A Guest in the House of Israel: Post-Holocaust Church Theology

Rating:
Summary: Being good guests...
Review: Clark Williamson, a professor emeritus of theology at my seminary, devoted much of life to Jewish-Christian relations and dialogue. The manner in which Williamson went about this is different from many; rather than relying solely on dialogue and exchanges in debate and conversation, with the occasional generic interfaith service thrown in for good measure, Williamson calls upon the Christian church to reorder its own thinking in light of a history of anti-Judaic and anti-Semitic sentiment that has been present from the time of the early Church Fathers to the aftermath of the Holocaust.

No theologian or minister today can operate in a Christian framework that does not address the Holocaust in some way, even if that is to simply ignore it as irrelevant. Needless to say, Williamson would have strong words against this option. What Williamson puts forth in this text is an advanced theology and ecclesiology of the church in a post-Holocaust (often called post-Shoah) context.

Williamson discusses many of the major areas of systematic Christian theology in turn: Christology, creation, revelation, authority of scriptures, etc. This is not, in the end, Williamson's magnum opus of systematic theology (that will come several years later in his text 'Way of Blessing, Way of Life', a more complete and tightly argued systematic theology). However, this text deals with, in one volume, the major ideas of Christian thought in an intentional post-Holocaust framework. Williamson sets the stage with his first chapter, discussing the importance of recognising the continuing undercurrents of anti-Judaic thinking that circulate in the church today, as well as the ways in which one can address the gospel in appropriate and careful ways to take into account both its own origins and the continuing life in covenant with God that the present Jewish people represent.

It is astounding the number of times that people seem to forget that Jesus, Paul, the twelve apostles, and the other very foundations of Christianity all were from the Jewish faith. Reading the gospels and apostolic literature as anti-Jewish is to miss the internal-dialogue context of the writings -- this was writing within a community, not from without, and it was writing from a standpoint of insecurity on many levels, trying to forge an identity. In particular, if one is going to continue to worship and honour the God of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachel and Leah, how can one disrespect (or worse) the people of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachel and Leah?

However, this simple recognition is insufficient to overcome the centuries of strained relationships, usually with dominating Christendom oppressing to the point of death and destruction of whole communities the Jewish people. A new awareness of the tendencies toward exclusion and oppression needs to woven into the very fabric of Christian life, worship and witness. Christians must remember, as adopted children into the covenant, that we are guests in the house of Israel, and we must begin to honour our hosts, our ancestors, as friends.

Rating:
Summary: Being good guests...
Review: Clark Williamson, a professor emeritus of theology at my seminary, devoted much of life to Jewish-Christian relations and dialogue. The manner in which Williamson went about this is different from many; rather than relying solely on dialogue and exchanges in debate and conversation, with the occasional generic interfaith service thrown in for good measure, Williamson calls upon the Christian church to reorder its own thinking in light of a history of anti-Judaic and anti-Semitic sentiment that has been present from the time of the early Church Fathers to the aftermath of the Holocaust.

No theologian or minister today can operate in a Christian framework that does not address the Holocaust in some way, even if that is to simply ignore it as irrelevant. Needless to say, Williamson would have strong words against this option. What Williamson puts forth in this text is an advanced theology and ecclesiology of the church in a post-Holocaust (often called post-Shoah) context.

Williamson discusses many of the major areas of systematic Christian theology in turn: Christology, creation, revelation, authority of scriptures, etc. This is not, in the end, Williamson's magnum opus of systematic theology (that will come several years later in his text 'Way of Blessing, Way of Life', a more complete and tightly argued systematic theology). However, this text deals with, in one volume, the major ideas of Christian thought in an intentional post-Holocaust framework. Williamson sets the stage with his first chapter, discussing the importance of recognising the continuing undercurrents of anti-Judaic thinking that circulate in the church today, as well as the ways in which one can address the gospel in appropriate and careful ways to take into account both its own origins and the continuing life in covenant with God that the present Jewish people represent.

It is astounding the number of times that people seem to forget that Jesus, Paul, the twelve apostles, and the other very foundations of Christianity all were from the Jewish faith. Reading the gospels and apostolic literature as anti-Jewish is to miss the internal-dialogue context of the writings -- this was writing within a community, not from without, and it was writing from a standpoint of insecurity on many levels, trying to forge an identity. In particular, if one is going to continue to worship and honour the God of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachel and Leah, how can one disrespect (or worse) the people of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachel and Leah?

However, this simple recognition is insufficient to overcome the centuries of strained relationships, usually with dominating Christendom oppressing to the point of death and destruction of whole communities the Jewish people. A new awareness of the tendencies toward exclusion and oppression needs to woven into the very fabric of Christian life, worship and witness. Christians must remember, as adopted children into the covenant, that we are guests in the house of Israel, and we must begin to honour our hosts, our ancestors, as friends.