Christian Scholars Urge Tolerance for Judaism
A group of prominent Christian scholars has issued a 10-point statement that says teaching contempt for Judaism “dishonors God.”
The document is a response to a declaration issued by Jewish leaders in 2000 urging Jews to reexamine their understanding of Christianity.
The new statement, released at Boston College by 21 Roman Catholic and Protestant scholars, said that “if Jews, who do not share our faith in Christ, are in a saving covenant with God, then Christians need new ways of understanding the universal significance of Christ.”
Jesus lived and died as a faithful Jew, and Christians should not target Jews for conversion, the scholars said.
After a panel of Roman Catholic bishops made that point last month, Southern Baptist leaders objected. One author of the new statement, Walter Harrelson of Vanderbilt University, was criticized by fellow Southern Baptists for endorsing it.
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