Christian Theology and Jewish Reality: An Essay-Review

Abstract

Reflection on the Holocaust, to which these collected papers from the 1974 symposium in New York contribute and invite us, has led to a new respect for Judaism that marks an important development in Jewish-Christian relations. Of the many valuable contributions, Prof. Yerushalmi's critique of Rosemary Ruether's thesis, Siirala's analysis of Luther on the Jews, Waskow's vision of Judaism's messianic hope, and Wiesel's storytelling warrant particular note. Of unusual interest is Irving Greenberg's presentation of the Holocaust as counter-evidence to Jewish and Christian claims. In the face of burning children, he sees as possible only what he calls “moment faith”; he finds unwarranted the faith of a secularity which proved powerless to prevent the horrors of this century. These papers raise doubts about the openness of contemporary theologians to the faith of secularity, but the more fundamental issue raised is that of taking into account recent events in Israel's history when speaking of history as revelation.