Pope Benedict writes nothing new in Jesus of Nazareth: Part 2 when he states that the Jewish people are not collectively responsible for Jesus’ death. Readers will be pardoned if they think otherwise, since some media outlets have treated the Holy Father’s statements as if they were revelations. Perhaps that’s understandable, given the history of the relations between Christians and Jews. But it’s still not news.
Likewise, readers may think Pope Benedict has said something novel about a related topic — the conversion (or non-conversion) of Jews to Christianity. According to some reports, Christians shouldn’t try to convert Jews, in Benedict’s view. Is that so? What does Benedict actually say?
Let’s begin with what he doesn’t say. He doesn’t say that Jews shouldn’t become Christians, that Jews shouldn’t recognize Jesus as the Messiah. Nor does he say Christians shouldn’t try to convert Jews.
Some background should help. In speaking of Jesus’ discourse about the destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70 and the end of the world, Pope Benedict explains the place of evangelization in the unfolding of history. He quotes St. Bernard of Clairvaux’s words to Pope Eugene III that he needn’t concern himself with the conversion of the Jewish people; God has left the matter until the time when “the full number of the Gentiles” to become Christians has been reached (pp. 44-45). Benedict then quotes commentator Hildegard Brem, who says that Bernard’s comments reflect Roman 11:25, which Brem interprets to mean that “the Church must not concern herself with the conversion of the Jews, since she must wait for the time fixed for this by God, ‘until the full number of the Gentiles come in’” (p. 45).
It’s clear that Benedict thinks Israel, in some sense, “retains its own mission” (p. 46). The Church’s mission, on the other hand, is to focus on the Gentiles. He interprets the Lord’s teaching about the destruction of the Temple as linked to the “times of the Gentiles” — an unspecified period between the time of Jesus and the end of the world. During the “times of the Gentiles,” “the evangelization of the Gentiles” is “the disciples’ particular task — thanks above all to the special commission given to Paul as a duty and a grace” (p. 46). In other words, the age of the Church stresses converting the Gentiles to the message of Jesus, not converting Jews.
But it’s an illicit jump from saying that the focus of the Church during the “times of the Gentiles” is on non-Jews to concluding that Christians should not evangelize Jews. Does Benedict mean that Christians should never present Jesus as Messiah to the Jewish people? Is Jesus the Gentile-only Messiah? Are there, in fact, two covenants, one for Jews (the Mosaic Covenant) and one for Gentiles (the New Covenant of Jesus)?
Benedict says none of the above. He maintains Jesus to be the Messiah of everyone — Jews as well as Gentiles. It is also clear that the Holy Father doesn’t oppose presenting Jesus to the Jews as the Messiah. The Pope writes that “the nucleus of Jesus’ eschatological message includes the proclamation of an age of the nations, during which the Gospel must be brought to the whole world and to all people” (p. 46). The “whole world” means the “whole world” and “all people” means “all people,” including the Jewish people. What’s more, Benedict insists, based on Romans 11:25, that, ultimately, “all Israel” will come to accept Jesus as Messiah.
At the same time, it is clear that Pope Benedict believes that the focus of evangelization during the “times of the Gentiles” should be non-Jews. He does not repudiate a “mission to Israel” as much as de-emphasize it in preference to evangelizing the rest of the world. Why?
Benedict’s thinking about the “times of the Gentiles” is shaped by St. Paul in 2 Corinthians 3:14-16, who speaks of a sort of spiritual veil over the eyes of Israel in its reading of the Old Testament and its failure to see Jesus as the Messiah. In Romans 11:25, Paul speaks of the majority of Israel’s not embracing Jesus for a time as a providential plan to bring the Gentiles into God’s people.
Some Christians have promoted evangelizing the Jewish people as a way to precipitate the return of the Lord. The idea is that since Paul teaches that Israel must be converted before the Lord’s return, hurrying along the latter requires accelerating the former. But Benedict understands Jesus and Paul to mean that the conversion of the Gentiles must happen first. The rest of the world must be converted before Israel will be. The stress, then, must be on converting the Gentiles. Meanwhile, nothing forbids presenting individual Jews with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, even if the conversion of the whole Jewish people is in God’s hands and not the primary mission of the Church.
Mark Brumley is president and CEO of Ignatius Press and
co-author of A Study Guide for Benedict XVI’s Jesus of
Nazareth: Holy Week (Ignatius Press).
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“It is also clear that the Holy Father doesn’t oppose presenting Jesus to the Jews as the Messiah.” While that may be true, Jews oppose Christians presenting Jesus as the the messiah to us. The Roman Catholic Church spennt 600 yrs during the Inquistion torturing and murdering us in order to force us to accept Jesus as messiah. We are still Jews. Jews have been around for approx 5,000—much longer than Christians have been around. Our covenant with God is vital, alive and enduring. Jews still exist, because it is God’s will that we exist and continue to live in covenant with the Eternal One. It does not matter what the Roman Catholic Church says about our covenant with God. The RCC does not define our covenant with God. God defines our covenant. It is found in the Torah and in other Jewish scriptures.
Interfaith dialogue is essential and much needed in our world. But everyone needs to come to the table with mutual respect. And not with the idea that one faith is better or triumphs the others. And not with the idea that the RCC has the right or duty to force Jews and Muslims to accept its beliefs. We are Jews. We are a community lving in covenant with God, not the the targets of the RCC’s attempts to convert us.
Jesus commissioned His apostles to go and preach the gospel to all nations. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved. The Catholic Church teaches that there are three types of Baptism: water, blood(ie.martyrdom), and Baptism of Desire. The Bible says that the Gospel will be preached as a witness to all nations and then will come the end. Bible prophecy becomes fulfilled in response or lack of response(obstinacy)by mankind to Jesus Christ and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Every person on earth has free will to accept or reject the Divinity of Jesus Christ.What is prophesied in Revelation, the Gospels, and Old Testament are tragedies that will occur not because God wants it to occur but because of the decisions of personal, group, national behavior/ values that human beings make/will make on earth and its governance in acceptance or rejection of Jesus Christ. There are only about 14-17 million Jews on Earth. Even if all non-Christian Jews converted to Christianity today that would leave billions of Gentiles remaining to convert. Christianity would also still be a disunited Faith and not a universal Church of One Mind/One Spirit in Jesus Christ. The Bible does not say that all Jews and all Gentiles will become Christian but God, nevertheless, reaches out every day to mankind to believe and repent. It is mankind’s lack of repentance of sin and its continued rejection of the Divinity of Jesus Christ that will result in the fulfillment of Bible Prophecy preceding the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ Himself. Zechariah chapter14/14:4
Richard,
As a Catholic you believe what you believe. And as as Jew I believe what I believe And I do not believe any Catholic theology or doctrine applies in any way to me or to Jews. You believe Jesus will come as messiah. But the concept of messiah is a Jewish concept and Jesus (a Jew) does not fit the definition of messiah.
The passage you quote from Zechariah is not about Jesus—it is a distortion of the Jewish scripture to apply it to Jesus. It is an act of disrespect by Christianity to take Jewish scripture and apply it out of context, in a way not intended by the authors.
From Zechariah 8:22-23:
Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem and to implore the favor of the LORD. Thus says the LORD of hosts: In those days ten men of every nationality, speaking different tongues, shall take hold, yes, take hold of every Jew by the edge of his garment and say, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”
So Jewish scripture indicates that the end of days, it is the Jews that Gentiles will seek out because God is with the Jews.
And you might want to look at Zechariah 14:17-19:
If any of the families of the earth does not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, no rain shall fall upon them.
And if the family of Egypt does not come up, or enter, upon them shall fall the plague which the LORD will inflict upon all the nations that do not come up to celebrate the feast of Booths.
So what God demands is that all celebrate the Feast of Booths—what we Jews now call Sukkot—it falls shortly after the High Holy Days (in September). Those who do not celebrate Sukkot will be punished by God (i.e. Gentiles).
You have taken Zecahriah out of context. It does not apply to Jesus or to Christianity. Do not take our scripture, tell us it applies Christianity, and that we are not saved because we do not believer in your Jesus or in your distortion of our scripture. That is just disrespectful and wrong.
Lisa Kaiser,
In that case , do not insist we have female priests, because you reject the incarnation of Jesus Christ, God made man.
Do not quote verses on baptism out of context.
Savvy,
I have taken no scripture out of context. Women priests in the RCC is matter of the RCC getting out of the way of God and letting God work and letting all human being, all made in the image of God realize their full potential. It s matter of justice. My opinion on that topic is not related to my belief re the divinity of Jesus.
Lisa,
The point is that our views on this issue are related to the incarnation.
Savvy, I understand that your opinions are related to the incarnation. My point is that even if Jesus were divine, he came came to this earth first and foremost as a human being. It does not matter whether his human incarnation was biologically male or female—because God created all human beings in the image of God. God does not base God’s love on whether a person is male or female. God does not base God;s grace on whether a person is male or female. God call all—male and female to the priesthood—outward biology is not a criteria for priesthood.
Also, please let’s continue this discussion on the Fr. Roy comment thread. This is not the appropriate comment thread
I’m still waiting for someone to explain what exactly is this “mission” that Israel still “retains”. I’m not asking what the Jews think that mission is, I’m asking what the Pope thinks that mission is. I wish that Mr. Brumley or someone at NCR could please try to answer this question.
Lisa Kaiser, you are a Jew who denies Jesus Christ and rejects the teaching authority of the Catholic Church. So be it. We will not seek to convert you, that is clearly a waste of time. My question to you is, why do you care about the policy of the Catholic Church concerning the ordination of priests? Leave it alone. It does not concern you. We will not concern ourselves with the conversion of the Jews (you should be happy about that), therefore you should not concern yourself with our internal affairs. Thank you very much.
It is an act of disrespect by Christianity to take Jewish scripture and apply it out of context, in a way not intended by the authors.
No, Lisa, it is an act of faith, in the light of which the Church understands what was intended by the Prophets of the Old Testament. Of course we disagree, but no disrespect is intended.
Of course, this disagreement goes back to the very beginning of the Church, when Jewish Christians were expelled from the synagogue by the Jewish authorities.
But Peter seeing, made answer to the people: Ye men of Israel, why wonder you at this? or why look you upon us, as if by our strength or power we had made this man to walk? The God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus, whom you indeed delivered up and denied before the face of Pilate, when he judged he should be released. But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you. But the author of life you killed, whom God hath raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. And in the faith of his name, this man, whom you have seen and known, hath his name strengthened; and the faith which is by him, hath given this perfect soundness in the sight of you all. And now, brethren, I know that you did it through ignorance, as did also your rulers. But those things which God before had shewed by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. Be penitent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.
The Word of the Lord, amen.
Lisa Kaiser-
There has not been a concerted effort for over half a century to convert Jews to the Catholic Church. What are you so afraid of? If Jewish faith is so solid, I’m sure you can intellectually defend yourselves. Jewish atheism which is the most radical rejection imaginable of one’s Jewishness is FAR more of a threat. The problem is most modern Jews are agnostics or atheists and hence not by any stretch of the imagination Jews. (Unless of course Jews are a race and you can’t ‘lose’ your Jewishness in which case you are talking like Aryans).
Digdigby, I am not afraaid of anything, just merely began a comment thread in response to the original article posted above. While RCism, as an organizationan, does not seek to convert us, evangelicals are another story. And that can be problematic. Judaism is approx 5,000 yrs old, so our faith is one of heart, mind and body. We do not need to defend ourselves. Our very existence speaks for itself. We Jews, do NOT see ourselves as a race. It is non-Jews who have spoken of Jews as a race. We speak of ourselves as a tribe—a community linked by a common faith, by common traditions, by common experiences
I am a born Jew and I certainly do not disown my ‘Jewishness’ as a Catholic convert.
As for Jewish law - Jewishness is traced through one’s mother. Conversion is complex and discouraging for Orthodox Jews and as for Reform Jews - they don’t even have to really believe in God so the conversion is a farce. The complexities of being considered ‘Jewish’ involve blood descent and racial purity. If your mother was a highly observant Conservative Jewish convert who raised you as a Jew and you have been Jewish all your life sorry - she’s not a ‘kosher’ Jew and neither are you. Of course you can be any kind of ‘Jew’ you want and make your own rules which is what is happening in the U.S. A ‘religion’ that embraces atheists or on the other extreme declares that a sick old man must not use an elevator button on the Sabbath but walk up eight flights of stairs in order to avoid ‘work’ has lost its bearings. My Church was founded in its fullness mostly by Jews and before the fall of the Second Temple and is rich with the full sacrificial ‘flavor’ of that worship. Sacrifice transformed, glorified and fulfilled. Talmudic pilpul has reached a spiritual and cultural dead end and we of the Catholic Church are far closer to Judaism than modern Jews. If you say that God CANNOT become man and be
truly God, you are blaspheming God’s omnipotence. If you say the Living God ‘would not’ become a little baby, you are committing arrogant presumption.
digdigby, I guess we balance each other out. You are a former Jew who became a Roman Catholic. I am a former Roman Catholic who became a Jew. I think you may be a bit out of touch with Reform Judaism. We most definitely believe in God.
Of course not all Jews beleive in God, That is not a requirment of being a Jew. We are a tribe—its about common traditions, culture and expereince. It often involves a common belief in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but not always.
There are many Roman Catholics who do not beleive in God and who do not beleive in many of the teachings of the RCC. Just as there are cultural Jews, there are cultural Catholics.
We do NOT say that God cannot or would not become man. God can surely do that. But in Judaism, we beleive that God has NOT done that.
As for making a sick old man, walk up 8 flights of stairs, I believe even the Orthodox make allowances for one’s health.
Lisa - Its just like talking to my bro’ - we have the same arguments! If being Jewish is strictly tribal and one doesn’t have to ‘believe in God’ than it is not a religion it is a ‘clan’. And NO you cannot be a Catholic and not believe in God and no you cannot pick and choose, Cafeteria style, what you want ‘Catholicism’ to be. I have been around enough Reform Jews of every kind all my life to know that only three things are sacred. Radical feminism, gay ‘marriage’ and killing babies. I loathe despise and abominate every female rabbi I have ever met. Not because they are women but because they were loathsome, abominable and despicable human beings. I’ve known brilliant Orthodox women who run whole university departments but Reform women rabbis… don’t get me started.
digdigby, wow, you are most insulting to Reform Jews and women rabbis. As a Reform Jew, I will just say that I absoultely adore the female rabbis I have met and know. They are wonderful, deeply spiritual, deeply committed to the spirtual welfare of the people they serve. I think perhaps you are not open to seeing women rabbis in this way.
As Reform Jews, we are committed to tikkun olam—the repair of the world. We are committed to living moral and ethical lives, because God commands it and because that is the right thing to do.
As for Roman Catholics—you may have your idea about what constitute a Roman Catholic, but it is clear that many many Catholics see that the bishops, via covering up for priests committing criminal acts with children and young people, have lost their moral credibility.
I guess all I can say is that I hope you are happy in the RCC, and I am glad you are not a Reform Jew!
YOU WIN. You are so noble, righteous, and good and swell and smart and female and proud and reasonable that I need a drink - Dewars, straight up. Me I’m just a lazy, sinful, confused, frightened, aging Catholic and I will say one thing I know that you may never know though I pray you will. The shortest distance between ANY two human beings is Christ crucified.
digdigby, its not about winning. Its about interesting and respectful conversation. So from an aging Jew to an aging Catholic, I see your Dear’s and raise you an 18 yr old Elijah Craig (a wonderful small batch Kentucly bourbon. BTW, Craig was a Baptist minister, not a Jew!).
And I will remember to you to the God of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekkah, Jacob, Leah and Rachel.
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