Salvation is from the Jews (John 4:22): Saving Grace in Judaism and Messianic Hope in ChristianityGrowing up in an ethnic suburb in Cleveland, Aaron Milavec was an impressionable adolescent whose religious and cultural influences made it natural for him to pity, blame, and despise Jews. All of that began to change in 1955 when Mr. Martin, a Jewish merchant, hired Milavec as a stock boy. Milavec's initial anxieties over working for a Jew surprisingly gave way to profound personal admiration. This, in turn, plunged Milavec into a troubling theological dilemma: How could God consign Mr. Martin to eternal hellfire due to his ancestral role in the death of Jesus when it was clear that Mr. Martin would not harm me, a Christian, even in small ways? This book is not for the faint-hearted. Most Christians imagine that the poison of anti-Judaism has been largely eliminated. In contrast, Milavec reveals how this poison has gone underground--disfiguring not only the role of Israel in God's plan of salvation but also horribly twisting the faith, the forgiveness, and the salvation that Christians find through Jesus Christ. This painful realization serves as the necessary first step for our healing. At each step of the way, Milavec's sure hand builds bridges of mutual understanding that enable both Christians and Jews to cross the chasm of distrust and distortion that has infected both church and synagogue over the centuries. In the end, Milavec securely brings his readers to that place where Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity can again be admired as sister religions intimately united to one other in God's drama of salvation. |
From inside the book
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... act of venerating Jesus of Nazareth as my Lord and my Redeemer . By honoring one Jew , I was accordingly urged to honor all Jews . During the 80s , I became comfortable with the idea that the main- line churches , for the most part ...
... Acts 2:46 ; 3 : 1 ; 21:26 , etc. ) . ( Notes 20 ) While the Jesus movement did eventually break its ties with Judaism , this break could not and would not take place until Gentile converts swelled the ranks of Christian assemblies and ...
... ( Acts 4:12 ) . Beyond this , the grace of enlightenment is also seen as coming from the sacrifice of Christ , which releases the Holy Spirit into the world . Does Cardinal Ratzinger , accordingly , want us to imagine that Jews receive ...
... Acts 13 : 46-47 ) ? Paul clari- fies his point here by using the image of the cultivated olive tree being pruned of ... act of grace through Jesus Christ whereby " outsiders " become " adoptive children " ( Rom 8 : 14-17 ) . The people ...
... Acts , Paul identifies Israel as having the divinely mandated mission to be " light for the Gentiles " ( Acts 13:47 , citing Isa 49 : 6 ) . If so , it follows that when this mission was advanced by Jesus ( Matt 4:13 ) , his disciples ...
Contents
1 | |
23 | |
The Story of Salvation | 57 |
Parting of the Ways | 84 |
Jesus as Messiah | 116 |
The Unsavory Odor of Christian Evangelization | 152 |
Reflections on Covenant and Mission | 173 |
Bibliography | 183 |
Index | 196 |