In contemporary society with its multiplicity of faiths, there has been an increasing interest in the relationship between the world's religions. Over the centuries a number of Jewish writers have oscillated
between an exclusivist and inclusivist stance, but all have been concerned to make sense of Judaism in the context of other religious traditions.
1. Biblical and Early Rabbinic Views
In the Hebrew Scriptures, the Jews are presented as God's chosen people; they alone are the recipients of his true revelation. This conviction led to the renunciation of foreign deities and the prescriptions against idolatry. According to the biblical writers, the gods of other peoples are non-entities. Yet, foreign nations were not condemned for their pagan ways. Idolatry was sinful only for the Jewish people. Here then in the Bible is a mildly tolerant form of Jewish exclusivism. The religion of the Jews is presented as the one true faith, yet there is no condemnation of idolatry. In addition the prophets foretold that at the end of days, all people will recognise that the God of Israel is the Lord of history. Rabbinic teaching about non-Jews continued this tradition of tolerance; those who follow the Noachide Laws (given originally to Adam and Noah) are viewed as acceptable to God. Even those who engage in seemingly polytheistic practices are admissible as long as the gods they worship are conceived as symbolically pointing to the one true God.
In the writings of medieval thinkers such as Rabbenu Tam, this earlier rabbinic conception of symbolic intermediacy was applied to Christian believers; in the view of these scholars Christianity is not idolatry. Some writers such as Judah Halevi formulated an even more tolerant form of Jewish inclusivism. In their view, Christians as well as Muslims have a positive role in God's plan for humanity: as monotheistic faiths they can spread the message of monotheism to other nations and encourage them to adhere to the Noahide covenant.
2. Conflict between Christians and Jews
Even though such writers as Rabbenu Tam and Judah Halevi espoused a tolerant attitude toward the Christian faith, the Jewish community as a whole was antagonistic to Christianity throughout the Middle Ages. This was not surprising considering that throughout Europe Jews were continually attacked and accused of such crimes as murdering Christian children and using their blood for ritual purposes, defaming the host, blaspheming Christ , and bringing about the Black Plague. Such hostility toward Judaism was intensified by a series of disputations between Christians and Jews in the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries.
As a consequence of Christian attempts to convert Spanish Jewry, a considerable number of Jews embraced the Christian faith. However in the fifteenth century the Church institute a new form of persecution--under King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, the Inquisition was instructed to purge Jewish converts (Marranos) who were suspected of practising Jewish customs. Tribunals were established throughout the country which applied torture to extract confessions from the guilty. Seeking to escape such persecution, many Marranos sought refuge in Portugal where they led a Christian way of life while secretly observing Jewish practices. Following Spanish precedent however the Portuguese Inquisition was established in 1536 and attempted to track down Marranos wherever they lived.
3. The Impact of the Enlightenment
For the majority of European Jews the medieval period extended into the eighteenth century, however the French Revolution followed by the Napoleonic period radically altered the status of the Jewish masses enabling them to enter into western life and culture. The spirit of emancipation unleashed by these events swept across Europe and freed Jews from their traditional lifestyle. The origins of Jewish thought during this period of change go back to seventeenth
century Holland where a number of Jewish thinkers attempted to revaluate Judaism in the light of current scientific developments. Preeminent among such writers was Baruch Spinoza who formulated a radical theological view which rejected the doctrine of a supernatural deity--distancing himself from any form of either Jewish exclusivism or inclusivism, he propounded a form of religious pluralism consonant with the spirit of the age.
In the following century the Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn adopted a more traditional theological stance in which the Jewish people were viewed as the recipient of a divine revelation consisting of ritual and moral laws. Nonetheless, Mendelssohn believed that all peoples are capable of discerning God's reality through human reason. such a fusion of particularism and universalism constituted a modernist conception of Jewish inclusivism. Two other thinkers of this period--Joseph Salvador and Abraham Geiger--similarly offered a sympathetic appreciation of another faith (Christianity) while at the same time adhering to the belief that Judaism is the superior religion.
4. Jewish Reflections in the Age of Emancipation
Once emancipated, Jewish thinkers began to grapple with the main currents of Western philosophical thought and in their different ways offered a positive evaluation of both Christianity and Islam. Preeminent among mid-nineteenth century Jewish writers, Samuel Hirsch argued that throughout history Judaism sought to overcome the threat of paganism. In this quest, he believed, Christianity has a role, yet ultimately it is the Jewish faith--as the purest form of monotheism--which is humanity's hope for the future. A similar position was espoused by Solomon Formstecher who maintained that Judaism is the ultimate form of the religious life; nonetheless, he stressed, both Christianity and Islam as monotheistic faiths play a role in the unfolding of God's plan. A third figure of this period, Solomon Ludwig Steinheim also viewed Christianity as furthering God's eschatological scheme; although inferior to Judaism the Christian faith serves as a means of accomplishing God's purposes.
In contrast with these thinkers, Hermann Cohen was severely critical of Christian theology . However he too pleaded for a better relationship between Christianity and Judaism in the struggle to bring knowledge of one God to all people. Such qualified endorsements of Christianity were superseded by Claude Montefiore's attempt to present Christianity in
the most positive light. According to Montefiore, God reveals himself in different ways throughout history-the Christian faith he stressed is one such disclosure and Jews can be enlightened by a knowledge of the New Testament.
5. Modern Jewish Thought
In the modern period a number of Jewish theologians have been anxious to explore the origins of Christianity, its subsequent development, and the relationship between Jewish and Christian faiths. The Central European writer, Max Brod, for example, admired Jesus as a Jewish teacher. Yet he was critical of Paul's view that God's revelation was manifest in a single historical event--the life of Christ. In addition he argued that as the Christian faith developed it became corrupted by pagan features. In his opinion the only hope for the human race is Judaism.
The German Jewish theologian Franz Rosenzweig was not concerned with the life of Jesus; rather he was preoccupied with theological truth. According to Rosenzweig, paganism does not offer a viable approach to God; Judaism and Christianity, on the other hand, provide a true path to the Divine. Judaism, he believed, expresses the relationship between God, humanity and the world--nonetheless
Christianity has the capacity to spread the universal message of monotheism to all peoples.
A positive endorsement of the Christian faith was similarly affirmed by the German Jewish leader Leo Baeck who attempted to reclaim Jesus as an authentic Jewish figure despite Baeck's criticism of Pauline Christianity and the subsequent development of Christian theology. Likewise the German Jewish theologian Martin Buber admired Jesus as a great religious figure despite his misguided messianic claims. Even though Jews cannot accept Jesus as Saviour, he agued, they should recognise his essential Jewishness.
A similar plea was expressed by Jacob Klausner, formerly professor at the Hebrew University. Jesus, he maintained, was a typical Jewish teacher of the first century who fully accepted Jewish law. As such he should be regarded with respect by the Jewish community. In Klausner's view, Judaism will eventually become the religion for all people-nevertheless Jews should acknowledge their debt to Christianity for paving the way for this outcome.
6. Post Holocaust Jewish Thinkers
The Holocaust has had a profound effect on Jewish attitudes toward Christianity. No longer has it been possible to look forward optimistically to JewishChristian encounter as envisioned by previous Jewish thinkers. Nonetheless several writers have continued to explore the relationship between Judaism and Christianity. The German scholar Hans Joachim Schoeps, for example, published a survey of JewishChristian dialogue in which he asserted that God has disclosed himself to both communities in different ways. Thus it is necessary for Jews and Christians to acknowledge one another's truths.
In a different vein the American Jewish theologian Richard Rubenstein reformulated his understanding of God as the result of an encounter with the German Christian pastor Heinrich Gruber, Dean of the Evangelical Church in East and West Berlin. Pondering Gruber's interpretation of the Holocaust, Rubenstein came to the conclusion that he could no longer believe in an interventionist deity. Instead he formulated a mystical theology similar to the systems found in Eastern religions.
A very different approach to the Holocaust was undertaken by the American theologian Emil Fackenheim who argued that God had disclosed a new commandment out of the ashes of Auschwitz.
According to Fackenheim, both Jews and Christians are now obligated to resist contemporary secularism. As far as Jewry is concerned, Jews are mandated to ensure that Judaism and the Jewish people continue to survive. For two other Jewish theologians--Ignaz Maybaum, and Arthur A Cohen--Christian motifs and Christian doctrine have provided the basis for their understanding of God's dealings with his chosen people in the Nazi era. In the last few decades then a number of Jewish writers have wrestled with various aspects of Christian teaching in their quest to understand Jewish existence in a post-Holocaust world.
7. Conclusion
Throughout history Judaism has adopted a largely tolerant attitude toward other faiths In biblical times the religion of Israel was exclusivist in orientation; nonetheless pagan people were not condemned for their beliefs and practices. Further, the prophets believed that in the final days all the nations of the world would recognise that the God of Israel is the Lord of creation. During the rabbinic period attitudes of tolerance continued to animate Jewish life; according to the rabbis all non-Jews who follow the Noachide laws are acceptable to God. A number of medievalists continued this tradition, and in the
modern period there has been an increasing acknowledgement of the integrity of other faiths, particularly Christianity. Hence, the history of the Jewish faith points to a growing recognition of the spiritual wealth of other religions and lays the foundation for a fruitful interfaith dialogue.
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