The Uniqueness of the Christian-Jewish Dialogue: A Yes and a No

• Published in: Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations
• Main Author: Pawlikowski, John
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Center for Christian-Jewish Learning at Boston College 2017
• Subjects: Judaism; Christianity; Christian-Jewish Dialogue; interreligious dialogue; ecclesiology; Asian religions; NOSTRA AETATE; religious plurality; Christology; fulfillment; Holy Spirit; LOGOS; Letter to the Hebrews; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://ejournals.bc.edu/index.php/scjr/article/view/9799; https://doi.org/10.6017/scjr.v12i1.9799

Many +people connected with the Christian-Jewish dialogue as well as some ecclesial documents, including THE GIFTS AND THE CALLING OF GOD, have declared the church's relationship with the Jewish People totally unique. There is certainly an important dimension of this claim. Christianity has a theological and historical link with Judaism that is sui generis. The church accepts the Jewish Scriptures as revelatory and since Vatican II has proclaimed a special bonding with the Jewish People, a bonding it does not enjoy with any other world religion. But there is a danger that the uniqueness is sometimes overemphasized including in THE GIFTS AND THE CALLING. Such overemphasis has the potential to marginalize the Christian-Jewish dialogue as exclusively a North Atlantic issue. There is need to show how the documents generated by the Christian-Jewish dialogue have relevance for global Christianity and for the dialogue with other world religions.