The Changing Christian World: A Brief Introduction for Jews by Rabbi Leonard A. Schoolman, Jewish Lights Publishing.
In 1965, Pope John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council. This meeting of bishops from all over the Catholic world marked a sea change for the Church. What resulted was a landmark declaration, known as Nostra Aetate (In Our Time), calling for respect among all religions.
The document enunciated the principle that the Jewish biblical covenant with God was still valid and had not been superseded by the Christian New Covenant. The centuries-old denigration of Jews and contempt for Judaism as a fossil religion came to an end. In effect, Jews became honoured older brothers and sisters. Jews were no longer viewed mainly as candidates for conversion. Before long, almost every Protestant denomination followed suit with similar declarations or pronouncements.
Rabbi Leonard Schoolman, the author of this brief and enlightening volume, served for 18 years as director of programs for the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, for 10 years as a pulpit rabbi and for the past 12 years, as a devoted worker in the field of interfaith relations.
The Changing Christian World: A Brief Introduction for Jews is divided into two segments. The first portion is concerned with such theological questions as original sin; how Jews should regard Jesus; resurrection; and immortality.
The second portion deals with issues confronting Jews: conversion efforts aimed at them; what to believe about the Messiah; the inerrancy or literal truth of the Bible; Israel and Christian Zionism; and the political efforts of the radical right in the United State.
Rabbi Schoolman indicates that to a very large extent, being saved or salvation is the essential message of Christianity. This is the heart of where Christianity differs from Judaism. If people are inherently sinful, then Jesus’ role as Saviour becomes crucial. If instead, as Judaism teaches, people are not inherently sinful but are essentially a combination of good and bad (and the role of religion is to help them affirm the good), then Jesus’ salvific powers become unnecessary.
Where the Bible is concerned, the author believes that it must be regarded as a revered document of religious truth but not as a science textbook. He writes, “Thus Jews have been largely absent from the raucous debate about Charles Darwin and evolution, which seems to convulse fundamentalist Christian theology.”
Looking optimistically to the future, the author makes some calculated guesses:
• While there may still be some pronouncements from the Southern Baptists and a few other Protestant groups about converting the Jews, most of these efforts seem destined to be extremely limited in their effect.
• The various crises in the Roman Catholic Church (sexual abuse and shortage of clergy among others) may allow some of the more liberal voices in the American Church to be heard with more effect. Catholics and Jews will continue to work together in substantial ways.
• Jews don’t have too much to worry about in relation to Christian anti-Semitism, at least on an institutional or systemic level. Except for a hard-core lunatic fringe, anti-Semitism as a social force is largely dead in the United States.
Is this book overoptimistic in its evaluation of interfaith relations? Perhaps. But there is no question that it is lucid, provocative, informative and helpful.