News in Christian-Jewish Relations: September 2002
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| Christian Scholars Group Issues Statement on Rethinking Christian Faith in Relation to Judaism |
The Christian Scholars Group on Christian-Jewish Relations, an association of professors in U.S. colleges, universities, and seminaries, has issued a statement calling on Christians to embrace a view of Judaism and the Jewish people that acknowledges that "God's covenant with the Jewish people endures forever." The statement, entitled A Sacred Obligation, points to needed reforms in Christian teaching, worship, and practice to replace the age-old "teaching of contempt" towards Jews with a new "teaching of respect."
The group, which includes twenty-two Protestant and Roman Catholic scholars from across the nation, is sponsored by the Center for Christian-Jewish Learning at Boston College. Prof. Joseph Tyson of Southern Methodist University, Dallas, is the current chair of the group, which was formerly known as the Christian Scholars Group on Judaism and the Jewish People.
"It is essential," the statement asserts, "that Christianity both understand and represent Judaism accurately, not only as a matter of justice for the Jewish people, but also for the integrity of Christian faith, which we cannot proclaim without reference to Judaism."
Although not presented as a direct reply to Dabru Emet, the "Jewish Statement on Christians and Christianity" issued by a group of Jewish scholars in September, 2000, the new statement takes a similar form, presenting ten theses, each followed by a brief explanation. The statement is being released simultaneously on www.jcrelations.net in English and in German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Russian translations.
The ten theses are as follows:God’s covenant with the Jewish people endures forever.
Jesus of Nazareth lived and died as a faithful Jew.
Ancient rivalries must not define Christian-Jewish relations today.
Judaism is a living faith, enriched by many centuries of development.
The Bible both connects and separates Jews and Christians.
Affirming God’s enduring covenant with the Jewish people has consequences for Christian understandings of salvation.
Christians should not target Jews for conversion.
Christian worship that teaches contempt for Judaism dishonors God.
We affirm the importance of the land of Israel for the life of the Jewish people.
Christians should work with Jews for the healing of the world.
Click here for the full text of the A Sacred Obligation.
This summary courtesy of Franklin Sherman.
| SIDIC Library Collection and SIDIC-Rome Documentation Center to be Inaugurated at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome |
The SIDIC Center, the headquarters of the Service International de Documentation Judéo-Crétienne, has announced the inauguration of its Library Collection and Documentation Center at the Gregorian University in Rome on October 17, 2002 at 5 p.m. The SIDIC Center was founded by the Sisters of Sion after the Second Vatican Council to promote Christian-Jewish understanding.
The ceremony will include:
Welcome by Sr. Mechthild Vahle (NDS Superior General) and Franco Imoda, SJ (rector of the Gregorian) and greetings from Yosef Lamdan (Ambassador of Israel to the Holy See).
Address by Cardinal Walter Kasper (President of Vatican Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews) and a Response by Prof. Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni (New Chief Rabbi of Rome).
Remarks by Sir Sigmund Sternberg (Patron of the International Council of Christians and Jews) who initiated and will present the financial MEMORIAL FUND in honor of the late Dr. Gerhard Riegner (an international Pioneer in Jewish Christian Relations).
Closing Remarks by Archbishop Joseph Pittau, SJ (Secretary, Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education and former Rector of Gregorian University).
The transfer of the SIDIC library and documentation occurs in conjunction with the recently opened Institute for the Study of Religions and Cultures at the Gregorian, which offers a Master’s degree in interreligious dialogue. The new Institute will include the Cardinal Bea CENTER FOR JEWISH STUDIES, together with the SIDIC library collection (which has been donated by the Sisters of Sion to the Gregorian University) and SIDIC documentation service (which remains under the ownership and direction of the Sisters of Sion) and will be able to provide superior resources to those engaged in Jewish-Christian dialogue. The Gerhard Riegner Memorial Fund was established to support the growth of the SIDIC library collection and the documentation service at the Gregorian University.