Christians and Jews live side by side in our American society. We engage one another not only in personal and social ways but also at deeper levels where ultimate values are expressed.

Both the increasingly pluralistic character of our U.S. society and historical events of the twentieth century — including the Holocaust and the establishment of the State of Israel — have posed challenges to the theological assumptions of the American churches as they relate to Jews.

The 199th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (1987) adopted "A Theological Understanding of the Relationship between Christians and Jews" for study and reflection. Its affirmations propose a foundation for Christian relationships with Jews:

1. The God who addresses both Christians and Jews is the same — the living and true God.
2. The church's identity is intimately related to the continuing identity of the Jewish people.
3. We are willing to ponder with Jews the mystery of God's election of both Jews and Christians to be a light to the nations.
4. As Christians we acknowledge that Jews are in covenant relationship with God, and we consider the implications of this reality for evangelism and witness.
5. As Christians we acknowledge in repentance the church's complicity in proliferation of anti-Jewish attitudes and actions, and we determine to put an end to the teaching of contempt for Jews.
6. We are willing to investigate the continuing significance of the promise of "land," with its associated obligations, and to explore the implications for Christian theology.
7. We act in hope, which we share with Jews, as we both await the final manifestation of God's promise of the peaceable kingdom.

Presbyterians have identified underlying questions that require continuing reflection by Christians. Our response should be made in humility and with a deep respect for others' human integrity and spiritual values.

• What are our understandings of Jesus in a religiously plural world?
• What is the appropriate biblical material to guide reflection about Christians and Jews?
• What are the appropriate content and forms of evangelism among people of other faiths?

Dialogue is the appropriate form of faithful conversation between Christians and Jews. As trust is established, not only questions and concerns can be shared but faith and commitments as well. Christians have no reason to be reluctant in sharing the good news of their faith with anyone. A militancy that seeks to impose one's own point of view on another, however, is not only inappropriate but counterproductive. In dialogue, partners are able to define their faith in their own terms, avoiding caricatures of one another. They are thus better able to obey the commandment, "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." It is out of a mutual willingness to listen and to learn that faith deepens and a new and better relationship between Christians and Jews is enabled to grow.

Christians are challenged to review and change attitudes that belittle Jews or fan hatred. We can become aware of those uses of Judaism in preaching and teaching that make it a negative example in order to commend Christianity. We can avoid repetition of stereotypes or nonhistorical ideas about Pharisees and Jewish leadership.

Christians and Jews are each called to the service of God in the world, and Christian witness includes commitment, with others, to human solidarity against injustice and for the unity and integrity of creation.

Both peoples are sensitive to the dimension of the holy. Jews and Christians can cooperate in providing liturgical and theological resources on issues.

Support the search to promote understanding.

• Initiate opportunities to hear the self-understanding of Jews.
• Engage in dialogue with Jewish partners.
• Participate in educational programs designed to foster understanding and better relationships.
• Plan congregational education for Christians and Jews together. Discover activities for all age groups.
• Study materials that explore theological and biblical understandings. Be aware of roots of anti-Semitism that have often come from distortions of Christian faith.
• Seek historical information about past relationships between Christians and Jews.

Support the search for cooperation.

• Teach that authentic Christianity can have no complicity in anti-Semitic attitudes or actions. Work to oppose persecution or denigration of Jews.
• Develop with Jews common opportunities for service and mission to meet human needs and address societal issues of peace and justice.
• Determine appropriate responses to Yom Hashoah, the Holocaust Remembrance Day listed in the Presbyterian calendar.
• Seek common ethical grounds in the Abrahamic faith traditions that enable solidarity on behalf of justice and peace.
• Engage in dialogue with Jewish groups about the State of Israel. Encourage work for reconciliation in the Middle East in as broad a way as possible. Facilitate constructive dialogue and common efforts between Jews, Christians, and Muslims.
• Pray for and encourage those who would break cycles of vengeance and violence, whether of states or resistance movements, of terror or retaliation.

Support the search for faithful witness.

• Participate in common celebration, prayer, and worship with Jews.
• Respond to pastoral needs arising out of the interaction of Jews and Christians in U.S. society.
• Testify by deeds and words to the all-encompassing love of Christ through whom we "who were far off have been brought near" to the covenants of promise.
• Cooperate with other churches to seek the visible Christian unity that makes credible our witness in a pluralistic world.

See General Assembly actions on which this content is based: Christian-Jewish 1987, 1989; Anti-Semitism 1990; Middle East yearly. See also Christian Identity, 1987.

Resources

Efroymson, David P., et al. Within Context: Essays on Jews and Judaism in the New Testament. Liturgical Press, 1993.

Kraus, Hans-Joachim. Israel in the Theology of Calvin. PC(USA) Office of Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations. 1991. Order from office.

Limburg, James. Judaism: An Introduction for Christians. Augsburg Press, 1987.

National Council of Churches. Christians and the Holocaust. 1993. Order from NCC Office of Interfaith Relations, 475 Riverside Dr., New York, NY 10115.

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). A Theological Understanding of the Relationship Between Christians and Jews. 199th General Assembly (1987). Study guide and bibliography. PDS #88-071.

Shermis, Michael and Arthur Zannoni, eds. Introduction to Jewish-Christian Relations. Paulist Press, 1991.

Thinking and Working Together: Study and Action Suggestions for Jewish and Christian Congregations. Prepared by PC(USA), Union of American Hebrew Congregations, National Council of Churches. 1993. PDS #243-93-037.

World Council of Churches. Ecumenical Considerations on Jewish-Christian Dialogue. 1982. Order from office.

"Through dialogue with Jews many Christians have come to appreciate the richness and vitality of Jewish faith and life in the covenant and have been enriched in their own understandings of God and the divine will for all creatures."

"Bible-reading and worshiping Christians often believe that they 'know Judaism.'...This attitude is often enforced by lack of knowledge about the history of Jewish life and thought through the 1,900 years since the parting of the ways of Judaism and Christianity."

"In the process of defining its own identity the church defined Judaism, and assigned to the Jews definite roles in its understanding of God's acts of salvation. It should not be surprising that Jews resent those Christian theologies in which they as a people are assigned to play a negative role. Tragically, such patterns of thought in Christianity have often led to overt acts of condescension, persecution, and worse."

— World Council of Churches
Ecumenical Considerations on Jewish-Christian Dialogue, 1982