Christianity and Judaism

The relationship between Christianity and Judaism is unique among interfaith encounters. Christianity emerged from within Judaism; Jesus was Jewish, the earliest Christians were Jewish, and the Old Testament is a shared sacred text. Yet the relationship has been marked by centuries of theological anti-Judaism and devastating persecution, culminating in the Holocaust. This lesson examines the shared heritage, the problem of supersessionism, post-Holocaust theology, the groundbreaking Jewish statement Dabru Emet, and contemporary covenant theology.

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Shared Heritage

Christianity and Judaism share more theological and scriptural common ground than any other pair of world religions.

Shared Scriptures

The Jewish Tanakh (Torah, Neviim, Ketuvim) is substantially identical to the Christian Old Testament, although the books are arranged differently. Christians read the Old Testament as pointing forward to Christ; Jews read the Tanakh as the enduring covenant document of Gods relationship with Israel. This shared scriptural heritage means that Christians and Jews worship the same God, share many of the same stories, ethical principles, and theological concepts (creation, covenant, prophecy, messianic hope), and read many of the same texts — though they interpret them very differently.

Key Shared Concepts

Concept	Judaism	Christianity
Monotheism	The Shema: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one" (Deut 6:4)	One God in Trinity — Father, Son, Holy Spirit
Covenant	God`s eternal covenant with Abraham and Israel	New Covenant in Christ; question of whether the old covenant continues
Torah/Ethics	The 613 mitzvot (commandments) as the path of faithfulness	The moral law is affirmed; ceremonial law is debated
Messianic hope	The Messiah is still awaited	Jesus is the Messiah; his return is awaited
Creation	God created the world; humans are made in God`s image	Same affirmation
Eschatology	The age to come; resurrection of the dead (in some traditions)	The Kingdom of God; resurrection; final judgement

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Supersessionism (Replacement Theology)

Supersessionism is the traditional Christian view that the Church has replaced (superseded) Israel as the people of God. According to this view, when the Jewish people rejected Jesus as the Messiah, God transferred the covenant promises from Israel to the Church. The Church is the "new Israel," the "true Israel," and the old covenant with the Jewish people has been rendered obsolete by the new covenant in Christ.

Key Definition: Supersessionism (Replacement Theology) — The traditional Christian doctrine that the Church has replaced Israel as the people of God, and that the old covenant with the Jewish people has been superseded by the new covenant in Christ.

Types of Supersessionism

R. Kendall Soulen (The God of Israel and Christian Theology, 1996) distinguishes three types:

Type	Description
Punitive supersessionism	God has rejected the Jewish people as punishment for their rejection of Christ; the covenant with Israel is annulled
Economic supersessionism	Israel`s role in salvation history was temporary — a preparatory stage that has been fulfilled and completed by the coming of Christ and the Church
Structural supersessionism	The narrative structure of Christian theology (creation — fall — redemption in Christ) marginalises the ongoing story of Israel; the Hebrew Scriptures are read only as a prelude to the New Testament

Problems with Supersessionism

Supersessionism has been subjected to devastating critique, particularly in the wake of the Holocaust:

• Theological anti-Judaism — supersessionism provided the theological framework for centuries of Christian hostility toward Jews. The "teaching of contempt" (Jules Isaac`s phrase) — the idea that Jews are collectively guilty of deicide (killing God), that their covenant is annulled, and that their suffering is divine punishment — created the conditions in which antisemitism could flourish.
• Scriptural problems — Pauls Letter to the Romans, chapters 9–11, explicitly denies that God has rejected Israel: "I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means!" (Romans 11:1). Paul speaks of Israels "irrevocable" calling (Romans 11:29) and envisions the eventual salvation of "all Israel" (Romans 11:26).
• Moral problems — after the Holocaust, maintaining that God has rejected the Jewish people becomes morally intolerable. Supersessionism, even if not directly responsible for the Holocaust, contributed to the cultural and theological environment that made it possible.

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Post-Holocaust Theology

The Shoah (Holocaust, 1941–1945) — the systematic murder of six million Jews by Nazi Germany — has profoundly shaped the Christian-Jewish relationship and forced a fundamental rethinking of Christian theology.

Key Post-Holocaust Christian Developments

The Seelisberg Conference (1947): An emergency conference of Christians and Jews that produced "Ten Points" calling on Christians to reject the teaching of contempt and affirm the ongoing validity of Judaism.

Jules Isaac (1877–1963): The French-Jewish historian whose works Jesus and Israel (1948) and The Teaching of Contempt (1962) documented how centuries of Christian anti-Jewish teaching had created the theological soil in which antisemitism grew. Isaacs work directly influenced Pope John XXIIIs decision to address the Church`s relationship with Judaism at Vatican II.