"All
Israel
Will Be Saved"
Francis
Martin
John Paul II Cultural Center,
Washington
,
D.C.
The following appeared in a symposium published in the National
Catholic Register,
Oct.
6-12, 2002
. It is noteworthy for its theological engagement with Reflections on
Covenant and Mission. Rev. Dr. Francis Martin is a scholar at the John Paul
Intercultural Forum.
.
The
latest joint statement of the Bishops’ Committee for Ecumenical and
Interreligious Affairs of the USCCB and the National Council of Synagogues has
received much distorted attention in the media. Some of this was corrected by
the remarks of Cardinal William H. Keeler to the effect that the statement was
intended to encourage serious reflection on these matters by Jews and Catholics
in the
United States
, and does not represent a
formal position taken by the USCCB or the Bishops’ Committee.
The
imprecisions in the document and, to some extent, the confusion generated by the
media reflect the present state of Catholic – Jewish dialogue stirred into
motion as it is by the Vatican II document Nostra Aetate and the
remarkable words and actions of John Paul II interpreting and giving flesh to
that document. It must also be remembered that this dialogue, taking place in
the shadow of the Shoah, and looking back over centuries of mutual antagonism,
is still in its initial stages. There are good remarks concerning collaboration
on ethical and humanitarian issues. Nevertheless, the lack of theological
clarity, I refer particularly to the Catholic side of the “Reflections,” is
unfortunate.
I would
like to consider here only one point, that of the irrevocability of the Covenant
between God and
Israel
. The teaching is
undoubtedly that of the New Testament; one found clearly in Romans 11:28-29:
“In regard to the Gospel, they [the Jews] are enemies for your sake; but as
regards election they are beloved because of the Fathers; for the gifts and the
calling of God are irrevocable [literally “{are given} without regret”).”
This line teaches that there will always be an
Israel
, a people defined by a
Covenant relation to God; the irrevocability of the gifts and the calling are
due to God’s love for his people (see also Rom
9:25
). This calling, from a New
Testament point of view, includes the call to the Gospel addressed to those who
are always God’s beloved people. As Paul goes on to explain, there will come a
time, in God’s inscrutable plan, when
Israel
“too may now be shown
mercy as a result of the mercy shown to you [the Gentiles].” (Rom
11:31
).
What is
fulfilled, in the New Testament sense, is neither absorbed nor superseded: it is
perfected. Christ is the “goal” of the Law, not as its termination but as
that toward which it moves (see Rom 10:4). One way to understand how the Ancient
Covenant continues to exist in the Christian dispensation is to consider it to
be “sublated,” that is, taken up into a greater context which needs it. Here
is how Bernard Lonergan describes sublation which, as can be seen, is far from
the Hegelian notion: “What sublates goes beyond what is sublated, introduces
something new and distinct, yet so far from interfering with the sublated or
destroying it, on the contrary needs it, includes it, preserves all its proper
features and properties, and carries them forward to a fuller realization within
a richer context.” (Method in Theology, p. 241 italics added). It is in this
sense that Christ fulfills the Covenant and “love (agape) is the fulfillment
of the Law.” (Rom
13:10
).
Up to
now,
Israel
, as a covenanted people
still exists, but not as sublated into Christ. As God’s plan has unfolded over
the past two millennia we have always with us the actual, historical Jewish
people, and this too is a sign that God’s gifts and calling are irrevocable.
The completion of God’s plan as we Christians understand it has yet to take
place, and this will somehow include both the perdurance of the Jewish people
and their unique place within the Church. For, in the perspective of the New
Testament, it is the Gentiles who are “co-heirs, co-bodied, co-sharers in the
promise, in Christ Jesus through the Gospel” (Eph 3:6). The word “somehow”
above expresses our reverence toward the mystery of
Israel
. For our part, we
Christians must witness in love to the fidelity of God to his people who has
protected them from our sins against them, and we must strive to be worthy of
bringing about that plan by which “all
Israel
will be saved.” (Rom
11:26
).