|
|
|
|
TABLE
OF
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE -- THE JEWS AND THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH
Beginnings of the Jewish People
Roles Played by the Jewish People
CHAPTER TWO -- HOW WELL DID THE JEWS DO?
"Faithful Remnants" in the Scriptures
Later "Faithful Remnants"
Witness of the Lemann Brothers
Seed and Blessing
CHAPTER THREE -- JEW, GENTILE AND THE CHURCH
Jews, God, Gentiles, and Demons
Jews and Gentiles in the Early Church
The Jewish Drive to Remain Separate
CHAPTER FOUR -- THE MESSIANIC IDEA IN JUDAISM
The Centrality of the Messiah in Judaism
The Messiah in the Old Testament
When the Messiah Would Come
Where and from Whom the Messiah Would be
Born
Prophecies About the Messiah's
Mission
Prophecies of the Passion and
Death
The Messiah in the Pseudo-Epigraphia
The Messiah in the Talmud
When the Messiah Will
Come
What Will Happen When the Messiah
Comes
‘Messiah ben Joseph' and
‘Messiah ben
David'
Confirmation of Christianity in the
Talmud
The Historicity of Jesus
Healings by Jesus' Disciples in the Talmud
CHAPTER FIVE -- JUDAISM AND THE HOLOCAUST
The Holocaust and Jewish Theology
Elie Wiesel
The Holocaust as Understood by Edith Stein
"Holocaust" or "Shoah"?
CHAPTER SIX -- IDEOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF
NAZISM
Eugenics
Preparing the Way for Nazism
Intellectual
Social
Spiritual
Hitler and the New Nazi Religion
Sexual Degeneracy
The Reaction of the Rest of the World
Diabolical Motivations Behind the Holocaust
The Witness of Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger
CHAPTER SEVEN -- ANTI-SEMITISM AFTER THE HOLOCAUST
Nazism in the Arab World
Official Arab Anti-Semitism
The Revision of Jewish
History
Peace with Israel
The Indoctrination of Children
The Role of Islam
A Single Campaign
CHAPTER EIGHT -- THE JEWS AND THE SECOND COMING
CHAPTER NINE -- THE RETURN OF THE JEWS
The "Ingrafting"
Extraordinary Grace in Jewish Conversion
The Conversion of Alphonse
Ratisbonne
The Conversion of Rabbi
Zolli
The Conversion of Charlie
Rich
The Nature of Jewish Conversion
Current Jewish Entry into the Church
Conclusion
POSTSCRIPT -- My Own Conversion
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
|
If there is one theological issue which both Jews and Christians should
be able to agree on, it is that "salvation is from the Jews". It
has been a constant teaching of Judaism from the days of Abraham
onwards that the salvation of all mankind is to come from the
Jews.
That is the primary sense in which the Jews are "the Chosen
People". And Christians, or at least Christians who believe in
the accuracy of the
New Testament, have no choice but to believe that "salvation is
from
the Jews", since those are the very words which Jesus spoke to the
Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:22). This book is an attempt to
examine the meaning of those words, from a Jewish perspective within
the Catholic faith.
As a Jew who has entered the Catholic Church, I might be accused by
some of being singularly unqualified to speak for Judaism -- that
I am the worst of all possible Jews, an apostate, a traitor, a
turncoat, a Jew who has "switched allegiances" and become
Catholic. Yet on the contrary, I would claim that a Jew who has
become Catholic is the
best person to explore the true meaning of Judaism. To understand
salvation history one must be a Christian, since the Incarnation, death
and Resurrection of Christ are at the center of salvation history, and
the fullness of the relevant doctrine is contained in the teaching of
the Catholic Church. A Catholic who is not from a Jewish background
would
necessarily have a more abstract and incomplete understanding of
Judaism
than someone who grew up within Judaism. This problem is
compounded
by the variety and inconsistency of beliefs within the Jewish
community,
sometimes making it difficult to ascertain "what Jews believe" or "what
Judaism
says" about a certain topic.
And although Jews might question the right that an "apostate" Jew has
to represent Judaism, that characterization in itself points to the
heart of the underlying problem. Is the issue who "we" are, or
who Jesus was? If Jesus was the Jewish Messiah -- the Messiah
long
prophesied, expected and prayed for by the Jews -- then a Jew can
either
be "right" and accept that He was the Messiah, or be wrong and maintain
that he was not. If Jesus was the Messiah, then Jews who reject
Christianity (or Messianic Judaism) are wrong; if Jesus was not the
Messiah, then Christians, however well meaning, are wrong. There
is not necessarily any moral shame or culpability in being wrong, but
it is nonsense to maintain that somehow Judaism is right for Jews, and
Christianity is right for Christians, and that the truth is dependent
on what group one
belongs to. If Jesus was the Jewish Messiah, then of course the
entire meaning and purpose of the Jewish religion revolve around its
role
in bringing about the Incarnation of God as man, and any Jew who does
not accept Jesus is necessarily in the dark about the true role of
Judaism
in salvation history. So the issue is not whether one is an
"apostate"
or "real" Jew, but whether one recognizes or does not recognize
that
Jesus was the Messiah. Obviously one who does is in a better position
to
understand the unfolding of salvation history.
In no way does the book intend to offend or criticize Jews who remain
loyal to Judaism and reject the claims of Christianity. I certainly
know from my own experience that it is only grace that can bring the
truths of faith to anyone. The grace that brought about my
conversion
was entirely unmerited; and I can only pray for a similar outpouring of
grace on as many of my coreligionists as possible, that they too might
come to an awareness of the fullness of the beauty, of the truth, of
the
glory of Judaism; of the nobility and incomprehensible honor of being
members of the race that was chosen to bring about the Redemption of
all mankind, by bringing about the Incarnation of God himself as a man
of flesh and
blood, of their flesh and their blood.
|
|
|
