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CHAPTER ONE:

INTRODUCTION

a. Statement of the Problem

Communicants in the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth are largely ignorant of the

main themes and worldview of the Hebrew Scriptures, and are therefore deficient in their

application of biblical truth to their lives and Christian witness.

b. Purpose of the Study

It was the purpose of this study to ascertain the degree to which structured

interaction between an Episcopal deanery cohort and a Messianic Jewish congregation

would increase comprehension of, and appreciation for, a biblical worldview among

Gentile Christians. The working hypothesis of this study was that for both practical and

spiritual reasons, Old Testament catechesis and biblical worldview development are best

accomplished in the twenty-first century in the context of direct interaction between

viable communities of the Christian faith from distinct Gentile and Jewish traditions who

mutually benefit and bless each other through their interaction, all the while maintaining

their separate identities in the Lord (thorny questions of theology will be addressed

subsequently).

Certainly, scripture study utilizing any number of responsible hermeneutical

approaches is important. But as one Christian leaders wife recently wrote concerning

her husband, Norman, [f]or the past year and a half he has hosted a weekly study group

co-led with a young Spirit-filled Christian, who is also an ordained Orthodox Jewish

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Rabbi, Norm says that studying together and practicing the spiritual disciplines of the

prophets of old has been an oasis in the desert, restoring that which has been lost or

hidden for centuries. He appreciates your prayers as Jew and Gentile search their

common roots in God (Fredrick).

This study seeks to address what appears at first glance to be simply a matter of

defective Christian catechesis by postulating that especially in the postmodern context

which is the twenty-first century in the West, recovery of a proper and comprehensive

biblical worldview, as duly informed by the Hebrew Scriptures, will be greatly assisted

by Gentile Christians acknowledging the essentially engrafted aspect of their faith vis--

vis the Jewish people. The explosion of Messianic (Christ-believing) Jewish communities

in the last quarter century is, according to this studys working hypothesis, the Lords

own remedy to the increasingly dysfunctional state of the Church today, provided Jewish

and Gentile Christians come to acknowledge both their equality before God and the

divinely ordered and distinct nature of their respective witnesses to the Gospel, a witness

that incorporates insights and praxis informed by long and consistent familiarity with the

Hebrew Scriptures.

The disciplines from which this study drew its character and execution include

primarily Biblical and theological, and to a degree, historical and behavioral studies. The

handling of the Scripture proceeded by the development of two biblical theological

motifs: the Covenant of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob with the nation Israel, and

the concept of mutual blessing, an idea to be developed extensively in the chapter on

theological reflection.

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c. Research Method and Design

The primary modes of research for this study included the following: a descriptive

assessment of pre-study attitudes and knowledge concerning the Old Testament and its

themes, and developmental analysis throughout the study period. The primary research

tools utilized included interviewing and questionnaires and survey data analysis.

Phase Descriptions

August, 2002 Descriptive assessments commenced with Eastern Deanery

volunteer-participants from the Fort Worth Diocese. Focus groups were

convened and interviews conducted to generate baseline data.

September November, 2002 Questionnaires and surveys were completed on

a monthly basis by participants with an eye to tracking, in finer resolution,

changes in their spiritual lives as project interaction and instruction proceed.

December, 2002 During the third week of the month, project exit interviews

were conducted, and the data coded and analyzed for the production of chapter

five of the study.

Evaluation: Criteria and Methods

The basis for evaluation involved discerning the changing worldviews and

thematic knowledge bases of participants concerning the Old Testament scriptures.

Project evaluation proceeded by consideration of the instruments of assessment indicated

above, which were rendered into weighted/quantifiable scales of worldview appreciation

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and thematic knowledge. This was necessarily an inexact science, but it was possible to

display participant progress without exclusive reliance on qualitative assessment.

One key decision made regarding study structure and data evaluation was whether

or not to establish a control sub-group that would receive didactic instruction, but not

have the opportunity for interaction with the Messianic congregation. A collaborate

discernment was made that rejected this approach as too cumbersome for the scope of

this study.

The cohort established for this study numbered twelve individuals, involved

approximately five to ten contact hours a month in study-related activity.

d. Thesis Overview; Presuppositions and Delimitations

Dr. R. Kendall Soulen of Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, D.C.

throughout his book, The God of Israel and Christian Theology, demonstrates the

supersessionistic nature of early Christian reflection on the scriptural canon and its

immediate and long-term impact on not only the churchs relationship with the

unbelieving Jews, but also with its own early Jewish composition. He also discusses the

relevance of this issue for the state of Christian self-understanding and effectiveness in

the world today, as well as the concept of the economy of mutual blessing as a remedy

for biblical supersessionism (111).

An author from the Roman Catholic world, the Reverend Dr. Peter Hocken of

Vienna, Austria (and a former Anglican priest), wrote extensively over the past decade

and a half on the theme of the churchs life and witness vis--vis the Jews. In his book,

Blazing the Trail , Hocken asserts, the unity of the Church of God was rooted in Israel

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(100). He explores other aspects of renewal and recovery of manifested spiritual graces as

the church seeks to acknowledge the fullness of its composition and life.

Both of these authors, as well as others to be cited in the discussion following,

highlight a neglected breach of scripturally mandated attitudes and behaviors that the

church must repent of and remedy to be effective in discipleship and evangelism.

In all of this, the negative impact of unscripturalsupersessionism on Christian

discipleship and evangelical effectiveness is the underlying motivation in this study

which addresses the failure of many modern Christians to appropriate the biblical

worldview. The postmodern context in which the church must now operate resists the

remediation of its internal life by didactic instruction alone, as important as that is. The

ancient as well as the postmodern need for authentic relationships as attested to in the

Apostolic Witness (New Testament), as well as lived, experiential witness can be

employed by the Holy Spirit through the faith community interaction proposed in this

study to effect a re-engagement with the Hebrew Scriptures especially on the part of

young, Gentile Christians in an effective and compelling way. I tested this hypothesis in

this study, a hypothesis validated by virtue of the data produced, reflecting the changing

and deepening perspectives on the Hebrew canon by study participants.

The role of historical discipline in this study is an implicit and essential part of the

underlying working hypothesis of this study, and is an explicit focus in chapter three. In

addition, some attention was paid to behavioral considerations in the methodology,

especially social dynamics. It must be emphasized, however, that the work of the Holy

Spirit in Christian souls is the focus of this study, regardless of the discipline under

consideration. The Spirit is the integrative principle here, and from Him emanates the

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inner logic and overall coherence of the project. I did indeed discern the Spirits enabling

of the fuller appropriation of the Old Testament worldview through His work in the lives

of Christians engaging in vital interaction and mutual blessing. I must state here that

aside from subjective discernment, there is a growing exegetical convergence (Juster,

Israel 11) these days in the evangelical and catholic worlds concerning the value of the

theological foundations from which I proceed in this project. I do acknowledge,

however, that there remains some disagreement on the topic of supersessionism, and by

no means do I argue that the convergence mentioned above represents a consensus. One

recent work representing some dissent from this growing convergence is Paul Zahls The

First Christian, which essentially argues that in Jesus, born to Jewish flesh, we

nevertheless have the definitive origin of a break with everything merely and uniquely

Jewish. Zahls position justifiably highlights aspects of that new work of the Spirit that

Jesus came to inaugurate, but does so at the cost of unjustifiably deprecating thegrund

(with umlaut) out of which that new work flows. In light of this, I hope my study may

convince some with opposing views to consider the matter further.

Working on such intense matters of faith, I very much enjoyed this project, as it

represented the integration of some important ministerial and theological themes in my

life spanning a quarter century. Its value to me is considerable, and it also possesses the

potential for fruitful reflection in the global church. This project enabled vital research

and communication on a theme that could effect strategic realignment in the Anglican

world with our spiritual roots, as St. Paul describes them in Romans, Chapter 11. The

restoration of the significance of the Old Testament band on the Episcopal miter

through full deployment of scriptural witness and interrelationship with Messianic Jews

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will enrich and bless us as we seek to be a blessing to our ancient brethren. May the Lord

himself bless this effort, offered to His Glory!

I do acknowledge that elements of the so-called hermeneutical spiral will be

clearly influencing my method and approach and my predisposition to consider the

biblical text with a firm grasp of the accomplished and concrete facts we call history

(which may be simply regarded as recorded communal experience). I will be as

intellectually fair as possible and as Spirit-enabled as I can in reviewing the span of the

biblical text so as to do justice to opposing approaches and interpretations of scriptures I

will analyze. I am, however, a product of my own history and the particular journey God

appointed for me, and that history and journey will influence my treatment of the text, as

it would of any other student of scripture. Indeed one of the first lessons I learned, as I

began an extended graduate theological education over a decade and a half ago, was that

theology is a product of the theologian. Here I stand declared Martin Luther, and where

he stood was as much influenced by his personal history and experiences as his

considerable biblical scholarship.

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CHAPTER TWO

BIBLICAL BACKGROUND OF JEWISH IDENTITY, AND THE

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE NEW COVENANT

Overview

Generally the problem of impaired comprehension, appreciation and application

of Hebrew scriptures among Christians may be considered essentially a local pastoral

issue, to be addressed in isolated context by a religious specialist (minister) proposing

and then executing spiritual therapy to correct a perceived problem. It may be

considered a simple matter of defective Christian education. However, the Bible suggests

a deeper dimension of dysfunction in the church involving Gods covenantal purposes

with national Israel throughout history, a dimension the church largely fails to recognize.

The churchs leadership since early in the Christian era bequeathed to the following

generations a legacy that predisposed them to the basic problem we have noted.

Even as I begin this exegetical chapter which considers some foundational

biblical issues relative to this project, I acknowledge there are a variety of approaches to

the issues I address. Nonetheless many years dedicated to considering and praying over

the biblical text, in conjunction with a lively awarenessof and appreciation for what God

appears to be doing throughout history, lead me in this direction. In particular, theological

developments since the rise of the Puritan movement in the seventeen century, as well as

nineteenth century initiatives involving Anglican churchmen who promoted the idea of a

Jewish homeland in Palestine, suggest that revival and Old Testament appropriation and

application are linked with a correct relationship to and cooperation with Gods purposes

for national Israel both that Israel yet in unbelief regarding Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah,

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and that component of national Israel who participates in the life of the Body of Christ.

These considerations, taken together with biblical scholarship as it exists today, convince

me that the church suffered unnecessary losses throughout much of its history from its

failure to recognize what I argue is the scriptural link between Gods abiding purposes for

Israel and the churchs own enrichment and prosperity.

This prayerful, historically sensitive, and informed approach to the biblical text

therefore informs my exegetical method, and is the best method to can do adequate

justice to the topic at hand. A significant theological issue addressed in chapter three is

our frequent tendency in Christian theology to de-historicize and abstract Gods

revelation to mankind, one key element of supersessionism (a multivalent term defined

and discussed in greater detail in the next chapter). For our purposes at this point, let us

define supersessionism, in its broadest sense, as the conscious or unconscious tendency in

Christian theology to repudiate any ongoing relevance for national Israel as the Hebrew

scriptures present her, a unique group with a unique sacred history and covenantal

connection with God. Related to supersessionism is replacement theology, which

essentially declares the church utterly displaced national Israel in regard to the promises

of and covenants with God.

The foundational concept I will delineate and support in scripture is the God of

Israels everlastingly declared purpose to bless the world through the Covenant He makes

with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their seed/progeny. Understanding this concept

aright is a vital key to biblical understanding, especially in its historical breadth and

depth. To begin with, ha goy, the nation of Israel, is initially appointed to be Gods

priestly channel of blessing and revelation to all othergoyim, the nations of the world at

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large (that these people also, in due course, receives blessing from other nations is a

related and pregnant idea we will explore later). Concerning such sacred progeny, St.

Pauls One Seed exposition in Galatians 3:16 does not repudiate this understanding

insofar as it refers to the focus point and ultimate intensification of Gods overall purpose

for all the children of Israel in the Person of His Son (Paul refers to himself as an

Israelite, of theseed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin, Romans 11:1c). 1 Peter 2:9s

application of the priestly nation principle to the church denotes an entity composed of

first, the Jew and also the Greek, suggesting something of a bi-partite quality. The

mystery of the Church, as Paul so aptly refers to it in Ephesians 1:9 and 3:4-6, does not

represent an abrogation of Gods declared covenant purposes for Abraham and his natural

children (Genesis 12:1-3). Rather this mystery is a new and expanded economy of

blessing, intended by God to serve as an example and prototype of that economy of

mutual blessing and propagation of blessedness that has always been the Lords desire for

his creation. The Church of God now constitutes one New People as they subsist in the

redeemed from the nations and the redeemed children of Israel, the Prince with God

(Genesis 32:28). 1

One major potential concern here might be an interpretation of Galatians 3:28 that

suggests the Christ event erased all earthly distinctions. The tendency toward this line of

exegesis is a core defect of the supersessionist impulse insofar that it also indirectly tends

to propagate the essential error of supersessionism, much like a virus that sickens one cell

and proceeds to invade new ones. In time the entire hermeneutic becomes

supersessionistic in nature, its peculiar perspective achieving something of a seeming

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self-evident status. However, this interpretation simply begs the question of whether

distinction and diversity exist in the Kingdom of God.

One example of the manner in which this interpretation influences hermeneutics

might be a consideration of John 14:6, a foundational statement concerning Jesuss

unique mediatory role in human salvation. This straightforward declaration by the

LORD himself is remarkable in what it says; it is also quite possible to read into it things

it does not say. To say that Jesus is the appointed agency of Yahweh to bring light and

life into the world does not, in and of itself, say anything concerning the economy or

context for Jesus unique mediatory agency; it must come from a consideration of the

comprehensive scriptural tradition, a tradition that views creation as an ordered system of

diverse elements held together by a spiritual and physical ecology, the unifying principle

of which is indeed Christ Himself (Colossians1:17), who now enables all humanity

equally graced access to the Father (Colossians 3:9-15 & Romans 10:12-13). Therefore

Christ does not eliminate diversity, but rather releases and enables the full functioning of

it!

God did not erase the essential earthly distinctions between men and women,

Jews and Gentiles, and parents and children in the Greek scriptures (including its more

developed sections in Ephesians and Colossians). Even vowed, celibate religious,

special signs of the age to come among Gods people in this present world, still maintain

a vital distinction of gender identity (even if they often take compound names suggesting

an androgyny); the opportunity to minister to each other as men and women in distinctive

ways is therefore also maintained (the celibate Jesus maintained extraordinary

relationships with women qua women, in a manner different than his male disciples).

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Concerning Jews and Gentiles, Paul himself notes that the Gentilesin the Body of Christ

received spiritual blessings from the Messianic Jews; therefore, it is now appropriate for

them to bless the Messianic Jewish Jerusalem church during a time of special need

(Romans 15:25-27). Paul, intriguingly, does not here explicitly enumerate these

blessings; evidently, they were so obvious in the first century Apostolic era as to render

that exercise superfluous. One modern commentator offers this observation: . . . the

New Testaments effective history confirms that the Jewish tradition of moral teaching

for Gentiles, rooted ultimately in the Torah, consistently determined much of the

substance of ethics in the mainstream of emerging Christian orthodoxy (Bockmuehl

vii).2 The basic point is that creation and fundamental covenant order and distinctive do

not disappear as a result of the in-breaking of the New (or, better perhaps, Re-newed)

Covenant or Testament, inaugurated through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Therefore I will accomplish in this chapter the setting forth of a biblical argument

that the church can operate in thepleroma, the fullness of grace and blessing and power,

only when it embodies and reflects the Trinitarian dynamic of mutual blessing among

distinct but related communities. I particularly argue for one special application of this

principle as it relates to Messianic Jewish and Gentile people and congregations. It is my

scripturally-based thesis that a loving and dynamic interaction between Messianic Jewish

and Gentile believers and phases of expression in the Body of Christ helps to fulfill the

instructions and high priestly prayer of Jesus in John 14 through 17 concerning Christian

unity which leads to the glory of God abiding fully among His people. That glory is the

ground upon which the church of God is led by the Holy Spirit into the grace of all

truth and revelation, the fullness of understanding of the Word of the God of Israel. This

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thesis project specifically addresses the question as to whether that mystical but real

dynamic of mutual blessing enables an increased appropriation of the fullness of Gods

word among Gentile believers, to the end that the church becomes more fully equipped to

serve the Great Commandment and Great Commission.

The Divine Economy of Mutual Blessing and Gentile-Jewish Interaction

In the Re-newed Covenant, there is an ongoing relevance for Jewish-Gentile

distinctive and therefore intentional interaction in the Body of Christ, outside of basic

access to the grace of God in Christ (Romans 10:12). We generally fail to perceive this

because the lens through which we tend to read scripture, what R. Kendall Soulen calls

the standard canonical narrative, has prevented us from seeing this distinction from the

days of second century Christian apologetic and theological reflection (12,25,33, et al).

Therefore, as early as Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, what to do about the Hebrew

Scriptures (and the nation who served as Gods channel for its composition) becomes an

occasion for vexing questions and earnest debate. But if we examine the scriptures

through the interpretive lens that proclaims with Paul that God has not rejected his

people whom he foreknew (Romans 11:2a), we might discover an astonishing and

elegant design whereby intelligent creatures might not simply co-exist in a holy diversity

devoid of envy and competition, but co-exist in a blessedness of interrelation that mimics

and echoes the very life of the Trinity itself. Indeed, Ecclesiastes 4:12 speaks of the

multi-twined cord whose strength is derived from component elements in vital

interaction.

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Before proceeding further, I must at this point assert that it is not my intention

here to in any way argue that the Covenant forged between the physical descendants of

Israel and their God produced a race of human beings who, regardless of their individual

relationship with the Jewish Messiah, Jesus Christ, enjoy some standing before the Lord

that enhances their access to the grace of the Holy Spirit beyond that which is the right of

any human being. 3 We will discuss the entire notion of Covenant, both Old and

New biblically speaking, shortly.

However, I argue here that the ancient election of Israel produces within the Body

of Christ a dynamic of mutual blessing whereby the Jewish representation among the

saints serves as one distinct phase and divinely-appointed element in the axis of

redemption which also includes the representation of believers derived from the other

nations. The continuingJewish identity and representation in the Christian faith is of

concern here, in order that a distinct component people group derived from an ancient

complex of covenants be recognized and allowed to function in distinctive ways within

the Body of the Messiah, itself a distinct entity among all the nations (1 Peter 2:9), to the

mutual enrichment and edification of everyone with the church; thereby enabling a more

coherent and forceful witness to both unsaved Jews and unsaved Gentiles. It is also the

specific intention of this chapter and the next to highlight both the biblical rationale and

the manner in which this interaction among these distinct entities in the

church fulfills Gods purposes for the church especially as regards the appropriation and

application of the fullness of divine revelation to the life of the church, and to the mission

and ministry which flows from it.

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With this perspective in mind, I will first just cite a very few instances in scripture

whereby God declares His eternal purpose to utilize the descendants of Abraham, Isaac,

and Jacob as key agents of salvation in the world. The Torah, of course, is replete with

such references, as we might expect, inasmuch as foundational theology for both

Christians and Jews is to be found in this portion of scripture. Beyond the core divine

pronouncement to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel

later prompts the patriarch Isaac to reiterate and convey the covenant first made with his

father to his conniving and deceiving son, Jacob (Genesis 27:28-29). This text is

remarkable for two reasons: first, the bare word first given to Abraham is now expanded

in its scope and implication.4 Second, the blessing is conveyed in the context of illegal

procedure. Jacobs sinful, deceptive behavior in acquiring the blessing, by the

foreknowledge, providence and sovereignty of God, does not disqualify him from

receiving it. He will subsequently undergo disciplinary action from the hand of the Lord,

a broader instance of the principle annunciated in Psalms 89:30-34 concerning the

Davidic covenant, but the call and election of Jacob remains nonetheless through it all.

A covenant is a covenant, and it is only by virtue of Gods faithfulness to sinful human

beings as illustrated with the patriarchs and the Hebrew nation generally that we in the

age of Christs dominion andauthority (Matthew 28:18) have confidence that Gods

declared purposes and promises for us are also valid and enduring, in spite of our own

unfaithfulnesses. From this foundation of the covenant, we move to Passover.

The Exodus Passover story and Gods designation of Israel as his first born,

priestly people from among the nations (Exodus 19:6), as well as covenantal material in

Leviticus and Numbers which portray the priestly ministry of Israel on behalf of the

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nations, are another foundational set of scriptures. In addition, Deuteronomy 32 provides

an interesting perspective on the place of the elected nation in the Song of Moses. Verses

8 and 9 depict a grand design whereby the nations are appointed their times and places

according to an obscure reference to the number of the gods (Qumran manuscripts), or

even the Israelites (Masoretic text), while the Lords own portion was his people,

Jacob his allotted share (Deuteronomy 32: 8-9). Later, the Psalmist declares that the

Lord revealed himself specifically to Israel in a special way not enjoyed by any othergoy

or people-group (Psalms 147:19-20). Doubtless, Paul had this reference in mind when he

cites the revelation of God as pertaining properly to the children of Israel (Romans 9:4), a

revelation which has, in Christ, now also become the shared possession of graced

Gentiles (Romans 15:27). 5

The national implications of these texts suggest an important foundational

principal of hermeneutics as pertaining to the physical descendants of Abraham. Before

delving into the central concern of this chapters biblical focus, the New Covenant

properly speaking, it is important to address a related topic which involves an objection

relative to my assertions concerning Exodus 19:6, namely that Israels priestly nation

designation was indeed superceded by the New Testaments clear application of this

text to the Christian church, as witnessed in 1 Peter 2:9-10 and Revelations 1:6. This is a

weighty matter to consider. Among numerous commentators, both the Commentary on

First Peter, of The New Interpreters Bible (vol. XII), and Raymond Brown are clear

that the exiles of the diaspora being addressed in 1 Peter, despite intriguingly Jewish

associations, are in fact Gentile converts.6 The focus is on what Brown will term an

affirmation of Christian identity and dignity. The Egyptian Exodus and Sinai

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experience are powerful images now conveyed to the new Christians Peter addresses, and

Brown suggests that these folks had been evangelized by missionaries with a very deep

attachment to the traditions of Israel (709). 7

Quite simply and directly, the New Testaments application of priestly nation

language to the Christian church is not particularly relevant or adverse to the basic thrust

of the argument that God constituted in history a sacred people who served and continue

to serve as a bridge of divine grace to other people. One of the more interesting

derivations from the Latin language concerning the concept of priest is the word

pontifex, with clear sacerdotal applications especially in Roman Catholicism. It is a word,

however, useful to us in non-Roman contexts because it provides a word picture of the

priest as a bridge, which is the root meaning ofpontifex. Without any diminution of the

priestly character of the Christian church, it is very convincingly demonstrated that

national Israel did exhibit -- and still exhibits -- something of a bridge-like function

among the nations, even if that ministry today is obscured by generations of mutual

misunderstanding between Jews and Gentiles. The very existenceof the Christian Church

itself would have been impossible without the deposit of faith that constituted the

Israelite Tradition, which tradition formed and informed the Messiah himself as well as

the early apostolic band. The ultimate issue, logically speaking, is whether or not the

Christian church (understood as essentially Gentile, as is largely true today, or essentially

Jewish, as was true in the first years after the resurrection of Jesus, or a hybrid of the two)

can take up Israelite/Jewish characteristics and functions without destroying the

covenantal holiness and character of national Israel. The answer to this question must rest

upon a close, biblical theological examination of the topic of the New Covenant

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originally articulated by the prophet Jeremiah, and possible modes of application and

fulfillment of that covenant. It is to this issue that we now turn.

Indeed, the most remarkable biblical text from the Hebrew scriptures which

speaks of the enduring quality of the covenant establishing Israel as a national entity

forever is Jeremiah 31:31-37, remarkable because it neatly, in one stroke, establishes both

the reality of the New (or Re-Newed) Covenant and Gods eternal purpose to keep Israel

as a distinct nation among the nations of the world. This association of the New

Covenant with enduring national identity clearly addresses the roots of supersessionism

and replacement theology, whereby Israels existence is either marginalized or

allegorized as being irrelevant to Gods economic dealings in view of the Churchs

standing before God. The Hebrew scriptures, however, taken as a whole, fairly assume an

ongoing and even eternal quality of distinctiveness concerning Israel among the nations,

even when other nations are specifically mentioned as ultimately enjoying Gods

gracious covenant blessings in the context of the new age of the Messiah (Isaiah 19:19-

25).

It is the complex topic of the New Covenant and possible modalities of its

implementation that we now turn to. Scholarly analysis and discussion of the New

Covenant is extensive and fascinating. We must immediately recognize the tension

between those who hold to a classical covenant theology perspective on the matter, and

those who adhere to the dispensationalist school. Among even those who subscribe to

elements of a dispensationalist approach to biblical interpretation, the topic of the New

Covenant provides a rich source of reflection and controversy. However, the Greek New

Testament scriptural exegesis treatment of the New Covenant greatly impacts ones

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disposition toward the larger theological question of supersessionism. An appreciation for

the biblical hermeneutic one selects to analyze the New Covenant and its provisions and

applications provides the best opportunity for the theologian and minister to consider

dispassionately whether or not supersessionism represents the best interpretive system for

biblical studies in the manner concerning national Israel.

Rodney J. Decker discerned three major positions concerning this application of

the New Covenant to the church. We will consider his discussion on these in a moment. It

is important, however, to note that although Decker considers the topic a virtual non-

issue for covenant and nondispensational theologians (who largely reject any other

position than that the New Covenant is the churchs possession, period), Daniel Juster,

whose background includes both Reformed covenant and dispensational influences, takes

a hybrid approach to the topic, and produced a hermeneutic in which Deckers work is

indeed (or should be!) most relevant to the work of theology across the board. Says

Juster, I should mention my indebtedness to both Dispensational and Covenant

Theology. I am sympathetic to features in both and disagree with both(7). 8 I concur

with Juster; one need not be a dispensationalist to appreciate the richness of the theme of

the New Covenant; indeed, the New Covenant in its fullness preempts any interpretive

scheme that would attempt to limit its application according to restrictive orcultist

theories of biblical understanding.

According to Decker, the three divergent views of the New Covenant (which

nonetheless overlap in places) are as follows:

1) The Church has a different New Covenant than Israel;

2) The Church has no relationship to the New Covenant;

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3) The Church participates in some aspects of the New Covenant. 9

Decker traces some shifting about in the thinking of leading dispensationalist theologians

such as Ryrie and Walvoord who now repudiate the first position, essentially relegating

hold-outs such as Miles Stanford as possessing an indefensible position on it. Concerning

arguments for the second position such as were articulated by J. N. Darby, he states that

it is nearly impossible to find contemporary advocates for it in print today (Decker

436).Darby does have one insight, however, that I find intriguing in that he invokes the

idea of the church being one with the Mediator of the new covenant (Notes on the

Epistle to the Hebrews, 72-73, qtd in Decker 437). This insight provides a possible

application to Psalms 45 and the picture of the Royal Marriage whereby the Queen a

likely symbol of the church is associated with the Lord in a manner that belongs to a

realm outside of legal provision. This, of course, does not by any means establish

Darbys position, but it does suggest another modality whereby the New Covenant is, in

fact, manifested among men.

Finally, Decker acknowledges that the majority view among dispensational

circles today is that the church participates in some way in the New Covenant (Decker

441), but then cites the diversity among the adherents of that view. He particularly cites

the work of Homer A. Kent, Jr. from his article, The New Covenant and the Church in

Grace Theological Journal. 10Decker summarizes Kents position by stating that the

covenant will be fulfilled eschatologically with Israel but is participated in

soteriologically by the church today (qtd. in Decker 442). He also cites Bruce A. Ware

who notes Israel and the church share theologically rich and important elements of

commonality [including coparticipation in the one new covenant] while at the same

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time maintaining distinct identities (qtd. In Decker 443). 11 It is important to note here

that Ware is not arguing for a Christless salvation for Israel, only a distinctive future

redemption for the nation under precisely the same terms that salvation comes to anybody

by the conviction of the Holy Spirit and the subsequent reception by faith engendered

in the human soul. It is also important to again emphasize that although this entire line of

discussion may seem relevant only to those associated with the dispensationalist school,

such an assumption is unfortunate. As Daniel Juster commented in his own discussion of

the classic concerns of the Princeton School of Theology at the turn of the nineteenth and

twentieth centuries, we affirm with the Covenant Theologian the unitary nature of the

Covenants (Juster, Covenant 9). The issue is really not whether the Covenant or

Dispensationalist position is the controlling one; the issue is concerned squarely with the

topic of fulfillment as regards the one New Covenant. Both schools can find convergence

with this perspective. Certainly integrity of biblical language regarding national Israel in

the context of fulfillment was on the mind of none other than Covenant theologian John

Murray when he argued for an interpretation of Romans that maintained the term Israel

in the ninth through eleventh chapters of the epistle could not possibly include Gentiles

(qtd. in Juster, Israel 12).12 He was preceded by none other than Bezas own

discernment that the epistle includes a reference to a restoration of national Israel to

Gods favor (qtd. in Juster, Israel 7). 13 All this is assumed concrete and absolute, in

spite of the fact that neither Luther nor Calvin acknowledged such a position vis--vis

national Israel.

Having established this unifying codex, we continue our discussion on the topic

of fulfillment, noting that Decker cites Bruce Comptons dissertation on the New

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Covenant, An Examination of the New Covenant in the Old and New Testaments

(prepared under the supervision of Homer Kent). Compton, says Decker:

argues against using fulfillment terminology [concerning the churchs

participation in the New Covenant] because, as he defines fulfill, it

implies that the church is the complete fulfillment of the covenant,

replacing Israel as the covenant partner. (Decker 447, emphasis mine).

In his footnote on Compton, Decker adds, Instead of fulfill, Compton uses phrases

such as participate in, involved with, recipients of, presently benefits in, dual

application, involved in the benefits of, and others (Decker 447). Partial

implementation and division of blessings are noted as precedents regarding the

Abrahamic Covenant (Decker 448). The conclusion of the matter for Decker is that the

third viewpoint (page 6) is preferred today, and with this I heartily concur. Lest however,

he be without critique here, I must partially disagree with a side observation in his

conclusion:

The inclusion of remnant Jews in the church during the present

dispensation does not demand [the notion of] partial fulfillment, for they

are incorporated into the body of Christ as are all other believers. There is

no distinction in the church between Jew and Greek (Gal. 3:28). These

Jews participate in the New Covenant today on the same basis as Gentiles

who are baptized into Christ, not as inaugural representatives of the

covenant partners. (454)

I previously registered my dissent concerning an interpretation of Galatians 3:28 erasing

all earthly distinctions. What I discern here is a dispensationalist whose theological

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method briefly turned him, ironically enough, towards a quasi-covenant direction as

regards the Messianic Jewish believer, a curious perspective that unhappily possesses all

of the weaknesses and none of the strengths of either school! Very germane to this thesis

project, and vigorously to the contrary, I argue that the Messianic Jewish believer, while

not exactly a partial fulfillment, rigorously speaking of the New Covenant (the full

provisions of which include the securing of perfect obedience and that exhortations to

know the Lord will be obviated), is nonetheless the harbinger of that day when their kin

according to the flesh do in fact experience that fulfillment (certainly Paul was fairly

anxious to establish his Hebrew heritage and ongoing identity throughout the New

Testament, an observation we will return to later in this chapter). Although it is true the

Messianic Jew today receives Christ by faith, objectively speaking, in the same manner

as the Gentile, it is very often not true that the faith unto salvation is experienced,

subjectively, the same way. The Gentile experiences Christ from outside his cultural

context; the Jew receives him from within an ethos that directly testifies to him.

Testimonies of Messianic believers are frequently compelling in their particular depth

and emotional impact, all of which speak to the greater mystery of Israel. Or as one wag

once put it, Jews are like everybody else, only more so!

By way of transition now to a broader issue regarding the biblical framework for

this thesis project, I cite again Daniel Juster:

The issue of worship form is related to our concept of fulfillment. Is the

past to be reflected in the forms expressing New Covenant fulfillment, or

is the past forgotten and even abrogated? Jacob Joaz, influenced by Oscar

Cullmanns writings, has beautifully said: The past is seen as salvation

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history in the light of the present, but the present cannot be recognized at

all as salvation history without the positive presentation of the past. This

is so because, again I quote, salvation-history forms a whole that as such

remains ever present. It is the present meaning of the past in the presence

of fulfillment that Messianic Judaism seeks to keep alive. (Covenant

12)14

It is interesting to note that biblical scholarship today is starting to question the admitted

long-standing rule that everything in the Old Testament be qualified and understood

strictly by way of reference to the New Testament, as in the Old Testament predicts

the New Testament; the New fulfills the Old. This overly simplistic axiom has virtually

ruled scripture exegesis and biblical theology, but now is effectively challenged by

outstanding scholars such as Christopher Seitz and others. They argue that the Hebrew

text has its own proper standing quite outside of any consideration of the Greek

scriptures. The relationship between the two testaments is much more complex than

assumed before, much more interactive and dynamic. This line of reasoning enriches our

understanding of the Word of God in general, and enabling a more informed approach to

the issues this project addresses. The approach might well be termed holistic, even

catholic, in the best sense of the word. Its growing influence is the fruit of a post-

Holocaust consciousness in the church that is willing to discern the manner in which

supersessionism has historically skewed biblical studies.

The limited lens through which Christian commentary, until recently, viewed

the Greek scriptures largely predisposed the Gentile church to acknowledge no ongoing

relevance for the Jewish believer in the context of a distinct Jewish identity or lifestyle

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within the church, since things Jewish may well be regarded aspasse. The Gospels

sanction no such idea. Jesus does challenge certain interpretations of the Torah

throughout his ministry, but the charge that he is a marginal Jew is incorrect. Jesus had

an innovative and intuitive approach to the Torah and the prophets that truly astounded

his listeners and observers, but outright rejection of the written revelation of God in the

Torah-Neviim-Kithubim (Tanak, or Hebrew Bible) is nowhere to be found in Jesus

teaching or example. There are, of course, not a few who would dispute this statement.

Influenced as they are by the supersessionistic standard approach of Christianexegesis as

regards things Jewish, this is understandable. Donald Hagner, however, in his capacity of

chaired professor of New Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary notes that the (non-

Messianic) Jewish understanding of Jesus attitude to the Law comprises a broad

spectrum that includes many scholars like Herbert Loewe, who maintains that Jesus was

a faithful upholder of the Law all his life (Hagner 94).

Probably among the most enduring challenges to such an understanding is the

misapplied charge ofJudaizing, a style of polemic attributed to St. Pauls Epistle to the

Galatians. It is important in this vein to examine both Pauls instruction to the church in

Galatia and his own example of, as a Jew, honoring a Jewish lifestyle in a variety of

contexts. One does observe that along with this apostles struggles with early Jewish

believers who possessed an inadequate appreciation of the all-sufficiency of Christ for

salvation, the early church in its first ecumenical council (as recorded in Acts 15) gives

permission for Gentiles to become Christians without first becoming proselytes to

Judaism. What is vital to note here, however, is that what was not at issue in Acts 15 was

the ongoing relevance of the Hebrew scriptures and a Jewish lifestyle for Jewish

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Christians; that much was simply assumed. 15 The assembled council even implies that

the Gentiles may very well benefit from frequenting the synagogues so as to hear the

Word of God from the divinely inspired scrolls of Israel (Acts 15:21).

Paul himself acknowledges all this by his behavior in relation to Jewish

observance. His Apostles to the Gentiles maintained a rather complex, at times seeming

contradictory, praxis with regard to his national heritage. He eats with Gentile believers

and upbraids Peter for failing to do so (this entails no flouting of the Hebrew scripture, as

equivocal as that canon is concerning the Gentiles indeed, Ruth and Ezra display that

very tension -- only a rabbinic interpretation about the uncleanness of the peoples of

the nations); see especially Acts 10:28 in this regard. But he also shows special eagerness

to be in Jerusalem during the Shavuot/Pentecost holy day (Acts 20:16b), mentions the

Fast (probably Yom Kippur Acts 27:9), delays departure from Philippi for Troas to

celebrate the feast of Unleavened Bread (Acts 20:6), and twice undertakes a special vow

as prescribed by the Law, the second one resulting in his arrest in Jerusalem (Acts

18:18b; 21:23-26).

While Paul observed many Jewish rites, he found others unduly promoted Jewish

legal observance, especially among Gentiles, because such partisans of the faith fail to

understand the transformed nature of the believers relationship to the Torah (even the

rabbis believed that when Messiah came he would bring a New Law, not in the sense

of abrogation of the old, but in fuller development of it). He acknowledges outright the

goodness of the Law in Romans 7:12, but also the inability of sinful humanity to keep it.

Therefore, argues Paul, the Torah as implemented as an often onerous (Acts 15:10)

system of righteousness with God is null and void with the manifestation of Christ among

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the nations, who is the terminus and relativizer of any and all mere systems of approach

to God. The Torah, in Pauls view, is a standard by which righteous attitudes and

behaviors can be known to exist among the believers; it is also a representation of the

character of God as it is manifest in the human situation. It is good and holy. It is not,

however, in and of itself a means to either justification or sanctification (Galatians 3:3).

Actually, Pauls most impassioned assertion is that faith works through love, i.e.

through the gift of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:6b; 3:2). The mode or manner of

salvation, comprehensively understood as justifying and sanctifying grace working within

the believer, is entirely the Spirits doing. The pneumatic gift procured through faith in

the death and resurrection of Jesus upon repentance from sin, and bestowed through the

churchs ministry (Acts 8:17) affects the first phase of the New Covenant spoken of in

Jeremiah 31, resulting in the first fruits of redemption. Torah,in this economy, is

transformed from an inferior system of works-righteousness and salvation, corrupted

because of the flesh, to a holy standard whereby we may contemplate the character and

excellence of him who fulfilled its requirements exactly and in their fullness, and who by

grace offers eternal life and holy wisdom to those who respond to his call.

Scholarly opinion concerning this topic is replete with perspectives all across the

spectrum. Notes Raymond Brown, . . . an enormous amount of scholarly labor has been

expended on this very difficult topic (578).16 I find especially intriguing W.D. Davies

analysis of this important topic, although I do not infer some of the things he did from the

biblical evidence. Claims Davies:

the universalism that . . . was implicit in the depth of Pauls experience of

God in Christ . . . in . . . its strict logical expression in life was never

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achieved. In fact, both in life and thought, the Book of Acts and the

Epistles of Paul reveal a conflict in the latter which was never completely

resolved, a conflict between the claims of the old Israel after the flesh and

the new Israel after the Spirit, between his nationalism and his

Christianity. It is, indeed, from this tension that there arise most of the

inconsistencies that have puzzled interpreters of Paul; and it is only in the

light of the Judaism of the first century A.D. that this is to be understood.

(Paul 58-59)

Intriguingly, Davies goes on to trace this same ambivalence in the Hebrew scriptural

tradition itself, as we also noted earlier (59-66).

While I do not subscribe to the inference Davies draws above, his insight is

compelling as he considers this great apostle. Davies refers to [t]he discovery that the

Gentile was his [Pauls] brother in Christ . . . as the solution of an inner conflict: it was

a thrilling mystery (Paul 67). Nevertheless, Davies relies on C.H. Dodds argument

that there is no ground for assigning any special place in the future to the Jewish nation

as such as something, ultimately, that Paul could not conceive (qtd. in Davies Paul

75).17 Then says Davies:

The fact that when the Messiah came to his own, his own received him

not, was a shattering blow to him, and he reels under the emotional tension

caused by the rejection of Jesus by Jewry. He yearns over his people . . .

Despite his noble universalism he finds it impossible not to assign a

special place to his own people. (75)

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And so in due course by his concluding chapter, Davies ends, . . . throughout his life

Paul . . . assigned to the Jews in the Christian no less than in the pre-Christian

dispensation a place of peculiar importance (321, emphasis mine). He continues flatly:

A Paul who when he became a Christian had ceased to be a Jew would

not be the Paul that we know; it was part of his very integrity as a man that

he should retain his Hebrew accent, as it were, even in his new faith. We

believe that Pauls concern for Israel after the flesh is a tribute to the

profundity of his thought no less than to the warmth of his affections,

because, as we have previously asserted, it is a sublimation of nationalism

in Christ such as Paul yearned for his own people that must always be

desired and not its suppression or extinction. (321-22 emphasis mine)

Davies, according to his conclusion, experiences the very ambivalence he argues

he observed in Paul. Consider this:

It was the historic factthat the Old Israel had been chosen at the Exodus

and had been, as a result, in a relation, if we may so express it, of peculiar

intimacy throughout the ages with God . . . it was this that made Pauls

nationalism invade his Christianity. . . one thing at least shines clear, that

Israel after the flesh persistsas an enigma to the twentieth no less than to

the preceding centuries. (322 emphases mine).

And finally a most profound statement, that fairly lays the rock foundation for this

thesis project:

Paul thought of the incoming of the Old Israel into the Church as life

from the dead. Whether he was justified in this extreme [a la Davies]

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claim, whatever its exact meaning, we cannot say, but it cannot be

doubted that a Christendom which is almost entirely Gentile would gain

by the incursion of the Old Israel, which is still the heir of the prophets.

(322 emphasis mine)

In one fell stroke, Davies discerns what is the central concern of this project and its

biblical moorings, and he seems overcome by the theme. This has also been my lived

experience as a Gentile in active fellowship with Messianic Jews for over a quarter

century; we may at first cavil, but ultimately the depth of wealth, wisdom and

knowledge in God will convince us otherwise (Romans 11:33).

One could cite many other Greek scripture references relative to this question, but

they all may be considered along the analytical lines just presented. A comprehensive

examination of the teaching and modeled lifestyle of the early church leadership (all the

canonical apostolic writers being Jewish, except Luke) virtually compels one to

acknowledge that, far from being a negative or marginal factor in the life of the early

church, Jewish observance among the Jewish contingent in the Body of Christ was

pervasive and highly regarded. They displayed integrity of God-given identity as they

worshipped the Father with, in, and through the risen Lord and Messiah, in the power

of the Holy Spirit, and in an identifiable Jewish manner. In addition, and this is key to the

thesis under consideration, it was their very Jewishness in loving and dynamic relation to

the Gentile brethren that was very much in the mind and intentional design of God with

regard to the functioning of the Body of His Son. Having established an irrevocable

covenant with Jewish flesh, He now continues to honor that covenant in a renewed and

expanded context whereby the richness of His grace abounds beyond the initial recipients

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to embrace an entire planet (Isaiah 49:6), indeed an entire Universe (Colossians 1:20), all

the while preserving the integrity, identity and special functioning of the component parts

of the whole (Ephesians 4:15-16) in a glorious economy of grace and mutual blessing.

Israels Oblation in the Midst of the Gentile Church

It is now for us to draw these biblical threads into a cord of insight regarding the

Lords intention for the full functioning of the church and the indwelling Glory of the

Spirits fullness. According to some commentators, including Alan Ross, the framework

for the book of Romans may be understood as a gospel exposition that utilizes the

Hebrew temple sacrificial system as a metaphor for Gods grand design for the ministry

of the church (Ross). Starting with the Levitical sacrifices pertaining to atonement and

sin-and-guilt-purgation, Paul progresses throughout his epistle by moving to sacrifices

offered in view of the atonement already achieved, to the establishment of a broad

spectrum of sacrificial/sacramental bonds including dedication, thanksgiving, restitution

and peace or well-being. Gods ultimate desire is to receive an offering of the nations

(Romans 15:15-16), concerning which Paul sees himself as a priest in a catalytic role.

Certainly the Holy Eucharist itself represents the highest example of a thanksgiving

offering to the Lord that rises to Him as a sweet smelling savor, and he exhorts

Christians to be dedicated or conformed to the Lords will and purpose (Romans 12:1-2),

which represents a lifelong act of acceptable spiritual service, or worship.

Now what is most interesting about this sacrificial metaphor is that Paul, nearly

out of the blue, invokes the situation regarding the nation of Israel! Romans 9 - 11 stand

in a curious way relative to the other material in the epistle; in some ways, these three

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chapters might almost represent a divergence from the apostles main argument

concerning justification and sanctification, and the offering of the church to God. If,

however, we continue with the sacrificial metaphor, Pauls heartfelt cry for Israels

salvation in the very midst of the book suggests he believes Israels participation in the

economy of salvation to be central to the whole project of the oblation to God intended

by the divine plan. Without Israel on board Paul implies, there would be a terrible

omission in the human oblation God desires. The sacrifice of Jesus must surely be

effectual for Israel, enabling her own central role in the plan of God. This is an Israel

which possesses the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the Law, the

worship, and the promises (Romans 9:4); in short, a people with a history, a concrete

existence and a, perhaps scandalous, particularity not unlike that of its Messiah.

The place of Messianic Israel among the Messianic representatives of the Gentile

nations might be therefore crucial to the overall health and effective functioning of the

Body of the Messiah. Without the presence of an identifiable Messianic Israel in the

church, the church is incomplete and even twisted in its self-understanding and witness. It

is also stymied in its appropriation of the full revelation of God in the Holy Scriptures,

comprehensively understood.

The only remedy to such a situation is obvious, namely the re-incorporation of a

once estranged identifiable Messianic Israel into the full life of the church. More will be

said in the next chapter concerning historic ecclesiastical prohibitions and canonical

censures of the practice of the faith of Israel on the part of believing Jews (including the

Inquisition), but there is no question but that a hearty and substantial repentance must be

demonstrated by the Gentile church for its disobedience to explicit commands in the

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Greek scriptures (Romans 11:11-25). We, however belatedly, must aggressively pursue

Gentile-Jewish reconciliation in the church. Opportunities to promote reconciliation and

interaction between Gentiles and Jews in the Body of the Messiah would also serve the

promotion of greater general health in the church, and better enable its universal mission

and ministry.

For the biblical reasons stated in this chapter, this thesis project rests upon a firm

foundation indeed from the Word of God. The theological ideas only touched on in this

chapter must now be developed more fully in the next.

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CHAPTER THREE

A THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION -

SUPERSESSIONISM AND ITS IMPACT:

REMEDIES AND RESULTS

Lord, you now have set your servant free *

To go in peace as you have promised;

For these eyes of mine have seen the Savior, *Whom you have prepared for all the world to see;

A Light to enlighten the nations, *

And the glory of your people Israel.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; *

as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

(Common Book of Prayer 120)

It is with these lines from our evening office, The Song of Simeon, derived

from Luke 2:29-32, that we transition from biblical analysis to a theology of counter-

supersessionism, including the fruits of repentance that follow upon reconciliation

between the Jewish and Gentile wings of the Christian faith. To apply this concept, I also

wish to advance an effective theology of pastoral action that I believe will better enable

the church to operate fully as God intended, particularly with respect to the all-important

communication and application of the written Word found in the corpus of the Hebrew

scriptures.

Guiding Assumptions

In chapter one, the thesis asserted that Gentile Christians (specifically for the

purpose of this project, a representation of adult communicants from the Episcopal

diocese of Fort Worth) find themselves quite challenged today to fully understand and

appropriate the riches of the scriptures found in the Hebrew Bible. Actually, one might

also add that because of this deficiency, portions of the Greek scriptural tradition are

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often misunderstood and misapplied. I specifically assert that this problem is especially

apparent in this post-modern era in which many vestiges of scriptural comprehension

once enjoyed by our ancestors have largely disappeared. I say vestiges because I also

argue that key deficiencies in scriptural understanding have been experienced by the

church since its earliest history as a result of its supersessionism with regard to things

Jewish (I will formally define this term shortly). Paradoxically, I also assert that the post-

modern context with its receptivity to post-Enlightenment epistemological modalities

provides significant opportunities for the correction of this problem through a dynamic of

the Holy Spirit which manifests itself in a truly holistic and catholic Christian

community, one that fully accounts for all its members, Jew and Gentile alike.18 I propose

that unique and real, if somewhat difficult to define, aspects of Messianic Jewish -

Gentile Christian interaction, interaction where there is an exchange of spirituality, will

establish ecclesial conditions for the possibility of the fullness of the Spirit to be present

so as to bring the Body of Christ into all Truth.

The Problem of Supersessionism and its Consequences

TheNunc Dimittis that introduces this chapter provides a succinct scriptural

summary of Gods overall intention for the economy of salvation through the incarnate

Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Light and Glory are key words in this canticle,

light pertaining to what the ministry of the Hebrew Messiah would bring to the nations of

the world, and glory pertaining to what that same ministry would bring to the redeemed

physical descendents of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This beautiful piece of scripture

holds forth a vision of Israel and the nations in vital relationship to each other as distinct

entities of the in-breaking Kingdom of God. Dan and Patricia Juster build upon this

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vision in their book, One People, Many Tribes. They propose that the model of the

church in its various aspects, phases and modalities is a Messianic commonwealth. Like

any commonwealth, there is a root nation orethnos, and a constellation of diverse

derivatives of this mother body. The various colonies and tribal off-shoots of the root

nation enjoy a rich variety of lifestyles and practices, but all of them sustain an ongoing

relationship with the root nation, and subscribe to certain basic or core principles that

enable them to cohere and interrelate peaceably, but without dilution of the separate

identities associated with each sub-group.

The central unifying principle is the light of Christ of the Kingdom of God (John

1:4-5). The wellspring of all redeemed life is to be found in Jesus Christ, and Him alone,

who possesses the fullness of Him who fills all things. This enabling eternal light,

although complete in itself, does not exist merely for its own sake, but by the Fathers

design exists to order and energize the universe (Colossians 1:16-17). The glory of the

Lord that Israel is meant to enjoy by intimate association with Him thereby also

establishes her forever as a distinct expression of the divine will. A hostile challenge to

this vision is the reality of supersessionism, here defined as the theological notion that the

church utterly replaced Israel in the mind of God, at least in terms of the promised

blessings of the covenant (covenantal curses for disobedience remain, however, in this

scheme, in fact are fundamental to it). According to Franklin Littell, the myth of

supersession has two foci: (1) God is finished with the Jews; (2) the new Israel (the

Christian church) takes the place of the Jewish people as carrier of history (qtd. in

Bloesch 131).19 In this same article, Bloesch notes that Lutheran scholar Johannes

Aagaard asserts, the church is . . . the sole eschatological reality (Bloesch 131).

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Another term more or less synonymous for supersessionism is so-called replacement

theology. Interestingly, Walter A. Elwells Evangelical Dictionary of Theology contains

no entry for either supersessionism or replacement theology, but it does contain an

entry entitled Restoration of Israel with a cross-reference to an article entitled, Israel

and Prophecy (938; 572-74). This article, by P.C. Craigie, further referencing works by

C.E. Amerding and W.W. Gasque, as well as G.E. Ladd and G.P. Richardson,

acknowledges the difficulty in interpretation of texts that may or may not suggest that the

church has comprehensively become the New Israel, logically replacing national or

even a dispersed ethnic Israel in Gods prophetic plan. Observes Craigie, concerning the

diverse prophetic witness, . . . it is not that the respective messages contradict each

other, but rather that the truth toward which they point eludes the descriptive capacity of

human language (qtd. in Elwell 573). 20 He concludes, however, [i]n summary, the

biblical perspective emerging from the writings of the prophets is that human history has

a direction and movement within the providence of God in which Israel has a continuing

place (Elwell 574). Thus, the overall thrust here repudiates the idea that God is finished

with national or ethnic Israel with regard to a renewed relationship of blessing. 21 I

subscribe to this theological trajectory in light of the biblical and theological arguments I

present in this chapter, as well as chapters two and five.

Rather more unequivocal is the remarkable references to ethnic Israel in the new

Catechism of the Catholic Church. The subject index of this comprehensive tome under

Israel; Israelites contains the following three sub-heading references: call of Israel

irrevocable, 839; Church formed in advance in Israel, 759-62; and Israels hope,

674. The second reference presents an understanding of national Israel vis--vis the

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church that can only be described as covenant theology in its tone, and the third is as

explicit as possible that ethnic Israel will be a true and vital component of the Kingdom

of Christ in its fullness (suggesting something of a dispensational character). This is truly

a balanced and comprehensive vision, very much consistent with that of Dan Justers

approach to the biblical and theological issues involved.

What I find most troubling about supersessionism, in light of these critiques of its

rationale, is that it purports to seemingly glorify the Lord Jesus Christ by denying that his

light and ministry have relevance or vital application with respect to the covenant made

with the descendents of the patriarchs. We say we are Christ-centered when we

denigrate the patriarchal covenants, and relegate the Hebrew scriptures and their concerns

to an inferior position in our scriptural thinking. This does not really enhance the dignity

and Lordship of Jesus Christ, but actually diminishes the full impact of his light and

glory. It also tended, historically, to deflect the duty for ongoing self-examination and

repentance by, in the words of James and Christine Ward, taking every prophetic word

of judgment as a word about other people, in this case ethnic Israel (123). Although I do

not agree with these authors concerning the spiritual standing of those of ethnic Israel

who do not maintain a faith relationship with the Messiah Jesus (they appear to subscribe

to a parallel track theory of salvation, a troubling idea consisting of unscriptural and

trendy notions of salvation that effectively exempt Jewish people from entering into

Gods purposes through the Lord Jesus Christ), they are correct in pointing out some of

the deleterious effects of supersessionism on the Body of Christ itself (more on this

momentarily).

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In response to these unscriptural exemptions from living, Messianic faith, and the

regrettable actions of certain Christian denominations to dilute the universal call to that

faith, some theologians expressed dissent to such developments. In Supersessionism,

Engraftment, and Jewish-Christian Dialogue: Reflections on the Presbyterian Statement

on Jewish-Christian Relations, Robert R. Hann argued against an unbiblical

undermining of the call to all people to embrace the gospel on the occasion of the issuing

of the 1987 Statement by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

pertinent to the matter of Jewish-Christian relations. By way of summary, Hann dissents

from the implicit universalism of the PCUSA statement, and analyzes supersessionism in

an approving manner as an early and pervasive reaction of the historic church against

Jewish claims that contradicted the gospel message. After building a context that argues

from a base of post-biblical patristic polemic, Hann then launches into a brief

consideration of Romans 11 that eviscerates most of the text of what Dan Juster

maintains is a growing exegetical consensus concerning Gods astonishing plans for

ethnic Israel (Juster, Israel and the Church 11).Although Hanns defense of the

integrity of the gospel is a most commendable thing, he overstates his case, failing

thereby to accurately grasp the very complex issues involved.

In contrast, Bloeschs paper, mentioned earlier, comes closer to the mark in my

view. A most important insight is contained in this statement:

What is important to understand is that both Israels rejection and the

Gentiles election are acts of God that belong to the mystery of divine

providence. To be sure, Israels disobedience provoked Gods

displeasure . . . In Romans 11 we are introduced to the still deeper mystery

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that Gods rejection of Israel is not final . . . but only provisional . . . In

the No of Gods rejection is hidden the Yes of his election. (133-34)

He goes on to briefly note, [i]t was the Puritans and Pietists who reclaimed the Pauline

hope for Israel as a nation and through Israel hope for the world (134). More on this

topic will be presented in the next section. Bloesch also spends a good deal of space on

the reflection and writings of Karl and Markus Barth concerning Romans 11, where they

point out, Gods mercy must and shall be revealed to all Israel (qtd. in Bloesch 134).22

Toward the end of his paper, Bloesch cites again from A Shorter Commentary, . . . the

whole Church of Jesus Christ needs the Jews. She needs their failure . . . their rejection . .

. but she needs even more their full entrance into the faith in the Messiah, their addition

to the Gentiles and Jews who already do believe in him (qtd. in 141). Markus, for his

part, is cited both in Bloesch (141-42) and Ellison (101-102) as recognizing no terminus

for Gods providential and covenantal concern for ethnic Israel.

Opposed to these healthy inclusions, supersessionism is a form of schism,

probably the earliest and most destructive schism in the churchs history. The apostle

Paul, as noted in the last chapter, issued severe warnings to the Gentile contingent at the

church in Rome to the effect that they must never elevate their sense of themselves, their

status in Gods mind and intention, above even unbelieving Israel (how much more

applicable to believing Israel!).23 The rank and well documented disobedience of the

church generally in the second century and onward in failing to honor this charge

produced conditions in which the fullness of Gods revelation was increasingly

unavailable to the church, a fullness that abides in Christ as expressed through the

universal churchs gracious unity-in-diversity. This doubtless sounds like a radical

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statement, and I would have also eschewed such a view until recently. Consideration,

however, of an excerpt from Ephraim Radners The End of the Church: A Pneumatology

of Christian Division in the West in connection with a doctoral seminar at Trinity

Episcopal School for Ministry in 1998 reveals, in tandem with an important initiative

called Toward Jerusalem Council Two, that, regretfully, such is in fact the case. (Toward

Jerusalem Council Two, or TJC2, will be discussed in detail in chapter five).

Radners compelling thesis argues that, in view of second millennial Western

schismatic activity (he does not examine the schisms of the first millennium, including

the Messianic Jewish-Gentile split), the church lost the ability to appropriate scripture, to

consistently receive the realm of the miraculous, to truly taste the Bread of Life, and to

order its ministries in a coherent fashion. He further argues that the schisms of the West

have resulted in a virtual abandonment of the church, in a macro sense (phrasing mine)

at least, by the Holy Spirit. If the church is thus deprived we cannot even repent from our

state, denied the grace to do so which only arises from that same Spirit. (The Spirit, of

course, is nonetheless quite active in individuals and even godly groups of Spirit-renewal

minded people, but as a comprehensive entity, the church-as-a-whole is Spirit-deprived

and often therefore depraved).

I take Radners argument one step further by application to what might be termed

the Ur-schism, truly and literally the mother of all schisms, the great divorce of the

Gentile church from its Jewish roots. Gentiles predominated in the church during the

second century and beyond.In the absence of apostolic correction through the ministry

of The Twelve, who formed the Jewish nucleus of the proto-Church of the Messiah,

what to do about the Old Testament and the lifestyle of faithful Jewish believers

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became a significant issue.His Holiness John Paul II commented on this topic in an

address to the Pontifical Biblical Commission, April 11, 1997. He said:

Since the second century A.D., the church has been faced with the

temptation to separate the New Testament from the Old, and to oppose

one to the other. . . It is impossible fully to express the mystery of Christ

without reference to the Old Testament. . . . By taking part in the

synagogue celebrations where the Old Testament texts were read and

commented on . . . He became an authentic son of Israel, deeply rooted in

his own peoples long history. (qtd. in Carroll vii, emphasis mine)

The developing theology of the Christian church started with honest questions about how

to understand and apply a two-fold scriptural canon consisting of a historic Hebrew

component and a more recent apostolic, Greek-language witness. Then Justin Martyrs

and Irenaeus standard model of scriptural interpretation rendered Gods covenant with

Israel and her life in the world as largely irrelevant for shaping conclusions about how

Gods consummating and redemptive purposes engage creation in universal and enduring

ways (Soulen 48). 24 Local church councils followed suit in succeeding centuries,

imposing restrictions on Jewish expression in an uncoordinated fashion. Along the way

there would be many other insults and denigrations of the Hebraic heritage, Marcions

outright rejection of the God of Israel and the Old Testament being merely a

particularly low point in this downward spiral (The Churchs condemnation of Marcion

was laudable, but that he could gain any following is symptomatic of the growing

problem of supersessionism). Finally, the second council of Nicea explicitly and

universally proscribed any aspect of Jewish observance, Messianic or otherwise, in a

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triumphalist Christendom on pain of excommunication and civil censure, nothing less

than full-blown anti-Semitism and blatant supersessionism-come-of-age.

Interestingly, there are some intriguing hints of appreciation for the Hebraic

heritage and Israels national identity buried in patristic literature. Hilary of Poitiers

makes reference to the contribution of natural (an intriguing adjective for a people

whose ancestors often produced offspring through rather challenged obstetrical

modalities) Israel, ultimately redeemed, to the adornment and extension of the blessed

city. He declares, Israel, now in captivity, will continue the construction of the house

when the fullness of the nations has come (qtd. in Wright 433).

25

Thus does one

churchman of the era display at least a rudimentary appreciation for some ongoing

significance of the covenants God forged with Israel, although his words might be

construed as deferring that significance until a future epoch. Even here, however, he

speaks of redeemed Israel as laboring in conjunction with the redeemed from all the

nations at the time of the Lordsparousia, thereby acknowledging a measure of

interrelationship and reciprocity between distinct entities.

Such happy hints of recognition of Gods total purpose are, however, undermined

by the growing sense of hostility toward Israel and her covenants evident in church

history, culminating arguably in the destruction of entire faith communities in the

twentieth century at the hands of an at least complacent and compliant European

Christianity. And as Soulen argues, the European theological minds of the nineteenth

century were quite content to propose what he terms a Disembodied God (78). He

specifically analyzes the work of Kant and Schleiermacher to demonstrate that the notion

of Christian Divinity without Jewish Flesh (57) was taking over educated thinking on

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the topic of the Jews and the place of the Old Testament in Christian theology in that era.

The influence of that sort of reflection on the ability of the church to properly appropriate

scripture was devastating. In addition, the theological violence inherent in that project

both summarized and recapitulated the centuries of negativity and distortion that

preceded it with regards to things Jewish, and established something of an at least

indirect rationale for Hitlers final solution. When all is said and done, the sound of

Christendoms final fall and crash to the ground, and the rise of Post-Modernism may

well be traced to the churchs long-term refusal to heed the clear prescription for its own

survival found in Romans chapters 9 - 11.

An Historical Excursus

For those of us who hold frankly and unapologetically to an evangelical and

theologically conservative, biblical faith, there is a redemptive and exciting story to relate

and consider here that serves as a something of a counterbalance to the largely dismal

historic character of Christian thought and practice with regard to things Jewish. It is a

story that contains a number of important and happy intersections with developments in

Christian England from the days of the Reformation (that same story, however, also

contains one intersection with the Anglo-Catholic movement at its very inception, which

I regret to admit as one who largely embraces its tenets, that I must regard as less than

felicitous; see endnote #7). I will trace these developments in some detail, but the

following may serve as a summary of the impact of them on the highest levels of British

civil and ecclesiastical governance a century ago:

The great event of Israels return to God in Christ, and His to Israel, said

Bishop Handley C.G. Moule, honorary chaplain to the Queen of England

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from 1898 to 1901, will be the signal and the means of a vast rise of

spiritual life in the universal church, and of an unexampled ingathering of

regenerate souls from the world. (qtd. in M. Brown 25)26

From where did such a remarkable statement derive, in view of the

overwhelmingly negative character of Christian reflection on natural Israel throughout

history? What formed and informed the theological project that could produce such

insight in the England of that time (and is there any chance it could occur again)? 27 It is

to these questions that we now turn our attention.

The theological position and sentiment that fueled Bishop Moules comment

concerning Israel cited above derives from what Dan Juster calls Evangelical Pietism.

Rooted in seventeenth century English Puritanism (Dissenters in their time from the

perspective of the Church of England), and influential via Lutheran German Pietists,

Scandinavian Free Churches and the Moravians on some establishment Anglicans in the

eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Evangelical Pietism (as understood by Juster)

eschews the utilization of state power to establish a particular state church, but rather

promotes a lively, biblical and personal faith that nonetheless, for all its distrust of

official religion, seeks a strong influence for the Christian faith on society at large.

Quite to the point of this discussion, Juster declares, [i]t is my contention that where

Evangelical Pietism is strong the Jewish people find friends and allies for their rights in

society (Jewish People 4). 28

Now we must reflect on the contribution of English Puritans to a recovering sense

of the place of natural Israel in the plan and purposes of God in and for the church, no

less than the world. The seminal work on this topic is Ian Murrays The Puritan Hope.

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Murrays scholarship is truly astonishing in its scope and impact. He devotes the better

part of two chapters of this book, and not a little of the rest, to the place of natural Israel

in the theology and most importantly prayer life of Puritan leaders and congregations

both in England and America. Tracing the impact of the public recovery of the scriptures

during the English Reformation on the church, Murray examines the issue of certain

aspects of unfulfilled biblical prophecy as the wellspring of Puritan life and spirituality.

Certainly all the reformers focused on the Second Coming of the Lord as a prime

influence in the life of a church emerging from the Middle Age