Editors:??Eugene B. Korn, John T. Pawlikowski, OSM
Publisher: Rowman Littlefield
Judaism
and Christianity are religions bound together by their claims to the same
biblical covenant initiated by God with Abraham and his descendants. Yet,
despite the inseparable connection between the election of Israel and that of
the church, between the “”old”and the “”new”covenant, this
shared spiritual patrimony has been the source of a type of violent sibling
rivalry competing for the same paternal love and inherited entitlement. God, it
seemed, had but one blessing to bestow. It could be given to either Jacob or
Esau ? but not both. In the twenty-first century, however, Jews and Christians
are challenged to reconsider their theological assumptions by two inescapable
truths: the moral tragedy of the holocaust demands that Christian thinkers
acknowledge the violent effects of theologically de-legitimizing Jews and
Judaism, and the pervasive reality of cultural and religious pluralism calls
both Christian and Jewish theologians to rethink the covenant in the presence of
the Other. Two Faiths, One Covenant? Jewish and Christian Identity in the
Presence of the Other is a breakthrough through work that embraces this
contemporary challenge and charts a path toward fruitful interfaith dialogue.
The Christian and Jewish theologians in this book explore the ways that both
religions have understood the covenant in biblical, rabbinic, medieval, and
modern religious writings and reflect on how the covenant can serve as a
reservoir for a positive theological relationship between Christianity and
Judaism–not merely one of non-belligerent tolerance, but of respect and
theological pluralism, however limited.
About The Authors
Rabbi Dr. Eugene Korn is editor of The Edah Journal—A Forum of Modern Orthodox Thought. He serves as an adjunct professor of Jewish Thought in the Department of Christian-Jewish Studies at Seton Hall University.
John T. Pawlikowski, O.S.M (pictured) is professor of Social Ethics and director of the Catholic-Jewish Studies Program at Catholic theological Union. He has served for many years as a member of the Advisory Committee on Catholic-Jewish Relations of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Currently the president of the International Council of Christians and Jews, he has authored/edited more than fifteen books on Christian-Jewish relations and on social ethics.
SCENE invites readers to submit suggestions for future book
reviews. The Editor would also be receptive to reviews of such books which may
have especially interested a reader and who consequently would be prepared to
write a review for publication in a future issue of SCENE. Reviews should be
475-500 words in length and would need to be edited if they exceeded this word
count. Ed.
Email address: hdm@idx.com.au