A pluralistic religious landscape means proclaiming the Good News to persons of other faiths requires considerable finesse.
Evangelizing persons of other faiths, or even committed atheists, agnostics, or freethinkers, is tricky business in our pluralistic and increasingly politicized religious landscape. In Western cultures where tolerance is preeminent among public virtues, such efforts are generally met with scorn, chastisement, and much journalistic gnashing of teeth. In other parts of the world, interfaith gospelers are subject to far worse than a tongue-lashing from the cultural gatekeepers. Such activity may win them spots in jail, or cost them and their families their livelihood, if not their lives.
Recently we have dipped our editorial toes into the chaotic waters of interfaith relations, whether they take the form of a dialog, as touched on in Richard Mouw's piece, or conversion-seeking proclamation, as argued for in Stan Guthrie's recent editorial on evangelizing the Jews. Having read both pieces, it's clear that Mouw shares the evangelistic imperative born of love highlighted by Guthrie, and that Guthrie shares Mouw's firm belief that whatever the form of interfaith communication, it should be marked by "convicted civility," a term Mouw borrows from venerable church historian and cultural commentator Martin Marty.
With regard to the issue of evangelizing the Jews, I'm also pleased that in response to the World Evangelical Alliance's recent statement that ran in The New York Times, "The Gospel and the Jewish People: An Evangelical Statement," we've decided to host an exchange between Stan Guthrie and Rabbi Yehiel E. Poupko, Judaic Scholar at the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, on the very topic of Christian Evangelism and Judaism. Outside of this exchange, WEA's ad has generated very little public comment, except for this critical response from the Anti-Defamation League, and an angry article in The Jerusalem Post.
Yet the kerfuffle surrounding a recent public statement on Christian-Jewish relations from Christianity's largest global communion, namely Pope Benedict's revision of the Good Friday prayer for the Jews, has not abated. For those who have not followed the story, here's the portion of the prayer judged offensive by some:
Let us pray for the Jews. May the Lord our God enlighten their hearts so that they may acknowledge Jesus Christ, the savior of all men...Almighty and everlasting God, you who want all men to be saved and to reach the awareness of the truth, graciously grant that, with the fullness of peoples entering into your church, all Israel may be saved.
Several weeks on from Good Friday, the news is still abuzz today with reports of:
1) Continuing critique from those who thought the revision offensive: Agenzia Italia, AFP, Anti-Defamation League.
2) Vatican response and attempts to mend relations with Jews: Catholic World News, United Press International, Catholic News Agency, JTA, AFP, The Times, Reuters, Catholic News Service.
3) Indications of how this situation is shaping the Pope's upcoming visit to the U.S.: New York Times, Zenit, Catholic News Service.
As the world gets smaller, the challenge of interfaith relations only gets bigger, and the need of wisdom greater still...especially for those who are, by definition, gospel people.
Posted by Derek Keefe on April 4, 2008 5:05PM
Comments
So what has really changed? The earliest church started by preaching the gospel to the Jews. The response was mixed and turned quite deadly. When the apostles turned to the gentiles, it's not like they were filling this huge religious vacuum. The gentiles all had their religions, and they were firm believers of them. Remember the devotion of the Ephesians to Diana in the Book of Acts.
Why do we think the early Christians were persecuted? Because they were such nice, loving people? Not exactly. They confronted the culture with a message they regarded as true. I am not sure, though, that Stephen used the right approach when he chastised the Jewish leaders, which lead to his quick death and persecution of the Jerusalme church.
Posted by: Larry Craig at April 7, 2008
A key question about the generosity, and the love and gracisouness, of God is, What does God want to happen to the people who have not heard the gospel in their mortal lives? If God bars all of those people from an opportunity of salvation through Christ, he is by definition stingy. Surely an omnipotent God and a just God has provided a means by which those who have not heard the gospel, whether in China before Christ or China now, would be able to do so.
The solution to this concern, the confirmation that God is indeed effective in sharing his gift of salvation with all who will accept it, is the provision of opportunities to hear the gospel of Christ in the interval between death and the resurrection. We know there will be separate resurrections of the just and the unjust, but there is no mandate in scripture for final and irrevocable judgment to take place at death rather than at the resurrection. And I Peter 3 and 4 speak specifically of Christ, in the interval between his sacrificial death and his triumphant resurrection, taking the gospel to the "spirits in prison". Persons in this state can still exercise their own choice to accpet Christ or not, but they will be fully accountable for that choice, and not be victims of oppressive governments or reluctant missionaries as they were in mortal life.
Just so, people in various religions who are sincere followers of God to the extent of their understanding, as Saul was before his vision, will have an opportunity to embrace the gospel.
In this way, God can manifest his love to all mankind, without in any way compromising the clear declaration that Christ is the only way to salvation. God can be understood as being more just because he is manifestly more merciful than we had thought him to be.
Surely Christians must address this issue if they are serious about offering the gospel of Christ to Jews and Muslims and Buddhists now. We must be ready to say how God deals justly and mercifully with their ancestors.
Posted by: Raymond Takashi Swenson at April 7, 2008
After a quick read of the response of the ADL and the article in the Jerusalem Post it is clear that the authors of these responses assume that they exclusively represent Judaism and that they own the rights to determining what it is and what it isn't.
The Old and New Testaments are our reference and we should be able to present our understanding of Judaism without having to face accusations of ill-intent toward any people group.
Posted by: R Sabra at April 7, 2008
People who conclude that God would not be just if He allowed people who have never heard of Jesus to be separated from Him for eternity are overly impressed with mankind. It is God's "game" and if we don't happen to follow His rules why should they be changed for us?
Posted by: Bennett at April 11, 2008
Tonight I wil lead a discussion group at the local Borders about the visit of the Pope to the U.S. I will suggest he presented a list of problems facing the R.C. community and will be searching for solutions. In our group we will make recommendations how to solve some of these problems. i served for 43 years in Chile, Costa Rica and Spain as a bookstore representative and had much contact with R.C.s and their institutiosn in those communities. The dogmas of the R.C. church are obstacles to their being very open to change, but the mounting problems they face will need to be considered. Little known are the undercurrents of rebellion among local priests, seminary professors and writers. R.C. laypeople are surging into evangelical fellowships across L. American and in Spain. Many of them or their parents abandoned the R.C. churches some time before they showed up in evangelical locations. Radio, television nd literature are opening their options for drawing near to God!
Posted by: Bob Newman at May 5, 2008
Most of the body of Christ does not fully realize that the Jewish branch of the body of Christ was virtually wiped out from 325AD onward by what became the Catholic Church (starting with Constantine). Within 38 short years, a virtual historic nano-second, the Jewish branch of the body of Christ was restored (from about 1970 to present). UNITYINCHRIST.COM features a Messianic section to help explain this phenomenon. The Messianic branch of the body of Christ, by one qualified estimate, is 500,000 strong in Jewish believers in Yeshua haMeshiach (Jesus the Messiah, or as we know him, Jesus Christ). There are about 100 Messianic Jewish congregations in Israel today. To read a fascinating article about just how Jewish the early Church was, log onto www.UNITYINCHRIST.COM and click on the Early Church History nav button on the left-hand nav bar of the Homepage. It's time we got to know each other throughout the body of Christ, and especially come to know our Jewish brothers in Christ.
Posted by: Pete Benson at August 19, 2008
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