When Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI, the optimists stated that the choice showed a commitment to continue the important work of bridge-building to the Jewish people.Pessimists, on the other hand, noted his German background, his tough line on other religions, and his favoring a more dogmatic, conservative church.
Benedict's new book, Jesus of Nazareth, has shown the optimists as correct.
Jesus of Nazareth offers an interpretation of the New Testament — and thereby of Christianity — that is surprisingly favorable to Judaism, one in which "the Jewish people and its faith are the very roots of Christianity."
In unequivocal terms, Jesus is presented as a Jew, a follower of true biblical and rabbinical traditions. Jesus' teachings are presented as an outgrowth and fulfillment of Sinai and Jewish ritual law.
Traditional Christian approaches treated Jewish interpretation of the Bible as false, rabbinic traditions as perversions of the Bible, and painted Jews as blind to the truth and as not doing God's will.
How does Pope Benedict accomplish this feat of reconciliation?
What does he do with the rejection of Judaism in the New Testament and by the Church Fathers?
Benedict's starting point for his vision of Jesus is Deuteronomy and the importance of Moses, the lawgiver, as a prophet.
Deuteronomy teaches that the purpose of the law is to proclaim God's kingship.
Where other Christians commonly portray the prophets rejecting legalism, Benedict regards Jewish ritual in its legal forms as the biblical path to knowing God.
Judaism is not excluded, revoked, or abrogated, as traditionally explained by Christian thinkers. Jesus, writes Benedict, took Moses' message and brought it to the world — not just the ethical message of the prophets, but also the kingship, ritual, obedience, and devotion of Deuteronomy.
"For a believing Christian, the commandments of the Torah remain a decisive point of reference," he writes.
Benedict accepts, almost relishes, the influence of Jewish practice on Christian liturgy because it shows continuity between the faiths.
Hence, Benedict says confidently that all pious Jews who recite the Sh'ma daily are affirming God's kingship. He seems to imply that Jews know God and his kingship because they know Moses, the prophets, the Torah, and its rabbinic interpretation.
He presents the Pharisees, maligned in many Christian traditions as censorious and self-righteous, as "endeavoring to live with the greatest possible exactness according to the instructions of the Torah."
At other points, he reserves the term to refer only to those self-serving Jews who did not hear the message of God's kingship.
Pope Benedict totally rejects Protestant scholarship that sees Jesus as rejecting Judaic ritual and legalism. Pope Benedict takes literally Jesus' statements that "I have come not to abolish [the commandments] but to fulfill them" and promises to show that this does not contradict Paul, who taught that Jesus "abolish[ed] in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations."
In this book, the promise is only partially kept. He does not explain the difficult passages.
In Benedict's reading of the New Testament, all the negative statements about those blinded, those moved by the devil, or those too obstinate to see the truth are applied to scoffers, unbelievers, and even to our contemporary relativists — anyone but the Jews.
Similarly, Benedict openly rejects the Church Fathers who condemn the Jews based on seemingly anti-Jewish parables and suggests such parables are "a delicate effort of God to persuade [the people of] Israel," and not condemnation of the Jews as a whole.
He quotes rabbinic literature favorably at several points, itself an important act of reconciliation. He presents the Talmud not as a pernicious source of misreading of the Bible but as a continuity of the Bible's true message.
The pope respects and accepts the explanation of why Jews reject Christianity given by American historian of Judaism Jacob Neusner. The religions are not debating whether Jesus was the messiah — Jews think he is not — but whether Jesus can be seen as divine.
According to Benedict, Christians assume that Jesus is the way to the biblical God's kingship and Jews do not, but they share a vision of kingship described in the Bible from Deuteronomy to Daniel.
Much remains to be argued about in these new positions. And as expected from a book written by a pope, the book still has many subtle statements implying the superiority of Christianity over Judaism. Nevertheless, this book is historically important for its change in the church's attitude toward Jews.
Jews usually ask, how does this change real life? How does it fight anti-Semitism? In this case, the book follows on the heels of Pope Benedict's call for a synod of bishops to be held in 2008.
The pope wants to know: Are biblical texts used to foment attitudes of anti-Semitism? How is Judaism presented in Catholic teaching materials?
Benedict wants to make sure that Judaism is presented positively, and in accord with Nostra Aetate, to the world's billion Catholics.
Jews concerned with the Christian-Jewish relationship should take this book as proof of continued positive developments during the papacy of Pope Benedict XVI.
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