By Andrew Burnett
The second well-attended talk in the series Sharia and Shalom was given by Arabella Norton on 22nd May, examining the complex relationship between Christianity and Judaism.
Since the diaspora, Jews have often suffered persecution wherever they have settled. In parts of Europe, for example, they have been unable to own land and have been forced to live in ghettos. This history of suffering culminated in the Holocaust and although the evil men who carried it out must carry the blame for this, the Christian Church cannot completely avoid responsibility. So it is important for Christians to look at how they have understood Judaism in the past, and how they should understand it now.
Christianity came from Judaism, so its relationship with Judaism is different from that with any other religion. Historically, many Christians have felt that their faith has superseded Judaism, as a result of the redemption through Christ, so Judaism no longer has a role. Even though the Old Testament forms part of the Bible, Christians have viewed it as the precursor to Jesus. Faith and love have replaced the need to follow strict Jewish laws. Historically, a few have gone further, arguing that God has abrogated his historic covenant with the Jews (dating from Abraham), so the Jews deserved to be punished.
Since these attitudes have led to Jewish persecution, theologians have attempted to re-examine these questions. The idea of a ‘dual covenant’ has been put forward: the Jews were called to be the lead partner in God’s covenant with humanity, and God cannot break his covenants. Variations on this theme are also being explored, such as the idea that the continued existence of Jew and Christian is part of God’s plan, many covenants within a single covenant.
The problem remains that the beliefs of Christianity and Judaism are in conflict, principally on the question of the role of Jesus. There is as yet no clear answer to this, and indeed many of the ideas described are still being worked out.
However, the importance of continuing the quest is underlined by its positive consequences: for example the warm welcome accorded to the Bishop of Oxford when he spoke about his faith recently at a synagogue in Maidenhead, in contrast to the hostility of orthodox Jews engendered by the distribution by missionaries of New Testaments in Israel.
These ideas provoked much discussion and soul-searching by those present. We all had to concentrate hard and annotate Arabella’s detailed handout sheets. Whilst not everyone agreed with all the ideas being put forward, all were agreed that an evening spent tackling hard theology was an evening well spent.
The final session – a discussion based on the previous two meetings – took place on Thursday 19th June in the Parish Hall. A report on this will be in the September Newsletter.