Stumbling blocks to stepping stones. The torah as a key to jewish-christian reconciliation: A new model

Abstract

In recent decades, and particularly since the Second Vatican Council, Christians and Jews are beginning to ask questions about one another’s traditions and slowly erode some of the age old barriers of suspicion and prejudice. The resulting dialogue that is unfolding necessitates a laying aside of inherited stereotypes and presumptions, in order to establish genuine relationship and ‘meet’ the other authentically. For in order to listen and ‘see’ another in a new or fresh way, there must be a turn or move toward that other. And to turn toward another requires a conscious, deliberate shift in posture, a decisive change in position and body language, which in turn alters perceptions and has the potential to alter, or transform, relationships. There can be little historical doubt that the different postures maintained by Jews and Christians toward the Torah has led each community in different theological directions. And yet, the Torah remains part of the living sacred canon for both communities. It is therefore an appropriate touchstone on which to centre a conversation about the Jewish-Christian relationship. This thesis considers the Torah as a very particular aspect of the Jewish-Christian relationship, and investigates its potential importance for Jewish-Christian reconciliation. At its heart, this consideration takes the form of a simple question - is the Torah a ‘stumbling block’ to a deeper, more fruitful relationship between Christians and Jews, or a potential stepping stone? Asking this question necessitates a deeper examination of the Christian posture toward the Torah. It is here we encounter the ‘reception history’ (Wirkungsgeschichte) of the Torah within Christianity, which in no small part stems from the reception history of the Pauline epistles, and some of the more challenging verses within those epistles.