Posted on 06/08/2014 10:22:57 AM PDT by wmfights
Perspectives concerning supersessionism have been seriously affected by two twentieth-century developments—the Holocaust and the establishment of the modern state of Israel. These events have pushed questions and issues concerning Israel and the church to the forefront of Christian theology.[1]
More than any other event, the Holocaust has been the most significant factor in the church’s reevaluation of supersessionism. According to Irvin J. Borowsky, “Within Christendom since the time of Hitler, there has existed a widespread reaction of shock and soul-searching concerning the Holocaust.”[2] Peter Ochs asserts that Christian reflections on the Jews and Judaism after the Holocaust “have generated theological questions of fundamental significance.”[3]
These questions include: (1) “What are Christians to make of the persistence of the Jewish people?”; (2) “Is the Church the new Israel?”; (3) “What of Israel’s sins?”; and (4) “What of Israel’s land and state?”[4] The answers to these questions in recent years indicate a reaction against supersessionism. Clark M. Williamson states, “Post-Shoah [Destruction] theology” among contemporary theologians “criticizes the church’s supersessionist ideology toward Jews and Judaism.”[5]
The establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 has also raised questions concerningIsrael and the doctrine of supersessionism. Herman Ridderbos lists some of them:
The existence of Israel once again becomes a bone of contention, this time in a theoretical and theological sense. Do the misery and suffering of Israel in the past and in the present prove that God’s doom has rested and will rest upon her, as has been alleged time and again in so-called Christian theology? Or is Israel’s lasting existence and, in a way, her invincibility, God’s finger in history, that Israel is the object of His special providence (providential specialissima) and the proof of her glorious future, the future that has been beheld and foretold by Israel’s own seers and prophets?[6]
Commenting on the events of the Holocaust and the establishment of the Jewish state, R. Kendall Soulen states, “Under the new conditions created by these events, Christian churches have begun to consider anew their relation to the God of Israel and the Israel of God in the light of the Scriptures and the gospel about Jesus.”[7] This includes a “revisiting [of] the teaching of supersessionism after nearly two thousand years.”[8]
[1] “Since the tragic events of the Shoah and the birth of the modern State of Israel on May 14, 1948, the interest shown in God’s ancient people has been widespread and sustained.” Ronald E. Diprose, Israel in the Development of Christian Thought (Rome: Istituto Biblico Evangelico Italiano, 2000), 1.
[2] Irvin J. Borowsky, “Foreward,” in Jews and Christians, 11. According to Peter Ochs, “Christian theologies of Judaism have been stimulated, instructed, or chastened by the memory of the Holocaust – the Shoah (‘Destruction, Desolation’).” Peter Ochs, “Judaism and Christian Theology,” in The Modern Theologians, ed. David F. Ford (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 1997), 607. Boesel says, “Overcoming the tradition of supersessionism constitutes the heart of what is commonly understood as responsible Christian response to the Holocaust.” Christopher Jon Boesel, “Respecting Difference, Risking Proclamation: Faith, Responsibility and the Tragic Dimensions of Overcoming Supersessionism” (Ph.D. diss., Emory University, 2002), 11.
[3] Ochs, 607.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Clark M. Williamson, A Guest in the House of Israel (Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox, 1993), 7.
[6] Herman N. Ridderbos, “The Future of Israel,” in Prophecy in the Making: Messages Prepared forJerusalem Conference on Biblical Prophecy, ed. Carl F. H. Henry (Carol Stream, IL: Creation, 1971), 316.
[7] R. Kendall Soulen, The God of Israel and Christian Theology (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1996), x.
[8] Ibid.
So God came to Earth manifest in the flesh as the Jewish Messiah, got rejected and killed, and that was fulfilling the old covenant???
The old Israelites were the 12 tribes of Israel, the new Israelites are all those, Jew and gentile, who are in Christ.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave[g] nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
There's your answer right there...No Jew nor Greek...No Israel nor Gentile...
As a Christian, I am an Israelite of the New Covenant. I am of Zion, of the new Jerusalem.
You just showed with scripture that there are no Israelites in Christ...There aren't any men nor women...I am happy to know that as a Christian I am not an Israelite but am in Jesus Christ...
http://www.broomallrpc.org/index.php/articles/how-jesus-fulfills-the-old-testament -- I would just post it here but its rather long, but very clearly explains Christ's fulfillment of the Old Covenant.
"You just showed with scripture that there are no Israelites in Christ...There aren't any men nor women...I am happy to know that as a Christian I am not an Israelite but am in Jesus Christ..."
I don't think it means that there is literally no Jews or Gentiles, because clearly there are. Rather, that in God's eyes all His people are equal and the saved who are Israelites by blood are not superior to the saved who are Israelites by Christ.
Amen!
The only thing I would disagree with you on is even though it sure seems like the Tribulation is right around the corner we just don't know how soon.
Amen!
I do to.
Thank you for bringing Ezekiel 36 into the discussion as well.
The existence of Jews and the nation of Israel despite all the persecution, the holocaust, several arab attacks and political pressure should open everyone's eyes, but it doesn't. We don't know if this is the national Israel that God will transform into a believing Israel or if they will be scattered again, but they continue to exist despite all the odds that are stacked against them.
Maybe not.
I’ve been wondering.
Maybe. I would think that most of the Hebrew race would prefer not to be superceded. Being supplanted might be a bit different issue. For now, the OT prophesied true constituents of His Bride has temporarily displaced His preference for His brethren above other nations, but has not superceded His Father's promises to the Friends of The Bride.
While “Israelites” may have failed to recognize The God’s Messiach, it’s pretty obvious that The God has not failed to recognize “Israelites,” however they at this tine regard Him.
Hmmm...and what happened to Abraham’s Covenant? and yes I didn’t clarify that Yahweh wrote the Bible through Israelites I Know not Timothy.,,however that is another long story going way back to Gen 12:3 ending in Gal 3:29 via Gal 3:8
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.