Who Needs to be Converted?
Apparently the Catholics and the Jews are in a little squabble over whether it's OK to pray for conversion. From a Reuters news story:
In February the Vatican revised a contested Latin prayer used by traditionalist Catholics on Good Friday, the day marking Jesus Christ's crucifixion, removing a reference to Jewish "blindness" over Christ and deleting a phrase asking God to "remove the veil from their hearts."
Jews criticized the new version because it still says they should recognize Jesus Christ as the savior of all men. It asks that "all Israel may be saved" and Jews said it kept an underlying call to conversion that they had wanted removed.
Rabbi David Rosen, chairman of the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations (IJCIC) and a leading Jewish interlocutor with the Vatican, welcomed the statement but said he had hoped for an explicit reference to proselytism.
"It is implicit in the statement that esteem and solidarity imply that proselytism is inappropriate but I would have been happier if this had been said explicitly," Rosen, who is based in Jerusalem, told Reuters.
2 comments:
1) Apparently it's not OK to want anyone to convert from any worldview to any other worldview. "Proselytism is inappropriate." To which I say: if you don't think your worldview is true (and therefore should be embraced by others too), then why would you hold it?
2) It's a good thing all the Catholics in the world are good to go. Apparently it's only the Jews who need to be converted.
posted by Bob | 8:24 AM
1 Comments:
Hi from a Core member who enjoys reading the blog.
I participate in another interfaith forum and I've noticed that Jewish participants in particular are very resistent to the idea of evangelism or proselytism, either to or from the Jewish faith. I think it goes back to the Old Testament - as God's chosen people, the prophets were sent to Israel, and not sent out to other nations. Converts were welcome, but not sought out per se, and Israel was a light to the nations, but not necessarily reaching out to individuals.
The New Testament brings a major shift in this idea (among many others) that we as believers should actively witness to others.
It seems to be a mentality that remains in the Jewish culture. And while it is understandable, I do agree that in this day and age, no religion, ours, theirs, or any other, should consider themselves above being preached to from others. If one really believed what they said they believed, why would they not want to share?
As far as the focus on the conversion of Jews on Good Friday -- I'm sure no Catholic theologian would argue that this means they are not concerned with the salvation of the world. Just as we might pray in particular for our friends or neighbors at specific times, this doesn't mean we have forgotten everyone else. I think it can be helpful at times to focus our prayers on different topics or people at different times. Good Friday is the break between the Old Testament and the New - when the curtain was torn in two. And it seems to be an appropriate time to remember in particular those who believe the curtain still stands and remain in the Old Testament.
It is a very interesting topic - Thanks for posting it!
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