Note: The “Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews” stresses that this document is not a magisterial document or doctrinal teachings of the Catholic Church but is a reflection prepared by the Commission. In short, it is food for thought. The entire text can be found at: COMMISSION FOR RELIGIOUS RELATIONS WITH THE JEWS
Yesterday, to mark the 50th anniversary of the publication of Nostra Aetate, where the Church asserted that Jews were not responsible for the death of Jesus Christ, the Vatican released a document entitled “The Gifts and Calling of God are Irrevocable”. In the document, the Vatican stated:
“In concrete terms this means that the Catholic Church neither conducts nor supports any specific institutional mission work directed towards Jews”
The Vatican advised Catholics not to attempt to evangelize followers of Judaism whereas the evangelization/conversion of all other religions should continue.
Behind this pronouncement is “… the unique status of this relationship within the wider ambit of interreligious dialogue, theological questions are further discussed, such as the relevance of revelation, the relationship between the Old and the New Covenant, the relationship between the universality of salvation in Jesus Christ and the affirmation that the covenant of God with Israel has never been revoked, and the Church’s mandate to evangelize in relation to Judaism.”
This can be summarized as:
- There is a co-equal belief and relationship between the Old and New Testament.
- The Old Testament Covenant between God and Israel has never been revoked or superseded in the New Testament.
- The New Testament confirms Salvation only through Jesus Christ.
So, are the last two point contradictory?
The Old Testament Covenant between God and Israel
This Covenant was developed over time and Abraham was instrumental in this role. In Genesis 12: 1-3, God created the nation of Israel through his promise to Abraham, “Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Then in Genesis 15, God and Abraham explored how the nation of Israel would be formed and developed through Abraham and Sarah’s own son and not through Ismael, Abraham’s first son with his servant. In Genesis 15:5, God said to Abraham, “And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” In Genesis 15: 18-21, “On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”
In Romans 11: 1-6, God reaffirmed his continued covenant with Israel: “I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel: “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me ? And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal. So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.” In John 4:22, Christ Himself said, “You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.” Then in Romans 11:29, Paul wrote, “for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable“. This was in answer to his own question as to whether God could reject his own people and thus break his covenant with them.
The conclusion of the Commission then was that the Covenant between God and Israel, as Israel being his chosen people and who were sealed, survived the new salvific teaching of the New Testament.
The New Testament Based On Salvation Through Jesus Christ:
Christians believe that it is only through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ that we are saved. There are several passages that relate to the need to accept and believe in salvation through the blood of Christ:
- John 3:3: “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.“
- John 3:5: “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.”
- Romans 10:9: That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
- John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
- John 4:16: “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
- Acts 4:12: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
Relationship between Jews and Christians:
In “Nostra Aetate”, Jews and Gentiles are analogous to a “well-cultivated olive tree onto which have been grafted the wild shoots, the Gentiles.” The Jews and Christian sharing the same belief in the One True God and the Torah and the Old Testament having shared belief systems.
On 13 April 1986 Saint Pope John Paul II expressed this situation in these words: “The Jewish religion is not ‘extrinsic’ to us but in a certain way is ‘intrinsic’ to our own religion. With Judaism therefore we have a relationship which we do not have with any other religion. You are our dearly beloved brothers and, in a certain way, it could be said that you are our elder brothers.”
Pope Francis has made several overtures towards mending the fences between the Catholic Church and the Jewish community. His recognition of the State of Palestine was not viewed as an act of a friend by Israel. Whether Pop Francis can walk a fine line between the international politics of the Israeli-Palestinian issues and the spiritual issues regarding God’s Covenant with Israel and the salvific belief in Salvation through the Blood of Christ remains to be seen. My sense is that both issues will require a lot of prayer and reflection.
Hat Tips:
The ‘Splainer: What is ‘Nostra Aetate,’ and what does it have to do with Catholic-Jewish relations?
http://thevillagessuntimes.com/2015/12/11/catholics-should-not-try-to-convert-jews-vatican-says/
http://www.inquisitr.com/2623847/vatican-catholics-shouldnt-try-to-convert-jews/
Catholics shouldn’t try to convert Jews, says new Vatican document
Christianity - In - Vogue 