The Challenge of Catholic-Jewish Theological Dialogue

The aim of this groundbreaking volume is to "enrich and intensify the theological dimension of the Jewish-Catholic dialogue" called for by the 2015 Vatican document, The Gifts and the Calling of God are Irrevocable by building a bridge between Catholic systematic theology and Catholic-Jewish dialogue. The collection includes 19 essays that facilitate a rigorous exchange between Jewish scholars and Catholic theologians on some of the most difficult questions in Jewish-Christian dialogue. The scholars discuss the relation of the election of Israel to the universality of salvation in Christ, the nature and extent of the Church’s mission, the affirmation that God’s covenant with the Jewish people has never been revoked, and whether the land of Israel is an aspect of that covenant. The Catholic thinkers included in this volume address these topics with attention to the sources and foundational voices of Catholic theology including St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas. Indeed, this important new work is the first edited volume to address Aquinas on the law in the context of the Jewish-Christian encounter. The Catholic authors follow what might be called the Ratzingerian line of post-conciliar Catholic theological reflection on Jews and Judaism. With some important exceptions, this line has generally lacked exponents in English-speaking theology. The essays raise the question of what theological dialogue is, and how it relates to interreligious dialogue and Catholic systematic theological reflection. Yet difficulties emerge immediately. What is the relationship between internal Catholic theological reflection on Israel and Church and the external interreligious dialogue with rabbinic Judaism and the Jewish people? The volume demonstrates how, in theological dialogue, it becomes clear just how much separates the two traditions despite sharing concepts and the language of Scripture. The essays demonstrate how the challenge of Catholic-Jewish theological dialogue is, in part, keeping open the space for dialogue without minimizing or playing down differences. As Pope Benedict XVI observed, "to be sincere, the existing differences must not be kept silent or minimized: even in things that, due to our intimate conviction of faith, make us different from one another; in fact, precisely in these things, we must respect each other." This volume is needed for any Catholic theological library, and especially those interested in the contemporary Jewish-Christian encounter.