:  Thomas Schumacher, Mark S. Kinzer, Jan-Heiner Tück
: Jesus - the Messiah of Israel? Messianic Judaism and Christian Theology in Conversation
: Crossroad Publishing
: 9780824507725
: 1
: CHF 25.20
:
: Judentum
: English
: 426
: DRM
: PC/MAC/eReader/Tablet
: ePUB

This volume addresses this gap. It documents an international symposium on the dialogue between Messianic Judaism and Christian theology, which took place in 2022 at the University of Vienna (Austria) under the patronage of Cardinal Christoph Schönborn. The contributions highlight the history and diversity of Messianic Judaism and explore Christological, ecclesiological and eschatological questions: What does the Jewish identity of Jesus mean for Christology? How should the surprising return of Jews who believe in Christ be interpreted? Can the return of many Jews to the land of Israel and the growing number of Messianic Jews be interpreted as signs of the end times?''

The Messianic Jews—A “Sign Pointing Forward”

An Interview

Cardinal Walter Kasper / Jan-Heiner Tück

A conference on the dialogue between Christian theology and Messianic Judaism has just taken place at the University of Vienna. The dialogue is delicate, since there is a sense in which Messianic Jews fall between the chairs. Official representatives of Judaism deny that they are Jews because they believe in Jesus the Messiah. The Christian Churches remain guarded because they do not wish to jeopardize the achievements of the Jewish–Christian dialogue. Even the Pontifical Commission for Special Relations with Judaism, if I understand correctly, has until now made no official contacts. Why is this?

Cardinal Kasper: It is as you rightly say. In the decade from 1999 to 2010 I was president of the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews. It was the most exciting and most challenging time of my entire professional life.1After much debate, the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) with the declarationNostra Aetate(1965) had achieved one of the most astounding new orientations in relations between Jews and Christians in the 2,000-year history of the Church and had condemned all forms of antisemitism past and present.

According to Erich Przywara, the separation between Jews and Christians is the “original schism” of Church history; in the words of Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, it is “the deepest wound in the body of Christ.” The schism became a centuries-long estrangement, even contempt, oppression, and persecution. They reached their lowest point during the Second World War (1939–1945) in the Shoah, the attempt to annihilate European Jewry that was planned, organized, and carried out in cold blood by the National Socialist state, in which some six million Jews fell victim. After 1945, the shock over this egregious crime led to a fundamental change of thinking (metanoia) and to a deep repentance (teshuva) in almost all Churches.2

The Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, founded in 1974 by Pope Paul VI, was tasked with coming to terms with the burden of a centuries-long, largely dark history, and with promoting a new cooperation between Jews and Christians on the foundation laid by the Council. The construction of a new, sincere dialogue and a trustful collaboration required, especially from us Christians, consideration and sensitivity for the Jewish partners. We agreed to respect each other’s differences but in the discussions to start from what we have in common: belief in the one God and Creator as well as the Ten Words (Ten Commandments) and their significance for the joint engagement for a better and more humane world. Despite certain difficulties, we made good progress overall. From Pope John Paul II, who was on April 13, 198