Friends: Go over to Telling Secrets and read "The Radical Orthodox Rabbi." A wonderful read from a powerful writer. It is particularly timely as we lurch into Holy Week. So the question is: Is there away out of the great Schism, or the great mess, or whatever we call the miserable relation between Christians and Jews? Is there a way beyond the antisemitism that pervades so much Christian thinking?
Elizabeth's small story points a way: becoming family again requires practice, practice, practice. That and eating together. Read her piece. The sooner the better. Before Good Friday.
Thanks Elizabeth.
You bet. One good "Mitzvah" deserves another, I'm told. And, congratulations again, good sir.
ReplyDeleteJesus, The Messiah, The Anointed One says "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life - nobody comes to the Father except through me." He said this to all who could hear, including Jewish people
ReplyDeleteThe great Jewish man we call St Peter says, "there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
I rally love my Jewish friends....but I must tell them the truth about what the Messiah says ...... He knew what he was talking about.....he knew what he was doing (Mark 10:45) and the necessity of it.
It is not loving to hide what the Messiah says from anybody...especially his own people. Sure, let us have warm relations and be grateful for our heritage but let us never neglect to speak the truth about Christ in love.
It's not enough to say "we worship the same god differently." That's just not true.
ReplyDeleteNot wanting to get into "who is right and who is wrong" debates, the fact of the matter is Jews and Christians have radically different readings of the texts.
It's not just a matter of "We think Jesus fulfilled this and they do not." There are radically different understandings of the same words, different meanings disguised as homonyms, etc. I think we can talk, we can fellowship, but we have to admit we disagree before we get anywhere.
Read "Why the Jews Rejected Jesus" by David Klinghoffer: it was an eye opening read for me. Try imagining worship with no element of incarnation, no element of redemption, no element of communion, no element of inclusion and a radically different understanding of the pacifism and forgiveness imagined (by many of us) as keystones of our Christian faith.
It's a jarring difference.
It's easy to see where we overlap, and where we parallel. But increasingly I understand why Jews look at "Messianic Jews" as not-really-Jews. The theology is so radically different as to not be a "Completed faith" but a different one.
I took on the lenten discipline of reading Constantine's Sword. It is a difficult read for one who has been teethed on what nersen said. But it is liberating too.
ReplyDeleteLisbeth has said:, And it is good!
yup, there's a basic and profound communion we have as humans with other humans following God's commandment to love your neighbor as you love yourself. No matter that our brains hurt trying to imagine our way into the other person's religious thought processes...ultimately the wise step is to quit theologizing and just enjoy each other's company as humans.
ReplyDeleteAfter-dinner theology permitted...
NancyP