***The theology of Christianity in this aspect is an ‘also’. We ‘also’ get to share in everlasting salvation, albeit as ‘adopted sons’ rather than as true sons
That doesn’t follow from Christian theology, Mark. How can Jews be saved if they rejected Christ?***
We can go to the Catechism.
The Church and non-Christians
839 “Those who have not yet received the Gospel are related to the People of God in various ways.”[325]
The relationship of the Church with the Jewish People. When she delves into her own mystery, the Church, the People of God in the New Covenant, discovers her link with the Jewish People,[326] “the first to hear the Word of God.”[327] The Jewish faith, unlike other non-Christian religions, is already a response to God’s revelation in the Old Covenant. To the Jews “belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ”,[328] “for the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.”[329]
840 And when one considers the future, God’s People of the Old Covenant and the new People of God tend towards similar goals: expectation of the coming (or the return) of the Messiah. But one awaits the return of the Messiah who died and rose from the dead and is recognized as Lord and Son of God; the other awaits the coming of a Messiah, whose features remain hidden till the end of time; and the latter waiting is accompanied by the drama of not knowing or of misunderstanding Christ Jesus.
***And why are Christians “adopted sons?” Is God not their creator as well? Or were they made by someone else and had to be “adopted?”***
Adopted into the promises of God to the Jews. We kinda elbowed our way in - Paul writes much about that.
***Is Christian God not God of all people? Are not all humans his creation? If they are, how can they be “adopted?”***
Through baptism. The Jews are not baptized; they don’t need to be.
***We Catholics look on the Jews as ‘elder brethren’ who knew God first, and we’re just the second string, or perhaps Act II.
That’s good for Judeo-Christian relations, but I don’t think I have ever heard a Jews refer to Christians as their “younger brothers.” More like something they mention daily in their prayers by the name of minim, but can you blame them?!? Let’s be honest, this “brotherhood” is a one-way affair, Mark.***
No question.
***And the Jews did know their God first and they say that we don’t know their God at all. On the other hand, the One we call our God they say was an impostor.
We not only stole and then “adopted” their scripture and their God, but we even redefined their own vocabulary and concepts involved, including God. Comparing what we did to them and what the LDS did vis-a-vis Christianity is a joke.***
From their perspective, reasonably accurate.
***And now we call them our elder brothers? Do you really think they see watered-down Judaism mixed with Platonism and Aristotelianism as something they can “relate” to, even consider it “adopted?”***
I am writing from the Christian perspective, not the Jewish one. They are miles apart; obviously one cannot hold both at the same time.
***Evangelicals go one step farther than that. Ann Coulter suggested that the Jews need to be “perfected” by becoming Christians (so they, too, can be saved)!***
Is Ann Coulter a Christian? Some days I’m not sure what she really believes; she thrives more on public notice than on consistency.
***So, how is that better than what the LDS say about us? How would you feel if the Mormons arrogated that we are their elder “brethren” and that there is “hope” for us if we get “perfected” by eventually morphing into one of them?***
Umm, that is what they do arrogate. I just happen to disbelieve them. They don’t bug me overly much, except when they lie to me in person about their beliefs.
“***So, how is that better than what the LDS say about us? How would you feel if the Mormons arrogated that we are their elder “brethren” and that there is “hope” for us if we get “perfected” by eventually morphing into one of them?***
>Umm, that is what they do arrogate. I just happen to disbelieve them. They don’t bug me overly much, except when they lie to me in person about their beliefs.
Plus, of course, the cult of mormonism would never
accept the Nicene Creed... as such, it doesn’t really
matter what they claim.
best,
ampu
Thew Jews pretty much know what messiah will be like: he will be mortal, human being, a warrior-king who will defeat Israeli's enemies and establish world peace and all the nations of the world will through him know (of) the God of Abraham.
A cursory search on Jewish messiah will yield biblical references to any of these and more knownfeaturesof him, such as that he must be of the David's line, that he must be Jewish, etc. Nothing much hidden about him except the date of his coming.
Again, the Jews don't consider the Christians anything even resembling family. The "elder brethren" is a one-way family affair, Mark.
And it's not that the Jews don't know or understand Christ (who understands Christ!?). They reject him! As they did for the last 2,000 years. >[? If there is anything all mainstream Jews have in common, no matter how liberal or orthodox they may be, it is their unequivocal and conscious rejection of Christ. Through baptism. The Jews are not baptized; they don’t need to be.
John the Forerunner (Baptist) would disagree with you! But, Mark, the original baptism wasn't anything close to that. Only Jews were called to be baptized.
Is Ann Coulter a Christian? Some days I’m not sure what she really believes; she thrives more on public notice than on consistency
Personally I think she is a recombinant android in need of some new software.