Interfaith dialogue
opens up new doors

by Rev. Edward H. Flannery

as appeared in THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL-BULLETIN

The Jewish-Christian dialogue of the last 30 years has made great strides in mutual understanding along social, ethical and interpersonal lines. Unfortunately the same cannot be said of theological understanding. Christian members of the dialogue have fared better here, as they moved from the anti-Judaic negations of the past to an affirmation of the eternal validity of Israel's Covenant and of Judaism as one of the main foundation stones of Christianity.

It is understandable, given centuries of disregard and persecution visited upon Jews, that Judaism should proceed more cautiously in approaching Christianity theologically. There have been, for all that, great thinkers in Jewish history who expressed evaluations of Christianity. And in the last few years, Jewish theologians have affirmed that God has entered into covenant relationships with other peoples and nations, including Christianity.

Dr. Michael Kogan, a Jewish theologian and founding member of "The Rainbow Group" (Jewish and Christian theologians), does not think this goes far enough. Dissatisfied with the impasse that has beggared our relations, he believes the time has come for Judaism to go beyond the many-covenants stage and seek out the special relationship that exists between our two faiths.

Toward this end, he credits Christianity with breaking open Israel's Covenant to include the nations of the world, for it is through Christianity, he holds, that most of those who know the God of Israel do so through the "Christian interpretation." The churches have brought "central propositions of the Jewish faith" to the nations, and in this way God's promise to Abraham that through Israel "all the nations of the earth be blessed" has been realized. In this light, "Christianity is not a threat to Judaism but a Jewish outreach into the world."

At this point Kogan invites Jewish theologians, secure in their own faith, to take the next step and "re-examine Christian claims in the light of Judaism's textual traditions" and to discover to what extent they can be seen in a positive light. He is convinced that, given the circumstances, Judaism could not have looked favorably on Christianity in earlier times, but in an age of interfaith dialogue the way has been opened to understanding and appreciation. In the Middle Ages, for example, Jesus was referred to as the "nameless one"; in our time he has been hailed by Martin Buber as a "great brother." Kogan esteems him as a "giant of Jewish religious history."

The real test comes, however, with theological differences. What can Jewish theologians do with Christian beliefs in Incarnation, Redemption and Resurrection? Space allows but a glimpse of the richness and penetration of his answer to this question; so we must summarize:

While insisting that such beliefs cannot become part of the Judaic faith, Dr. Kogan contends that an open-minded study of the Torah reveals similarities that show them "not as alien as we thought," and "makes labeling them as false more difficult."

Our view that the divine hand guides Christianity as well as Judaism," he explains, leads us to entertain the possibility of their being true. If God has chosen to break open the Covenant to include the nations and had done so through Jesus, then God may have determined to accomplish this by means of events claimed by Christianity to have taken place." Briefly, they are not true for Judaism, but are or may be for Christianity.

It comes as no surprise that he accepts Christianity as a "sister faith" and a "partner in witnessing and building up the Kingdom of God."

A remarkable achievement of Jewish-Christian dialogue!