Supersessionism

Supersessionism                                    

Part I: What is supersessionism?

The word "supersessionism" comes from the Latin super ("on," "upon," or "above") and sedere ("to sit"), as when one person sits on another person's chair, thereby displacing the other person. Christian theological supersessionism — as espoused, for example, by Augustine (5th century) and Martin Luther (16th century) — makes the claim that, following the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Christians replaced Jews in God's love and favor and in the divine plan of salvation.

According to the supersessionist view, God repudiated the Jewish people for their rejection of Christ. As a result, God's covenantal relationship with Israel was abrogated, to be taken up by the Church; and the Mosaic Law (Torah) was annulled, to be replaced by the law of Christ. Christians inherited all the promises of God to Israel in the Bible; Jews retained all the Bible's prophetic criticism and condemnation. Jewish biblical interpretation was discounted, and the "Old Testament" was assigned only a provisional validity. Judaism came to be regarded as merely a historical and social entity at best, and, at worst, a dead faith, the victim of a Pharisaic-rabbinic obsession with legalistic piety.

In supersessionist theology Jesus' ministry is understood as having been in direct opposition to Judaism. In consequence, Jesus is completely removed from his first-century Jewish context, and he becomes the primary obstacle between Christians and Jews.

Part II: Why is supersessionism a problem?

Implied in the claim that Christians displaced Jews in the covenant with God is the notion that Jews should stop being Jews and become Christians. This ideology undergirds a "teaching of contempt" for Jews and Judaism that has marred relations between Christians and Jews for two millennia. Over the centuries anti-Judaic attitudes buttressed by displacement theology have produced evil fruit: legislation designed to discriminate against and suppress the Jews, and open acts of violence — forced baptism, child stealing, population expulsions, and murderous pogroms. Habits of hatred ultimately paved the way for the Nazis' "Final Solution of the Jewish Problem."

The supersessionist theology that created so many burdens for Jews has proved to be a problem for Christians as well. Supersessionism distorted Christian doctrine as it developed in the early Church. It continues to influence much contemporary Christian theology and is continually reinforced by the preaching and teaching presented in many churches. To our shame, moreover, supersessionist attitudes have fostered among Christians demonstrably un-Christian behavior.

Supersessionist theology raises crucial questions that a responsible Christianity cannot afford to ignore. For example, if Jews have been displaced in the divine plan of salvation, how do Christians account for Judaism's continuing existence and for the many faithful and theologically profound people who have been a part of the Jewish community? If a newer revelation displaces an older one, hasn't Christianity been displaced by Islam? Most significantly, what does supersessionist theology imply about the morality and faithfulness of God? If God's promises to the patriarchs and matriarchs of the people Israel could be nullified by the coming of Jesus Christ, what guarantee do Christians have that God's promises to anyone are reliable? The glaring weaknesses in displacement theology ought to make it obvious to Christians everywhere that supersessionism must be abandoned.

Part III: What can be done about supersessionism?

Before discussing those things that Christians can do to reverse the pernicious effects of displacement theology on our minds and hearts, it should be acknowledged with thanksgiving that thoughtful people in many denominations have been working for a number of years to identify and eliminate the vestiges of supersessionism that still taint our faith. Devoted Christians everywhere need to expand these efforts and continue to work until every trace of the "teaching of contempt" has been eradicated.

Overcoming supersessionism is not an insurmountable problem, but it is a complex one. It requires the Church:

1.         to question the appropriateness and credibility of its teachings about the God of Israel and the Israel of God,

2.        to confront the implications of those teachings, and

3.        to re-examine the major doctrines of the Christian tradition in light of what the Church will have learned in the process about itself and its relationship to Judaism and the Jewish people.

Moreover, the Church must reappraise its approach to the Bible. Christians need to acknowledge the anti-Jewish polemic in the Christian Scriptures and understand the historical reasons for its presence. In addition, we must recognize the religious importance of the Hebrew Bible in its own right and establish a proper understanding of the relationship between the two testaments.

We must also develop more appropriate ways of interpreting scripture. Most fundamentally, we must acknowledge that Jesus of Nazareth lived his life, from the manger to the cross, as a Jew; and we must interpret Paul and his theology in the context of the Judaisms of the first century of the Common Era.

On the most elemental level, it is in the story Christians tell of divine interventions in human history and God's relations with humankind that we image our basic convictions and our understanding of reality and the nature of Christian life. If we are to overcome supersessionism, we must change the way we tell this story.

Finally, we Christians must change our attitudes and behaviour toward the Jewish people. We must jettison Christian caricatures and stereotypes of Judaism and learn how Jews understand their own religious beliefs. We must be in conversation with Jews as we do our theology. We must re-examine our efforts to convert Jews to Christianity, concentrating our energies instead on engaging with them in witness and service. When a Jew receives and embraces Jesus as the Jewish Messiah, we encourage them to remain and live as Jews; they do not convert to Christianity!

Above all, we must teach respect for the Jewish people and for Judaism as a vibrant faith having its own integrity and witness to the world.

Derek4Messiah’s musings on Supersessionism

I got a wonderful opportunity this weekend to guest blog on Scot McKnight’s Jesus Creed blog. Jesus Creed is one of the most widely read Christian blogs and Scot McKnight is a theologian whose thoughts are worth following. 

My post was about Richard Harvey’s Mapping Messianic Jewish Theology, which I am reviewing here chapter by chapter. The reason it thrilled me to review Harvey’s book on Jesus Creed is that I want to see more Christians interact with the idea of the Jewish response to Yeshua.

One thing always to be kept in mind in Jewish-Christian relations is that people saturated with church theology and culture often will take a less than glorious view of the present and future role of Israel in God’s on going work of completing and redeeming his creation. Another thing to keep in mind is patience and a charitable attitude. It is not as if Christians, including those who are very bright and well-read, have an animus against Jewish people, per se.

Rather, the defeat and obsolescence of Judaism at the hands of a triumphant and superseding Christianity is embedded into the core ideas of most Christian theologies. To root out supersessionism requires questioning core ideas and commitments, rethinking and reconfiguring the very canonical narrative that supports most Christian theology.

One of the things my blog post on Jesus Creed revealed is that even among the exceptionally bright and informed of the Christian community, supersessionism remains an unexamined assumption of life and theology. And I am not condemning any of the commenters from Jesus Creed, all of whom (except perhaps one) commented with the measured humility that is fitting for all of us who dwell in the shadow of the Almighty. I would also say in defence of the Jesus Creed community that these people are caring for widows and orphans and the issue of the Jewish people has not risen to the forefront for many. I will also say that a few commenters already did get it and not all Christians by any means retain supersessionist assumptions.

R. Kendall Soulen’s The God of Israel and Christian Theology is a book that stands out from the crowd of books on the subject. This is the singular most intelligent, constructive, and incisive treatment of the topic. On pg. 29, Soulen cites one example of supersessionism, from Melito of Sardis, the second century church father:

“The people Israel was precious before the church arose,  and the law was marvellous before the gospel was elucidated.  But when the church arose  and the gospel took precedence  the model was made void, conceding its power to the reality . . .  the people was made void when the church arose”.               (From On Pascha)

This little theological poem is an example of economic supersessionism: the idea that Israel is subsumed and made obsolete under the new economy of Christianity (or New Covenant or however you would like to express the new economy brought to us in Christ).

Economic supersessionism need not be anti-Judaic. You can admire a fossil. You can write about its history, the beauty of the creature that became the fossil. You can even say charitable things about those who continue to exist according to the pattern of the fossilized creature. But you believe nonetheless that the being that gave arise to the fossil can only continue meaningfully by switching to the new economy.

Often hand in hand with economic supersessionism is punitive supersessionism: Israel’s place is surrendered due to lack of faith in Christ. The “punitive” in punitive supersessionism does not always indicate that the church punishes Israel (though historically, this happened more often than not in numerous slaughters, burnings, pogroms, and eventually the ovens of the Nazi party). Rather, punitive indicates that the removal of Israel from its place as the covenant people of God is a punishment for failure to believe in and follow Christ. However, the church often took it upon itself to be the avenging agent of God against the Jews.

Melito of Sardis has a poem about this as well:

Therefore, O Israel,  you did not quake in the presence of the Lord,  so you quaked at the assault of foes . . .  you did not lament over the Lord,  so you lamented over your firstborn;  You did not tear your clothes when the Lord was hung,  so you tore them over those who were slain. . . you did not accept the Lord,  you were not pitied by him. . .  (From On Pascha)

You might possible eradicate economic supersessionism from your theology and expunge every trace of punitive supersessionism and still have a problem. You can say all day long, “I continue to believe Israel is God’s chosen people,” and yet be a supersessionist in a subtle and pervasive way.  How is this so?

The most pervasive, subtle, and sneaky form of supersessionism is structural supersessionism: reading the overarching narrative of the Bible in such a way that Israel is a footnote in history. Soulen introduces a concept called the canonical narrative. It means the way you see the big story arc of the Bible, the metanarrative, the overarching tale.

The topic deserves its own blog post, but I’ll briefly describe the standard canonical narrative of the church, which Soulen documents as a second century production. Many modern theologians have not progressed from the second century on this most important matter. The SCN or standard canonical narrative is as follows:

Creation     Fall        Redemption       Consummation (a fancy word for bringing top completion, perfection)

God created us. We fell away from him. He sent a redeemer to bring us back. The redeemer will return to consummate all things. Consider how the SCN makes use of the Bible:

Creation – Genesis 1-2                 Fall – Genesis 3             Redemption – Gospels and Epistles             Consummation – Revelation

The Bible of the SCN is greatly abridged. You could take your Christian Bible, cut out Genesis 4 through Malachi 4, and not lose a drop. Copies of the New Testament could be printed with Genesis 1-3 as an introduction and a selection of Messianic prophecies appended, and little would be lost. The SCN is structural supersessionism because in the very structure of its understanding of the Bible, Israel is a footnote.

We would do well to ask ourselves, why didn’t God bring the redeemer right away, before Abraham and Moses and all that inconvenient stuff?

At the very least, we need to embrace a canonical narrative that recognizes God sunk his presence into the “carnal soil” of history (the term was coined by Michael Wyschogrod, an Orthodox Jewish theologian, and is used by Soulen). Israel is the carnal soil into which God’s presence was placed in human history. To make a long story short, in a foolproof manner, not dependent on complete faithfulness from Israel, God’s presence on earth, his incarnation, was through the people Israel.

Ultimately the incarnation settled in its ultimate form in a son of Israel. Our canonical narrative at the very least needs one more step, and creative ways of restructuring it should be thought out:

Creation                   Fall                    Covenant                     Redemption                      Consummation

So, if you want to develop a theology which rids itself of all supersessionism, which assumes that God did not waste anything in his economy of redemption, that nothing is purposeless in the Biblical story arc, you need not only to get rid of economic and punitive supersessionism, but also structural. And this is a paradigm change in theology.

I suggest Soulen’s book as one great attempt on the way. I find his rebuilding of the canonical narrative persuasive. Others are possible.