of messianic Judaism in Church communities; approaches to Zionism, the “scandal of particularity,” ethnic identity, and debates over cultural appropriation. Full article
10 pages, 212 KiB  
Article
“I Have Come Not to Abolish but to Fulfil”: Reflections on Understanding Christianity as Fulfilment without Presupposing Supersessionism
by Jesper Svartvik
Religions 2022, 13(2), 149; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rel13020149 - 07 Feb 2022
Viewed by 1452
Abstract
This article explores the interrelationship between the two major issues that the theologians of earliest Christianity were pondering, i.e., how to explain the suspension of the eschaton, and how to understand the relation between Christ believers and the people of Israel. Whereas within [...] Read more.
This article explores the interrelationship between the two major issues that the theologians of earliest Christianity were pondering, i.e., how to explain the suspension of the eschaton, and how to understand the relation between Christ believers and the people of Israel. Whereas within a couple of decades a number of answers were already given to the former question in order to appease the questioners and marginalize the topic, the answer to the latter question has been not only formative for all Christian thinking for two millennia, but also utterly destructive for Jewish–Christian relations throughout the ages. This article recognizes that after two thousand years of supersessionism, it takes a lot of work to articulate a Christian theology which is fulfilment without supersessionism—but not as much work as the first generations of Christ believers had to devote to de-eschatologizing their message in order to be able to hand it over to future generations of Christians. They prevailed the challenge of their time—will we? Full article
13 pages, 223 KiB  
Article
The Cruelty of Supersessionism: The Case of Dietrich Bonhoeffer
by John E. Phelan
Religions 2022, 13(1), 59; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rel13010059 - 08 Jan 2022
Viewed by 2512
Abstract
The impact of the Shoah on Christian biblical and theological studies has been significant. The Christian doctrine of supersessionism, the replacement of the Jews and Judaism by the Christian church, has come in for particular criticism. Some more traditional scholars have either ignored [...] Read more.
The impact of the Shoah on Christian biblical and theological studies has been significant. The Christian doctrine of supersessionism, the replacement of the Jews and Judaism by the Christian church, has come in for particular criticism. Some more traditional scholars have either ignored these critiques or suggested that they were shaped not by critical study of the biblical text but by Christian guilt. It is also argued that the supersessionist argument is so thoroughly woven into the Christian story that extracting it would destroy the story itself. For some, it appears that there is no Christianity without supersessionism. This paper argues not only that this challenge to supersessionism was indeed the result of post-Shoah reflection, but that such challenges were appropriate and necessary. It does this in part by considering the case of German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer whose early citations of the “teachings of contempt” were challenged by the violence of Nazis and the clarity of their intent to destroy both the Jews and, eventually, the church. A non-supersessionist Christianity is both possible and necessary, not simply to preserve the relationship between Christians and Jews, but to enable both communities to engage in the work of “consummation” and “redemption” that God has entrusted to them. Full article
15 pages, 274 KiB  
Article
Jewish-Christian Identities in Conflict: The Cases of Fr. Daniel Rufeisen and Fr. Elias Friedman
by Emma O’Donnell Polyakov
Religions 2021, 12(12), 1101; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rel12121101 - 14 Dec 2021
Viewed by 2087
Abstract
The status of Jewish identity in cases of conversion to another religion is a contentious issue and was brought to the forefront of public attention with the 1962 court case of Oswald Rufeisen, a Jewish convert to Christianity known as Br. Daniel, which [...] Read more.
The status of Jewish identity in cases of conversion to another religion is a contentious issue and was brought to the forefront of public attention with the 1962 court case of Oswald Rufeisen, a Jewish convert to Christianity known as Br. Daniel, which led to a shift in the way that the state of Israel defines Jewish identity for the purposes of citizenship. At the same time, however, another test case in conflicting interpretations of Jewish identity after conversion was playing out in Rufeisen’s own monastery, hidden to the public eye. Of the fifteen monks who lived together in the Stella Maris Monastery in Haifa, two were Jewish converts, both of whom converted during the Second World War and later immigrated to Israel. Both outspoken advocates for their own understanding of Jewish identity, Rufeisen and his fellow Carmelite Fr. Elias Friedman expressed interpretations of Jewish-Christian religious identity that are polarized and even antagonistically oppositional at times. This paper argues that the intimately related histories and opposing interpretations of Rufeisen and Friedman parallel the historical contestation between Judaism and Christianity. It investigates their overlapping and yet divergent views, which magnify questions of Jewish identity, Catholic interpretations of Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust narratives, and proselytism. Full article
12 pages, 238 KiB  
Article
Where to from Here? Continuing Challenges in Jewish–Catholic Conversation
by David M. Neuhaus
Religions 2021, 12(11), 929; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rel12110929 - 26 Oct 2021
Viewed by 1621
Abstract
The decades of fruitful dialogue between Jews and Catholics, also undertaken by many mainstream Christian communities after the Second World War, has transformed a “teaching of contempt” with regard to Jews and Judaism into a “teaching of respect”. However, the work is far [...] Read more.
The decades of fruitful dialogue between Jews and Catholics, also undertaken by many mainstream Christian communities after the Second World War, has transformed a “teaching of contempt” with regard to Jews and Judaism into a “teaching of respect”. However, the work is far from done, and a number of challenges continue to provoke Jewish and Catholic theologians and interreligious activists to continue their efforts. In this article, five challenges for Catholics will be enunciated in order to clarify the ongoing agenda for Jewish–Catholic conversation today. These challenges are: (1) reading the Scriptures together; (2) salvation for the Jews; (3) people, land, and state; (4) writing history together; and (5) broadening the conversation. Full article
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