Dan Cohn-Sherbok

The Challenge of Religious Pluralism

In contemporary society with its multiplicity of faiths, there has been an increasing interest in the relationship between the world’s religions. Within Judaism only a few thinkers have grappled with the issue of religious pluralism, yet in Christian circles there has been considerable debate about the relationship between the Christian faith and other traditions. A number of conservative Christian theologians have espoused a traditional form of Exclusivism based on the assumption that Christianity contains the one true and final revelation from God. Other thinkers however have criticised such a doctrine for its narrowness. Disenchanted with Exclusivism, they have formulated a modified Christo-centric approach — Inclusivism — which affirms the salvific presence of God in non-Christian religious while still maintaining that Christ is the definitive revelation of God. Although such a model of religious diversity is more liberal than the traditional Exclusivist stance, other Christian theologians have argued for an even greater tolerance of non-Christian religions. On their view, what is now required is a Copernican revolution in which the Divine, rather than Christ, is placed at the centre of the universe of faiths. This reflection about religious diversity can serve as the basis for a theoretical framework for assessing the Jewish response to other faiths over the centuries.

Religion in public life

Is a Christian state a contradiction, Keith Ward Christian politics in a society of plural values, Edward Norman religion, war and The Gulf, Tony Benn Christian discipleship and politics, John J. Vincent religion and the politics of the environment, Hugh Montefiore the prophetic tradition and human rights, Julia Neuberger liberation theology and politics, Chris Rowland reading the gospels seriously, Enoch Powell how can we discharge our obligations to the poor, Digby C. Anderson unto Caesar - the political relevance of Christianity, David McLellan.

Antisemitism in the 1990s: A Symposium

We recently addressed the following statement and questions on the strength and nature of anti-Semitism in the 1990s to a number of Jews and non-Jews throughout the world: Talk of a ‘revival’ or ‘resurgence’ of anti-Semitism is now commonplace. This seems to be the result of developments in the former USSR and in Eastern and Central Europe since 1989, but also of increasing reports of anti-Semitic incidents taking place throughout Western Europe and similar problems emerging in North America, South America, Australia and South Africa. 1) How serious is the recent ‘resurgence’ of anti-Semitism? Is this in any sense a global phenomenon? Is talk of a ‘revival of antisemitism’ justified? 2) What are in your view the most important contemporary manifestations of anti-Semitism? Should anti-Semitism still mainly be seen as a phenomenon of extreme right- and left-wing politics and ideology, or is contemporary anti-Semitism more seriously present in popular culture, within political and social elites, in the school playground? 3) What role, if any, do you think the conflict between Israel and the Arab world is playing in fostering anti-Jewish sentiment? How important is the emergence of Islamic fundamentalism in this context? To what extent is anti-Semitism today taking the guise of anti-Zionism? 4) Finally, if there is indeed an upsurge in antiswemitism, what do you think are its major causes? What part is nationalism, particularly in the Commonwealth of Independent States and in Eastern and Central Europe, playing in causing or exacerbating contemporary anti-Semitism? Do you agree that there was until recently a post-Holocaust taboo on anti-Semitism that has now been lifted?

Paul and Rabbinic Exegesis

For some time scholars have recognised that Pauls exegesis of Scripture was influenced by rabbinic hermeneutics. As early as 1900 H. St. John Thackeray argued that Paul utilised rabbinic methods of interpretation to confute the Jews. In a number of cases, he wrote, particularly where the original sense of Scripture is not adhered to, ‘we may undoubtedly see the influence of his rabbinic training in the use to which the Old Testament is put and the inferences drawn from it.’ In 1911 H. Lietzmann described Pauls treatment of the desert sojourn in 1 Cor. 10.1–11 as ‘the Haggadic method’, implying a comparison with rabbinic method. Following this same line of argument A. F. Pukko in 1928 asserted that Paul utilised Hillels seven principles of rabbinic exegesis. According to Pukko, ‘As an interpreter of the Old Testament Paul is above all a child of his time. The methods of interpretation and deduction which he learned in the Rabbinical school emerge frequently in his work.’

The Challenge of the Holocaust

Abstract Throughout their history, the Jewish people have endured persecution, massacre and murder. They have been driven from their ancient homeland, buffeted from country to country and plagued by persecutions and pogroms. Jews have been despised and led as lambs to the slaughter. In modern times the Holocaust continued this saga of Jewish suffering, destroying six million innocent victims in the most terrible circumstances. This tragedy has posed the most searing questions for contemporary Jewry: where was God at Auschwitz, and where was humankind? This article seeks to respond to these two deeply troubling questions in the light of contemporary Jewish Holocaust theology.

The Impact of the Enlightenment

For the majority of European Jewry the medieval period extended into the eighteenth century, however the French Revolution followed by the Napoleonic period radically altered the status of the Jewish masses enabling them to enter into western life and culture. The spirit of emancipation unleashed by these events swept across Europe and freed Jews from their traditional lifestyle. The origins of Jewish thought during this period of change go back to seventeenth century Holland where a number of Jewish thinkers attempted to reevaluate Judaism in the light of current scientific developments. Preeminent among such writers was Baruch Spinoza who formulated a radical theological view which rejected the doctrine of a supernatural deity — distancing himself from any form of either Jewish Exclusivism or Inclusivism, he propounded a form of religious Pluralism consonant with the spirit of the age. In the following century the Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn adopted a more traditional theological stance in which the Jewish people were viewed as the recipients of a divine revelation consisting of ritual and moral laws. Nonetheless, Mendelssohn believed that all peoples are capable of discerning God’s reality through human reason: such a fusion of particularism and universalism constituted a modernist conception of Jewish Inclusivism.

A Jewish Response

Bret Stephenson and Susan Power Bratton’s discussion is a fascinating study of Luther’s anti-Jewish views. While it is widely recognized that Luther condemned the Jews and sought to expel them from German lands, little has been written about the ecotheological implications of his attitudes. Stephenson and Bratton’s exploration of the theological model adopted by Luther adds an important dimension to the discussion of Luther’s critique of the Jewish people.

Book Review: A Short History of the Holocaust and AntisemitismA Short History of the Holocaust and Antisemitism, HelligJocely (Oneworld2003), 354 pp, 14.99 pbk

attached to undergraduate essays. The temptation to compare Chandler with Herring is therefore hard to avoid. Whereas Herrings book is divided into four broad-sweep chapters and a collection of supporting primary sources, Chandler has gone for the more strictly chronological, rather than thematic, approach that Ollard himself adopted. I suspect therefore that some readers will find it easier to use than Herring, though there is a freshness in Herrings approach which is missing in Chandlers. Whereas Herrings book made considerable use of his own, previously unpublished, doctoral research, particularly in relation to Tractarian geography, Chandlers book is much more a distillation of research by others, though he has himself written excellent biographical studies of two leading Tractarians, H. P. Liddon and J. M. Neale, which he, rather surprisingly, omits from his, perhaps too selective, short bibliography. Although the bulk of Chandlers book covers the first twelve years of the Oxford Movement, from Kebles Assize Sermon in 1833 to Newmans secession to the Roman Catholic Church in 1845, there are two substantial chapters covering the impact of Tractarianism and ritualism on the Church of England during the second half of the nineteenth century. These include useful assessments of a number of Tractarian initiatives such as the revival of the religious orders for both men and women, and the emphasis on the regular practice of auricular confession. One weakness of Chandlers book is that it does not seek to put the Oxford Movement in a broader historical context by trying to assess its relevance to present-day Anglicanism. Herring, in fact, does provide four pages of comment on Anglican high churchmanship in the twentieth century and it is a pity that Chandler did not attempt something similar. Admittedly this is a difficult time to have a sense of perspective. The strength of Evangelicalism in the 1980s and 1990s led some, including the present reviewer, to believe that Anglo-Catholicism was a spent force in many parts of the Anglican Communion. The enthronement of Rowan Williams as Archbishop of Canterbury suggests that this judgement may have been premature.

Kings of Israel and Judah

Kings of Judah Ruler Date Begin Length of Reign Kind of Reign Comments Rehoboam 930 B.C. 17 years bad Rehoboam was the first king of Judah after the nation divided. Abijah (Abijam) 913 B.C. 3 years bad Judah and Israel were at war through all of Abijah’s reign. Asa 910 B.C. 41 years good Asa loved the Lord and tore down all the idols his Abijah had made. Jehoshaphat 872 B.C. 25 years good Jehoshaphat built a fleet of ships to sail for gold, but they were wrecked before they ever set sail. Jehoram 848 B.C. 8 years bad Jehoram was married to a daughter of wicked King Ahab of Israel. Ahaziah 841 B.C. 1 year bad Ahaziah was killed by Jehu just before Jehu took the throne of Israel. Athaliah 841 B.C. 7 years bad Athaliah, Ahaziah’s mother, seized the throne for herself when her son was killed. Jehoash 835 B.C. 40 years good Jehoash became king of Judah when he was only seven years old.

Post-Holocaust Jewish Thinkers

The Holocaust has had a profound effect on Jewish attitudes toward Christianity. No longer has it been possible to look forward optimistically to Jewish-Christian encounter as envisioned by previous Jewish thinkers. Nonetheless several writers have continued to explore the relationship between Judaism and Christianity. The German scholar Hans Joachim Schoeps, for example, published a survey of Jewish-Christian dialogue in which he asserted that God has disclosed himself to both communities in different ways — thus it is necessary for Jews and Christians to acknowledge one another’s truths. In a different vein the American Jewish theologian Richard Rubenstein reformulated his understanding of God as the result of an encounter with the German Christian pastor Heinrich Grtiber, Dean of the Evangelical Church in East and West Berlin. Pondering Griiber’s interpretation of the Holocaust, Rubenstein came to the conclusion that he could no longer believe in an interventionist deity. Instead he formulated a mystical theology similar to the systems found in Eastern religions. A very different approach to the Holocaust was undertaken by the American theologian Emil Fackenheim who argued that God had disclosed a new commandment out of the ashes’ of Auschwitz.