c. 2000 Religion News Service
(UNDATED) Excerpts from “Dabru Emet (Speak the Truth): A Jewish Statement on Christians and Christianity,” a statement signed by more than 160 rabbis and Jewish theologians. The statement was drafted by the Baltimore-based Institute for Jewish and Christian Studies, and was released on Thursday (Sept. 7):
“Speaking only for ourselves _ an interdenominational group of Jewish scholars _ we believe it is time for Jews to learn about the efforts of Christians to honor Judaism. We believe it is time for Jews to reflect on what Judaism may now say about Christianity.”
“Before the rise of Christianity, Jews were the only worshippers of the God of Israel. But Christians also worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; creator of heaven and earth. While Christian worship is not a viable religious choice for Jews, as Jewish theologians we rejoice that, through Christianity, hundreds of millions of people have entered into relationship with the God of Israel.”
“Jews and Christians seek authority from the same book _ the Bible (what Jews call `Tanakh’ and Christians call `The Old Testament.’ Turning to it for religious orientation, spiritual enrichment and communal education, we each take away similar lessons. …. Yet, Jews and Christians interpret the Bible differently on many points. Such differences must always be respected.”
“All of us were created in the image of God. This shared moral emphasis can be the basis of an improved relationship between our two communities.”
“Nazism was not a Christian phenomenon. Without the long history of Christian anti-Judaism and Christian violence against Jews, Nazi ideology could not have taken hold nor could it have been carried out. Too many Christians participated in, or were sympathetic to, Nazi atrocities against Jews. Other Christians did not protest sufficiently against these atrocities. But Nazism itself was not an inevitable outcome of Christianity.”
“Christians know and serve God through Jesus Christ and Christian tradition. Jews know and serve God through Torah and the Jewish tradition. That difference will not be settled by one community insisting that it has interpreted Scripture more accurately than the other; nor by exercising power over the other. … Neither Jew nor Christian should be pressed into affirming the teaching of the other community.”
“We respect Christianity as a faith that originated within Judaism and that still has significant contacts with it. We do not see it as an extension of Judaism. Only if we cherish our own traditions can we pursue this relationship with integrity.”
DEA END RNS
