Conclusions of a Tentative Post-Conciliar Theology of the Jewish People

Chapter 6 systematically draws together all doctrinal teachings developed in this book related to Jewish cultic rituals, the land, and mission. Regarding Jewish cultic rituals it summarizes why the Catholic Church is not going against earlier magisterial teachings that apparently teach that Jewish rituals are dead and deadly. Those very documents provide a counter current which suggests the opposite reading. Regarding the land it summarizes why the Catholic Church can support a minimalist Zionism that interprets the Jewish return as biblical, while refusing to endorse the state government or its various decisions, while also affirming the rights of Palestinians to a homeland and to justice. Regarding mission, it argues that a grass roots Hebrew Catholic community can offer witness to the reality that Judaism is not eradicated and superseded were a Jewish person to accept Christ and the truth of the Catholic Church. This is a form of mission.

Catholic Mission to the Jewish People?

Chapter 5 examines the confusion in Catholic teachings regarding mission to the Jewish people. The chapter establishes various reasons for this confusion: lack of a consensual reading of St Paul on this matter; concern that Catholics show sensitivity to a long history of anti-Semitism; distancing of Catholic approaches from recent aggressive evangelical approaches to Judaism; and the recognition that destroying Jewish identity in conversion is unacceptable. On this basis, drawing on recent Vatican documents, it is argued that Hebrew Catholic communities are a witness to the non-eradication of Jewish identity while following Jesus. This view will be problematic for Catholics and Jews but is already grounded in the Church’s new and emerging position.

The Catholic Doctrine of God’s Irrevocable Covenant to the Jewish People

The first chapter establishes the method used in the book and the varying weights given to magisterial Catholic teachings. It traces the emergence of two teachings deriving from the Second Vatican Council. The first, rooted in the Council, is the reality of the irrevocable covenant God has made with biblical Israel. The second, developed by Pope John Paul II, is the application of this status to Rabbinic Judaism. However, this second development, while being welcomed, raises a wide range of unresolved questions regarding the Jewish people in contemporary Catholic theology.

The Church and Minimalist Catholic Zionism?

Chapter 4 examines the Holy See’s changing attitudes towards the Jewish State of Israel since 1948. Early views were based on theological supersessionism balanced by pragmatic and political concerns. This view slowly changed during the pontificate of John Paul II and the argument presented is that the logic of the Catholic Church’s theology requires it to affirm minimalist Catholic Zionism. This is defined in terms of recognizing God’s action in the ingathering of the Jewish people, the demands made upon the Jewish people regarding the land, and the centrality of the Palestinian claims regarding justice. The Catholic Church has disregarded this telos in its theology mainly due to pragmatic and political factors.

The Church and the Biblical Promised Land

Chapter 3 examines post-supersessionist Old Testament hermeneutics regarding the status of the promise of the land to the Jewish people. Drawing on the Pontifical Biblical Commission, it is shown that even though there are divergent New Testament views about the land, these do not cancel or negate the promise of the land to the Jewish people. The precise nature of this promise is established. While Catholic theology has only just begun to address the New Testament trajectories regarding a different evaluation of the land for Catholics, it is clear that the promise to the Jewish people is still intact.

The ‘Ceremonial Law’

Chapter 2 faces the challenge that previous Catholic teachings have implied that Jewish rituals are both dead and deadening. Through a close examination of the Council of Florence and other magisterial teachings, it is established that the conditions under which dead and deadening operated do not actually relate to contemporary Rabbinic Judaism as understood in Catholic teaching. If invincible ignorance of the truth of Christ is presupposed, then Jewish practices can be understood very positively. It is also established that earlier teachings did positively view the practice of Jewish rituals in the early Church and by Jesus and the apostles. This is significant for the concluding chapter.