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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... living Jew I encountered as a teenager growing up in Euclid , Ohio . He was the first Jew I came to love . His justice and his generosity first turned my heart toward the spiritual plight of Jews . In so doing , he forced me to boldly ...
... living Jesus spoke and which Didymus Judas Thomas wrote down . " Hermas or Shepherd of Hermas Works of Justin the Martyr ( 100-165 c.E. ) 1. Apol . 2. Apol . Dial . Strom . First Apology Second Apology Dialogue with Trypho Clement of ...
... living Jews . These contacts over a period of fifty years enabled me to detect the poison at the heart of my Catholic upbringing so deeply , so tenderly , and so honestly as to address even the pain and the distrust that Jews experience ...
... living Jew . " Let them stay where they belong " was my Dad's favorite line . But then , in an unexpected moment , a real flesh and blood Jew , Mr. Martin , made his way into my life . I was an impressionable boy of sixteen in 1955. Mr ...
... living , without distinc- tion , nor upon the Jews of today . ( Nostra Aetate 4 ) 3. Dr. Eugene Fisher was appointed to his present post as Executive Secretary of the Secretariat for Catholic - Jewish Relations of the National ...
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 |