Th is
A. Sacred Obligation'
To Rethink Christianity
United We Stand
Christian-Jewish understanding, cooperation strengthen and protect both faiths.
DON COHEN
Special to the Jewish News
F
or almost 2,000 years,
Christian leaders denigrated
Judaism and persecuted Jews
to prove the superiority of
their faith. But over the past four
decades, many Christians have strength-
ened their Christian faith by developing
a profound understanding, appreciation
and respect for Judaism. Such is the case
of Dr. John C. Merkle.
Dr. Merkle, a professor of theology at
the College of St. Benedict in St.
Joseph, Minn., shared his personal
encounter with Jews and Judaism with
an interfaith audience of 300 at Adat
Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills
Sept. 18.
As a graduate student in theological
studies at the Catholic University of
Louvain in the 1970s, Merkle began to
read Jewish sources about Judaism.
"I was stunned by the radical differ-
ence between the Judaism portrayed in
those sources and the Judaism depicted
in the classical Christian literature with
which I had become familiar. There was
almost no resemblance between the
two," he said.
He realized that something was terri-
bly wrong with what he had been
taught about Judaism, and that that
teaching impacted not only on the Jews
but also on Christian life and theology.
It caused him "an acute spiritual crisis."
"Because the Church's identity had
been built, in part, upon misinforma-
tion about Judaism, I wondered if there
was a way of explaining Christian iden-
tity apart from anti-Judaism," he said.
"I was shaken to the foundations of my
spiritual life by the realization that the
[Catholic] Church to which I belonged
had, in part, established its identity of a
misrepresented Judaism."
Merkle's growing understanding of
Judaism and of the Church's anti-
Judaism was strengthened by a 1975
statement of the National Conference
of Catholic Bishops referencing the
1965 Second Vatican Council, which
issued the Nostra Aetate clearing Jews of
the charge of deicide and stating "the
Jewish people should not be presented
as repudiated or cursed by God."
The Bishop's statement spoke of
exploring the new relationship between
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2003
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Christians and Jews as a possible source
of "theological renewal."
"To a large extent, my own theologi-
cal enterprise has been, and remains, a
response to the challenge of the
American bishops to explore these
implications," Dr. Merkle explained.
Beyond study, Dr. Merkle credits his
discussions and friendships with Jews,
such as Rabbi Herbert Yoskowitz of
Adat Shalom, for deepening his under-
standing of Judaism and today's Jewish
people. They first met in Minnesota in
1986, when they participated together
in an interfaith forum. They have
remained good friends ever since.
`The Passion' Controversy
The vitality and veracity of
Christianity, particularly in relation to
the passion of Jesus, is understandably
another of Dr. Merkle's major interests.
He expressed concern about reports that
ideas from outside the Christian scrip-
ture may have been used by Gibson as
well as scripture that would not con-
form to current Church teaching and
historical scholarship.
"Christianity devoid of anti-Judaism
and anti-Semitism is infinitely prefer-
able to one that fosters such things," he
said. "We need to be concerned for the
welfare of the Jewish people, but also
about the integrity of our faith."
Adam Cardinal Maida, the
Archbishop of Detroit, also expressed
concern about the Gibson film in a
message read in his absence by Adat
Shalom President Lawrence Wolfe.
Following his greeting, "Shalom! May
the peace of the God who unites us be
with you. Shalom!" Cardinal Maida
At Rabbi Yoskowitz's request, Dr. Merkle
also spoke of the controversy surround-
ing The Passion, a film of the death of
Jesus being produced and directed by
Mel Gibson and scheduled for release in
the summer of 2004. Gibson adheres to
an interpretation of
Catholicism that rejects
the reforms and declara-
tions of the Second
Vatican Council and of
any Pope that has come
since. There is concern on
the part of both
Christians and Jews that
the film will breathe new
life into the repudiated
belief of deicide — that
the Jews are responsible,
Rabbi Yoskowitz with Di Merkle.
and cursed, for the death
of Jesus.
mentioned the film and wrote: "We
Dr. Merkle has worked closely with
must be strong in our response wherev-
the four Jewish and four Christian
er the seeds of misunderstanding and
scholars who reviewed an early script of
anti-Semitism might grow."
the film and sent an 18-page critique to
Gerry Keller of Southfield felt the talk
Gibson. Since then, Gibson's film com-
was
important and appreciated the
pany went public about the critique,
advances the Catholic Church has made
and have launched a public relations
in its understanding and appreciation of
campaign showing the film to selected
Judaism.
groups of non-Catholic Christian lead-
"It was something that had to be said,
ers who have lauded the film.
but
it is unfortunate it didn't come from
"From what we hear there is reason
the
Protestant
part of the Christian
for Jews to be very concerned," said Dr.
community
because
that is where all the
Merkle, "because in the past, dramatic
anti-Semitism
is
coming
from," he said.
representations of the passion have fos-
David Blewett, director of the
tered anti-Jewish attitudes and actions
Ecumenical Institute for Jewish-
... all Christians have a moral responsi-
Christian Studies in Southfield, said,
bility to object to any dramatization of
"John's message needs to be repeated
the Jesus' death that might promote
not only in the Jewish community, but
anti-Semitism and incite violence
elsewhere."
towards Jews."
❑
P
rior to his talk, Dr. John
Merkle met briefly with 40
Christian and Jewish leaders in
support of local efforts to build
bridges between communities. A
past president of the 21-member
Christian Scholars Group on
Christian-Jewish Relations spon-
sored by the Center for Christian-
Jewish Learning at Boston
College, Merkle distributed their
statement, "A Sacred Obligation:
Rethinking Christian Faith in
Relation to Judaism and the
*Jewish People." The statement
which can be found on the
Internet at
www.bc.eduiresearch/cj1/ includes
and explains the following points:
• God's covenant with the Jewish
people endures forever.
• Jesus of Nazareth lived and died
as a faithful Jew.
• Ancient rivalries must not define
Christian-Jewish relations today.
• Judaism is a living faith,
enriched by many centuries of
development.
• The Bible both connects and
separates Jews and Christians.
• Affirming God's enduring
covenant with the Jewish people
has consequences for Christian
understandings of salvation.
• Christians should not target
Jews for conversion.
• Christian worship that teaches
contempt for Judaism dishonors
God.
• We affirm the importance of the
land of Israel for the life of the
Jewish people.
• Christians should work with
Jews for the healing of the world.
Dr. Merkle, an author of two
books about Rabbi Abraham
Joshua Heschel, is the editor of
Faith Mansformed: Christian
Encounters with Jews and Judaism,
published by Liturgical Press in
June. In it, Christian scholars at
the forefront of Christian-Jewish
relations — many from the
Christian Scholars Group — share
how their encounters with Jews
and Judaism have transformed
their understanding and practice
of Christianity and how their
Christian faith has been enriched
by Jewish tradition.
— Don Cohen
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