Posted on 11/08/2002 7:23:24 AM PST by narses
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In their relations with Jews, Christians cannot conceal the strong missionary dimension of their faith, but also must recognize that Jews do not have to convert in order to be saved, a top Vatican official said.
Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Vatican's Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, said Nov. 6 that Christians take a different missionary approach toward Jews than toward followers of other non-Christian religions.
That's because Christians and Jews share a long biblical and religious tradition, a belief in the same God and a conviction that God will complete human history, he said.
The main difference between the two faiths -- the salvific role of Jesus Christ -- must also be acknowledged, he said.
"The universality of Christ's redemption for Jews and gentiles is so fundamental throughout the entire New Testament ... that it cannot be ignored or passed over in silence," Cardinal Kasper said.
"This does not mean that Jews in order to be saved have to become Christians; if they follow their own conscience and believe in God's promises as they understand them in their religious tradition, they are in line with God's plan, which for us comes to historical completion in Jesus Christ," he said.
Cardinal Kasper spoke at the Center for Christian-Jewish Learning at Boston College. His text was made available to Catholic News Service by his office at the Vatican.
The cardinal's comments came amid increasing debate in the United States over the church's missionary attitude toward Jews. Last summer, Catholic and Jewish participants in a national dialogue issued a document that repudiated campaigns that target Jews for conversion, prompting criticism by some Christian leaders.
Cardinal Kasper said he wanted to "take the bull by the horns" and discuss the sensitive issue of mission -- in part, he said, because Christian-Jewish dialogue must look honestly at the hardest questions.
He said he recognized that the topic of mission evokes bitter memories among Jews because of forced conversions in the past.
"We sincerely reject and regret this today," he said. He noted that the Catholic Church now condemns all means of coercion in matters of faith.
But mission must be discussed, because it is a key concept for the Christian faith and part of the Christian identity, he said.
"We cannot cancel it, and if we should try to do so, it would not help the Jewish-Christian dialogue at all. Rather, it would make the dialogue dishonest and ultimately distort it," he said.
"If Jews want to speak to Christians, they cannot demand that Christians no longer be Christians," he said.
He said substituting the historically loaded word "mission" with another term like "evangelization" or "witness" may be helpful to Jewish-Christian dialogue, but will not by itself resolve the problem, which touches upon the very identities of both religions.
Cardinal Kasper pointed out that Christians and Jews share the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament; the common figures of Abraham, Moses, patriarchs and prophets; the covenant and promises of a unique God; and a messianic hope.
Because of all that, "mission understood as a call to conversion from idolatry to the living and true God does not apply and cannot be applied to Jews," he said.
That has tangible consequences, including the fact that there is "no Catholic missionary activity toward Jews as there is for all other non-Christian religions," he said.
Both religions open toward the future and the hope of fulfillment that God alone can bring, he said. But while Jews still expect the coming of the Messiah, Christians believe he has come as Jesus and will be revealed at the end of time as the Messiah for Jews and for all nations, he said.
While it may be painful for Jews to listen to such professions of Christian faith, it is inevitable in honest dialogue, the cardinal said.
"Our Jewish friends may say, as they do: 'You look on us with your Christian eyes.' Yes, we do, and how could we do otherwise? Jews, too, look on us with their eyes and out of the perspective of their faith," he said.
"We must endure and withstand this difference, because it constitutes our respective identities," he said.
Cardinal Kasper said that while Christians cannot "remain silent on our hope in Jesus" it is not a question of "targeting" Jews or others for conversion. For modern Christians, evangelization is accomplished primarily by living the faith and "giving testimony of Jesus Christ to all and in all places," he said.
That cannot be renounced by Christians, even though this testimony is undertaken differently in relations with Jews, he said.
Cardinal Kasper said the question of mission will ultimately be resolved in the context of a Christian theology of Judaism. The church is only at the beginning of this process, which began with the Second Vatican Council, he said.
"The long period of anti-Judaistic theology cannot be overcome in only 40 years," he said.
END
Yes, moshiach will come. We await for him in the same way in which you await the second coming of Jesus. We don't know when it will be any more than you know when Jesus is supposed to return.
We will know because he will fulfil all of the messianic prophecies of the Hebrew scriptures within his lifetime. If he doesn't, he ain't the messiah.
I don't think you mean this statement literally. Do you?
but you still don't give a good reason for rejecting Christ's teachings.
In your opinion. Which really doesn't matter to me. My reasons for believing as I do are not based upon the approval or disapproval of others.
While picking specific dates for the beginning of the Great Apostasy might be an enjoyable parlour game, let's not get carried away here. It can become as silly as the endless declarations and hasty retractions of the Jehovah's Witnesses deadlines for the end of the world.
We can consider specific events as signs of the Great Apsotasy. But I don't think we'll know when it started, unfortunately, until it's over.
This is a good thing! It is clear to me after reading the Cardinal’s words that this “teaching” is totally in line with the life of Christ!
Reference this statement:
”"We sincerely reject and regret this today," he said. He noted that the Catholic Church now condemns all means of coercion in matters of faith.
I will be standing by , anxiously awaiting, the reply of anyone who can prove Jesus Christ ”forced” anyone to believe in Him.
-grump
<> It began with the first "Non Serviam."<>
I don't like where you are going with this, so let's just drop it, okay?
Okay, angelo, I'm not going to argue. Whatever your story is...no one can force you to believe one way or the other.
Yep.
Do you have any idea what it's going to take on Saturday morning (yes this coming Saturday) to walk out on a stage and sing before judges for the Metropolitan Opera?
I hadn't heard. I wish you the all the best.
Shalom.
Oh, come on now, angelo...you don't really mean that do you?:) The Christian definition of adultery, as expanded by Jesus, is that it is not just the physical act of adultery, but in thinking lustfully of one other than your wife. I don't know about the rest of the male population, but I find this commandment EXTREMELY hard to keep, especially in today's society.
What that shows me however is the intended purpose of the Law. I agree with you all that the Jewish Covenant is still valid. It would have to have been valid for Christ's work to be accomplished. While the Law is established in covenant with the Jews, it is binding upon all humanity because it is the revelation of God's perfect righteousness...the standard by which He judges His creation. As angelo probably knows, even if he doesn't acknowledge its validity, the Law actually points to Christ by revealing sin in humanity. None of us has any hope of fully keeping the Law perfectly, and if you break one little part you break it all. The Law was intended ultimately to point to the need for salvation through grace.
While I do not agree with the Dispensationalist view, I also do not think God has turned His back on natural Israel. I believe Romans 11 speaks to this effect, and I believe there will be massive conversions preceding the Second Coming. As a Christian, angelo, of course I would pray for this for you and others. I don't support open targeting of Jews for evangelism and conversion, but I do believe in maintaining dialog and being open to discussion, much as you are in this forum. I will certainly continue to pray for God's will in your life, for ultimately all our fates rest with Him.
It should come as no surprise to you that I don't accept the gospel definition of adultery.
As angelo probably knows, even if he doesn't acknowledge its validity, the Law actually points to Christ by revealing sin in humanity.
Nope. I do not know this. I do not believe it.
For this commandment which I command you this day is not too hard for you, neither is it far off.
It is not in heaven, that you should say, `Who will go up for us to heaven, and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?'
Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, `Who will go over the sea for us, and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?'
But the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it. (Deuteronomy 30:11-14)
I can see that it is very difficult for Christians to see this from the Jewish perspective. But we really do think that the reason God gave us His commandments was not to convict us of our sin (a Pauline teaching), but to be obeyed.
I will certainly continue to pray for God's will in your life, for ultimately all our fates rest with Him.
Thank you Fru. May His blessings be upon you.
Saw your dad posting last night and said hello. Good to see him drop in! :o)
LOL! Actually, my favorite canon from the Fourth Lateran is Canon 2, which condemned Joachim of Fiore as "heretical and insane."
Don't let THEM immanentize the Eschaton.
<> Try to keep before your imagination an image of Rosie O'Donnell doing jumping-jacks while wearing a bikini. I find that helpful.<>
Heheheh... I wonder how many people fnord will get that reference. ;o)
Ugh. I'd rather wear a hair shirt and kneel on broken glass.
It's all the Jews fault. Where have I heard this before?
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