Two Faiths One Covenant

In the twenty-first century, Jews and Christians are challenged to reconsider their theological assumptions by two inescapable truths: the moral tragedy of the holocaust demands that Christian thinkers acknowledge the violent effects of theologically delegitimizing Jews and Judaism, and the pervasive reality of cultural and religious pluralism calls both Christian and Jewish theologians to rethink the covenant in the presence of the Other. Two Faiths, One Covenant? Jewish and Christian Identity in the Presence of the Other is a breakthrough work that embraces this contemporary challenge and charts a path toward fruitful interfaith dialogue. The Christian and Jewish theologians in this book explore the ways that both religions have understood the covenant and reflect on how it can serve as a reservoir for a positive theological relationship between Christianity and Judaism-not merely one of non-belligerent tolerance, but of respect and theological pluralism, however limited.

Revisiting the important topic of covenant fulfillment, Reformed theologian David Holwerda argues that God's promises to Old Testament Israel cannot be understood apart from Jesus Christ. Holwerda maintains that the Old Testament promises of God find their complete fulfillment in Jesus Christ and the church.

Illuminates the importance of Israel for Jews and examines the return to Zion as a significant theological event that can also strengthen the Christian faith. A clear and accessible introduction to the meaning of Israel for the Jewish People and the world.

A window into the Jewish People’s connection to Israel— written especially for Christians. “Israel has taken Jewish sacred history, peoplehood, and ethics out of the realm of speculation and put them into the crucible of real life experience. In returning the Jewish People to its homeland, Israel has returned Jews to material reality—with all its challenges. The Jewish People’s return to the Land returns Judaism to its original vision and the Jewish People to the responsibilities of the biblical covenant.” —from Chapter 9 Along with illuminating the importance of Israel for Jews, this special book examines the Jewish return to Zion as a significant theological event that strengthens the foundations of the Christian faith and its mission. In clear and accessible language, this introduction guides Christians through the essential meanings of Israel for the Jewish People and for the world. It defines Israel as an indispensable part of Judaism’s vision for the Jewish People to be “a kingdom of priests and a holy people,” as a partner with God in the Bible’s sacred covenant. It examines Israel, a sovereign Jewish state, as a safe refuge and home for Jews fleeing persecution anywhere in the world, and how this gives meaning to the Jewish People’s convictions that the future can be more secure than the past. The State of Israel stands at the center of how Jews see themselves today as individuals as well as at the center of the Jewish People’s collective self-perception. As a result, understanding Judaism and the Jewish People is possible only by grasping the Jewish hopes, dreams and experiences that center around Israel, the promised land.

Covenant and Hope centers around two main themes in Jewish-Christian dialogue: "Covenant, Mission, and Relation to the Other" and "Hope and Responsibility for the Human Future." In the first section scholars from both faiths analyze the idea of covenant, how it determines their religious commitments, behavior, and theology, and how their covenantal theology shapes their relations with people outside their religious communities. The second section focuses on the foundation for religious hope, how belief in the future can be nourished, and on our practical and philosophic responsibility to work for a better human future.

Michael Kogan delves deeply into the theologies of Christianity and Judaism, to locate the 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, Kogan argues, through Jesus and his interpreters.

A fundamental requirement in an inclusivist understanding of the relationship between Christianity and other religions is evidence of God's salvific activity outside any knowledge of Christ. This is commonly identified in the religion of Old Testament Israel. On this basis an analogy (the "Israel analogy") is drawn between the religion of the old covenant and contemporary non-Christian religions. Closely related is the parallel argument that as Christ has fulfilled the Old covenant, he can also be seen as the fulfillment of other religious traditions and their scriptures. This study outlines the use of the Israel analogy and the fulfillment model, subjecting these concepts to a biblical and theological critique revealing that the exegetical and patristic data are misconstrued in support of these concepts. Furthermore, the Israel analogy and the fulfillment model undermine the sui generis relationship between the old and new covenants and fail to respect the organic, progressive nature of salvation history. They also misconstrue the old covenant and the nature of its fulfillment in the new covenant. The Israel analogy and fulfillment model rely on a correspondence between the chronologically premessianic (Israel) and the epistemologically premessianic (other religions), and therefore consider the "BC condition" to continue today. In so doing, they undermine the significance of the Christ-event by failing to appreciate the decisive effect of this event on history and the nature of existence. It marks a radical turn in salvation history, a crisis point, rendering the BC period complete and fulfilled. Therefore the concept of a continuing "premessianic" condition or state is seriously flawed, as are the Israel analogy and fulfillment model. Thus the inclusivist paradigm reliant in large part on these defective concepts is also problematic, and proponents of this paradigm need to reconsider its basis.

Amen: Jews, Christians, and Muslims Keep Faith with God examines faith as it is understood by Jews, Christians and Muslims; it does not aim to be a work of systematic theology or a lengthy explication of the contents of different faith traditions. It offers Jews, Christians and Muslims several approaches to faith as a category of human experience open to God: a faithful God who reaches out to grasp the faithful human being at the same time that the faithful human being reaches out to grasp a faithful God. This two-sided faith, divine and human, lies at the center of each faith tradition. The book examines faith as one might examine a gem, gazing at different facets in turn.