Jews and Christians Together. A. Christian van Gorder

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      The declaration of the Shema Israel (שמע ישראל) (Hear, O Israel) rings out with the bold assertion that God is One (Deut 6:4). Franz Rosenzweig claims that the revelation of God’s oneness is the truth that outlives all who acknowledge it and outlives any name that can be given to God.45 Jewish monotheism is not a negotiated exercise in mystical obtrusion but a rational conviction that the oneness of God is a foundational truth revealed in scripture. God’s oneness means that there is no place for the worship of any other as a complementary or secondary deity (Deut. 4:4, 35–39). This belief is not only to be embraced intellectually but is to be “cleaved” to (Deut 4:4) in the same way that a wife and a husband cleave to each other (Gen 2:24).

      Most Jews and Christians readily acknowledge that the concept of God within these two traditions is radically distinct. As mentioned earlier, some Jews throughout history have felt that the Christian doctrine of the triune nature of God (or “Trinity”) is idolatrous (avodah zarah [עבודה זרה]). Although many Jewish scholars know that Christianity speaks of the Trinity, most also appreciate that the doctrine does not portray three distinct and separate forces with different and conflicting wills. Rather, the Trinity represents three aspects of one God. While Jews are forbidden to hold such a belief, it is not avodah zara. The discussion of how idolatry relates to the concept of God is a discussion that few Christians have considered from a Jewish perspective. While teaching at Messiah College in Grantham, PA (van Gorder, 1997–2003), one of my students wrote that “because polytheists are equal to pagans, I was shocked, personally, to find out that some Jews consider some Christians to be pagans. Obviously, the belief that Christians are cannibals is a misconception, but the way some people talk about Communion it is nonetheless understandable.”46

      Widely held theological assumptions can also influence relational dynamics between Jews and Christians. While many prefer a “live and let live” approach, such a view may be naïve given the negative implications of Christian supersessionist assumptions. It may even be impossible because some conservative Christians may feel that they have no choice but to obey the command of God to evangelize Jews until they accept Jesus as their Savior. One student explained how this mandate frustrated him after the rabbi visited class:

      The Jews do not believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God sent to the world to save us and that only through him do we receive eternal life and enter into eternity. This, for me, is an incredibly tough thing to understand. Rabbi Fuller seems like an incredibly intelligent and kind man and yet he has a complete lack of acceptance of Christ as Savior. That is just mind-boggling to me. However, although I am a believer, I am also a believer in good people and Rabbi Fuller is obviously a good person.47

      In this student’s worldview, the only consolation that he could find was a bridge of ethical respect while the larger issues of the rabbi’s faith forever consigned the rabbi—and all non-Messianic Jews—to an eternal torment because they have failed to accept Jesus Christ as Savior.

      Chapter Three

      Living in a Broken World

      Rich men are often lean and poor men are often fat. When the sin was sweet the repentance is not so bitter. Of two evils choose the lesser, of two women choose the third.

      —Yiddish Proverbs

      Inherent Evil or Goodness

      Most conservative Christians assume that people are born into sin with an inherently sinful nature. In contrast, Judaism embraces a positive view of human nature, rejecting any notion of original sin. While Adam fails God according to Genesis, his actions do not consign all humanity to an eternally inherent sinful nature. Each person will be judged on their own individual merits; the actions of Adam countless years ago have no bearing on the ontological character of people born into the world today. These two distinct views about the fundamental nature of humanity may also have a dramatic effect on how people view their own moral standing in the world.

      Christians and Jews both teach that God created humanity from dust (Gen 2:7). The very name “Adam” (the word for earth is Adamah [אדמה], for the red clay) reminds humanity of this earthy and mundane status. One rabbinic commentary notes God did not create Homo sapiens until the sixth day as a lesson of humility because “even the lowly insect precedes man in the order of creation.”48 At the same time, individuals are invested with the image of God, and are cherished as God’s precious creation. The Divine has placed a divine breath (neshamah [נשמה]) within all mortals. God shares with Adam the task of naming the animals as a way of involving the first human in a “shared” process of creation (Gen 2:20).

      God also calls humanity to “rule” as stewards over creation (Gen 1:28–29). The Psalmist exalts that God made humanity “a little lower than God [Elohim]” (Ps 8:5–6). Although there is some debate among modern Jewish scholars about the question of whether humans have such a thing as a “soul” these questions are relatively recent in origin. For most Jews, each person has a soul that makes them responsible for their own moral actions. The soul distinguishes humanity from other animals, who cannot be said to have a sense of moral responsibility but simply live their lives out of a sense of base instinct. For most Jews, this soul, which is a gift from God, is eternal and will one day return to its creator (Eccl 12:7). Therefore, one should engage in a life of soul-searching (Heshbon ha-nefesh [חשבון הנפש]) through devoted prayer and study.

      Original Sin

      Jewish tradition has taught that, since humanity is created through God’s power, it is essentially good in its basic form. Genesis declares that when God created humanity that it was “very good (Gen 1:31).” It is offensive to Jews to suggest that God created humanity to be inherently evil. They see life as a holy gift from God, even if humans continue to sin. Some Christians, but not all, would also find the suggestion that humanity is created inherently evil to be offensive.

      Many Jews have often recited a daily morning prayer: “O God, the soul which you have implanted in me today is a pure one—you created it, you molded it, you breathed it into me, and you will someday take it away from me.”49 This positive view of human nature contrasts dramatically with some Christian views that people are basically sinful and born with a corrupted nature in need of salvation from an eternal fire of damnation. One scholar notes that “even during Biblical times there was no Temple sacrifice that addressed original sin nor did any of the prophets refer to it. For Jews, Christianity offers a solution to a Biblical problem that simply does not exist.”50

      A consequence of Jewish ideas about humanity’s goodness is the fact that most Jews have avoided anti-materialist views which saw the body as evil, calling for asceticism free from the sin-generating stains of sexuality as described by St. Augustine and others. When Jewish teachers retell the story of Adam and Eve in Eden, the moral is often that those who rebel against God do so at their own peril. Eden was a time of ideal interactions between God and humanity; it is now an aspiration. The “curse” that came to Adam was not leveled against his soul or spirit but against the nature of his toil and its subsequent difficulty.

      Many conservative Christians assume that all humanity was affected by Adam’s sin in Eden (Gen. 3:17–19) because all future generations were irreparably tainted by this decision of one person. In Judaism, sin is a human action for which every individual is responsible. Sin is not an ontological condition but relates to ethical actions and individual choices. For many conservative Christians, apart from Christ, humanity is incapable of reformation or moral goodness. In contrast, Judaism teaches that every command (mitzvah [מצוה]) and the practice of every ritual leads progressively to a more moral life. Even though everyone sins (Eccl. 7:20), humans can also overcome their errors through a life of service and just action.

      Considering this emphasis on individual, personal responsibility, it is СКАЧАТЬ