Behold How Good and Pleasant It Is – Bridges For Peace

Behold How Good and Pleasant It Is

by:: Rev. Cheryl L. Hauer, Vice-President

…When Jews and Christians Stand in Unity

As the old adage says, nothing remains constant but change itself, and a few years ago, the world’s prognosticators began to fill cyberspace with predictions that 2017 and 2018 would prove it. Politically, economically and socially, the world would change dramatically, they projected, and the past two years have seen tumultuous global readjustment, just as predicted. However, the forecasters failed to recognize the incredible changes on the horizon in the religious arena, or more specifically, that of Jewish–Christian relations.

A Look Backward

To fully understand the magnitude of recent events, a short look at history is necessary. The change actually began in the latter half of the 20th century with a wholesale reevaluation of the Christian attitude toward Jews and Judaism. For centuries, the relationship between these two faith systems had been informed by replacement theology: the belief that God had reneged on his promises to the Jewish people, granting the Church special status as the new “spiritual Israel.” Christians became the recipients of all the blessings promised to Israel, while the Jewish community became the inheritors of every curse. In this theological paradigm, Israel would never again be a player on the world stage. Supersessionist heresy became the soil in which Christian anti-Semitism would grow, poisoning the minds of Christians against Jews and destroying any hope for the meaningful relationship between the two.

SOURCE: Bridges for Peace