Jewish-Christian Dialogue Drawing Honey from the Rock

Jews and Christians are bound by an intimacy unprecedented in the history of religions; Jesus, Mary, Paul, and the first apostles were Jewish. Theologically, Christianity needs Judaism. But the relationship between the two religions is fundamentally asymmetrical. John Roth succinctly states the theological imbalance: Nothing in Jewish life logically or theologically entails Christian existence. Christian life, however, does depend essentially on Jewish life. Christianity makes no sense, it would not even exist, if the world contained no Jewish history. Given this intimate connection, one might assume that dialogue between the two religions would come naturally. The opposite, however, is the case. Authentic Jewish-Christian dialogue is a new historical phenomenon whose birth is directly related to the horror and shame of the Holocaust. From the ashes of the death camps there emerged an ember of hope.

David Patterson holds the Bornblum Chair in Judaic Studies at The University of Memphis. Alan L. Berger holds the Raddock Eminent Scholar Chair for Holocaust Studies and directs the Center for the Study of Values and Violence after Auschwitz, as well as the Jewish Studies B.A. Program at Florida Atlantic University.