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
You do understand that this is your belief, not ours?
Let me amend what I said to Mack. No one has to convert to Judaism but you, Mom. It is predestined.
The Romans did the killing. According to your own theology, it was because of everyone's sins, yours included, that Jesus had to die. YOU killed Jesus.
Good answer, Angelo.
You will be assimilated... ;o)
You make an interesting point, that Jesus had to die. Should we feel sorry for the Romans and the Jews because they were merely "instruments" in bringing about the crucifixion? Did someone "trick" them into doing it?
The Jews were the ones who commissioned Christ's death. They did not have "our salvation" in mind when they did it. They did it because they didn't like Him.
At any rate, that was not my point. My point is that (most) Christians insist that "belief" in Christ is essential in order to be saved. If we "reject" Him, we're going straight to hell. The Jews saw Jesus face-to-face and then had Him killed. That is the ultimate rejection. Why should they be given a "get into heaven free" card?
You must not be very familiar with the history of the period. The Romans had no qualms about executing anyone they thought might disturb their rule.
The Jews saw Jesus face-to-face and then had Him killed. That is the ultimate rejection.
First of all, "The Jews" did not do this. Certain individuals did it.
Second, you would only consider this a rejection of God's plan of salvation if you already believe in the Christian teaching about Jesus. As a Jew I naturally don't see it the same way you do.
angelo, deny it all you want.
Do you seriously think that all Jews living at the time were responsible for what happened to Jesus? Well over half of Jews living at that time were in the diaspora. Even assuming the historical accuracy of the gospel account (which I don't), only a small number of the Jews (from the Jerusalem leadership) were responsible.
Um, I'm not a Christian, remember? The gospel accounts were written at least decades after the events they purport to describe. They were written by Christians and from a Christian viewpoint. There is ample information out there examining the historical veracity of the gospel accounts, if you care to look for it. To me it seems clear that they are hagiographical and polemical rather than objective history.
It is a standard. An unattainable one, perhaps, but something to which writers of history should aspire. I think it is certainly possible to speak of a piece of historical writing as "more" or "less" objective.
If we "reject" Him, we're going straight to hell. The Jews saw Jesus face-to-face and then had Him killed. That is the ultimate rejection. Why should they be given a "get into heaven free" card?So much for, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
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.