Chapter 5 An Introduction to Christian-Jewish Comparative Theology
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Abstract
This introductory chapter argues that comparative theology, understood as “the rereading of one’s home theological tradition … after serious engagement in the reading of another tradition,” (Clooney 1993:3) may have an original contribution to make to the formulation of a non-supersessionist Christian theology of Judaism after the Shoah. In this chapter, I begin by considering the uniqueness of Christian-Jewish relations and how this both intensifies and complexifies comparative theology. I especially mention the shared context of origin of both traditions and the long history of Christian anti-Judaism, culminating in Nazi antisemitism and the Shoah. Next, I give a rudimentary sketch of Christian-Jewish dialogue as it has been developing against the background of the Shoah. Here, I mention important work that has been done by exegetes, historians, liturgical and systematic theologians and how it has already changed the way Christians think about their tradition in relation to Jewish traditions. Subsequently, I lay out some of the reasons why I think comparative theology may have something unique to offer within this context of post-Shoah Christian-Jewish engagement. However, despite being promising, several comparative theologians have noted the underrepresentation of Judaism in comparative theological circles. I argue that, in light of the history of tensed Jewish-Christian relations, comparative theology is a very sensitive undertaking that entails the risk of comparative distortions and brings back bad memories from the past. Taking these concerns seriously, in the final part of this chapter, I establish some ethical and hermeneutical guidelines for doing Christian-Jewish comparative theology in a way that avoids lapsing into old supersessionist patterns of thinking.