The biblical commission, the Jews, and scriptures - Pontifical Biblical Commission

Biblical Theology Bulletin, Fall, 2002 by Roland E. Murphy

A perennial problem is the translation of hoi Ioudaioi as "the Jews." Referring to Johannine usage, the PBC refuses to dodge by rendering "the Judaeans" or by other subterfuges ([section] 77). The first Christians were Jews. Unfortunately hostility gradually sprang up between them and the others who did not accept Jesus, and this is reflected in the final form of the Gospels. Raymond Brown wrote extensively on this and described the growing animosity of the tradition in the passion narratives:

   Sometimes today there is pressure to drop from the New Testament as
   anti-Semitic such references to "the Jews." Nevertheless, I, for one, would
   resist strongly such a movement. Rather than seeking to "improve" the
   Passion narratives by eliminating such passages, those who preach or teach
   the Bible should wrestle honestly with how first-century conditions qualify
   and color what is reported. The final authors had in fact become
   antagonistic to Jews who did not believe in Jesus. We have no need to
   approve of that hostility, but to excise such references is to censor what
   they intended.

   Moreover, removing offensive passages enables hearers to accept
   unthinkingly everything they find in the Bible, whereas taking the trouble
   to explain the troublesome passages can lead to nuanced interpretation of
   the Bible and help to develop a mature rather than a simplistic
   understanding of the religious meaning of the Lord's Passion for today
   [Brown: 62].

The Testaments are described as united in an "impressive symbiosis," and the communities have "vigorous spiritual ties" uniting them ([section] 85). Would Jews agree that the document has demonstrated such a symbiosis? It finds fault with the tendency in times past to neglect the "fundamental continuity" between Christians and Jews because the discontinuity has been exaggerated ([section] 84). But there is no explicit condemnation of the Christian authorities, religious and secular, who instigated or allowed pogroms in various historical periods. Church history is not the province of the PBC, but it casts its shadow on the document. Absent is an outright condemnation of the mentality that was fed by a superficial interpretation of the Bible.

Absent also is an explicit rejection of the "supercessionism" that lurks behind some Christian attitudes about fulfillment. Supercession and fulfillment are simply not the same. In current theological writings this supercession means that the Jews and their religion have disappeared (in the "eyes" of God) and been displaced by Christianity. In effect Judaism is defunct, finished. The hostility between Christians and Jews calls for a strong affirmation of the validity of a religion rooted in the Bible itself. The emphasis on the continuity between the Testaments can lead to a disregard of what it is that is fulfilled. The temptation is simply to bypass or even dismiss what is not "fulfilled." However, the recognition of fulfillment rests on faith; it is not a simple acceptance of the continuity described in the document. To the credit of the PBC, it acknowledges that the Jewish reading of the Bible is possible and has its own integrity, being in continuity with its own Scriptures, and even analogous to the Christian reading ([section] 22, quoted above).