Eugene J. Fisher

Scritture, Alleanza e Popolo di Dio: Aspetti del dialogo ebraico-cristiano by Massimo Grilli (review)

Grilli teaches New Testament at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. In three parts, corresponding to those in its title, he weaves together an understanding of the relationship between the two parts of the Christian Bible, the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament, with our evolving Catholic understanding of the Covenant(s) between God and the Jewish People and that between God and the Christian community/church. These provide the basis for a new/renewed understanding of Jews and Christians as People of God. The whole presents a solid summary of biblical scholarship and Catholic teachings in relevant documents as these pertain to our understanding of the relationship between the Church and the Jewish People. Gilli articulates new insights in a way compatible with Catholic tradition and doctrine. He analyzes the ancient problem of the relationship between the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament, which he calls “the Christian Bible,” though he takes full account of the fact that it includes the Hebrew Scriptures. Does the former fulfill the latter? Supersede it? Replace it? As Gilli notes quite rightly, these are the same questions one asks of the relationship between God‘s People, the Jews, and the People of God, the Christians. He proposes new ways of speaking about the relationship between the Scriptures and the People(s) of God, favoring an image of one Way of salvation that is actually two roads to the same end— recalling St. Paul‘s image of a single root with differing branches. As a biblical scholar, Grilli notes key texts such as Jeremiah 31, with its “new covenant” written on the heart, and the polemics of Matthew’s Gospel, as well as passages from the other Gospels, Acts, and the nonPauline Epistle to the Hebrews, all of which need to be read in the context of their own times and situations. One hopes that his helpful book will be translated into English for use in the international CatholicJewish dialogue.