Download Soteriology and Judaism

Salvation and the People of Israel - Harmonizing a Soteriological Dilema
Written by David Sedaca
When we try to discuss the topic of soteriology and the people of Israel, we are faced with a
problem. Soteriology is a Christian concept, discussed in Christian theology and is part of
Christian dogma. The word "soteriology" is commonly defined as the study of the
doctrine of salvation. It discusses how Messiah's death provides salvation to those who believe
in him And is therefore directly linked with the study of other doctrines derived from the belief
that Jesus is the Messiah who died for the sinner. From the study of soteriology we derive the
doctrines of redemption, justification, sanctification, propitiation, and the substitutionary
atonement.
Soteriology and Judaism
Soteriology is the one area where Messianic Judaism and traditional Judaism collide; and this
difference is not peculiar to Messianic Judaism and traditional Judaism, but it is also a point of
contention between Christianity and other world religions. This conflict arises from the fact that
a soteriology which is based on the Bible (Tanakh and Brit Hadasha) presents as fact the
principle that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone in Jesus the Messiah, and
nothing else needs to be added to the formula for salvation.
[i]
The word soteriology is never found in Jewish literature, as the whole concept is alien and
foreign to Jewish thought. Does it mean that Judaism has no concept of salvation? Not at all.
But in considering soteriology and the people of Israel we encounter at least two discrepancies.
The first is the fact that the etymology of the word "soteriology" is derived from two
Greek words; the first being "soterion" commonly translated as
"salvation," and "soter," the person who provides salvation (a savior).
The ending is the English
-logy
understood as "the study of." We can say that in theological terms soteriology
deals with salvation especially as brought about and accomplished by Jesus of Nazareth. Thus,
the first point of divergence we encounter is that, if soteriology is the study of the saving work of
Jesus of Nazareth, then Judaism has nothing to say about it as it denies the belief in Jesus as
Messiah.
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Salvation and the People of Israel - Harmonizing a Soteriological Dilema
Written by David Sedaca
The second point of contention is the whole idea of salvation. How does Judaism interpret the
concept of salvation? Is there a Jewish concept of salvation? What does Judaism teach about
salvation?
The Relevance of this Topic
The need to better understand this subject has been brought to the surface by two recent
events which are somewhat related to our Messianic Jewish life. The first of these events is
the developing idea -held by several leaders of Messianic Jewish congregations-of the (hidden
?) J was not unconscious... mediation of Jesus for the people of Israel. This concept is also
called "the wider hope" of Israel. Given the fact that Messianic Judaism is part of
the Jewish community and at the same time part of the larger Body of Messiah, in recent years
the way in which this dual relationship is to be understood has been expressed in different
ways. Most recently, the issue of Wider Hope has come to the forefront. While some firmly
believe in the traditional evangelical view that it is necessary to accept Jesus as Lord and
Savior-personally and consciously, a minority advocate the view that somehow there is a
distinctive and unique way in which the sacrificial death of Jesus is applied to the salvation of
the community of Israel as a whole, without the need of a personal and confessional
acceptance. Only recently has such view emerged within the messianic movement and been
publily articulated. A recently published book by Messianic Rabbi Dr. Mark S. Kinzer,
Postmissionary Messianic Judaism
[ii]
has made of the topic Salvation and the Jewish people a matter of intense debate within the
Messianic Jewish movement. Kinzer's views are shared by other prominent Messianic Jewish
leaders; other leaders vehemently oppose such views. The debate has raised valid questions
that need to be discussed.
{josquote}The debate has raised valid questions that need to be discussed. {/josquote}
Thus, the idea of a symposium was birthed and a gathering of almost 70 Messianic Jewish
theologians and leaders met in New York City this past October in what was called the Borough
Park Symposium. The topic of the symposium was "The Gospel and The Jewish
People" and several papers were presented, among them, "The Gospel
Message," "Salvation and the Jewish People" and "Presenting the
Gospel to our Jewish People."
Mark S. Kinzer, author of the abovementioned book, presented a paper titled "Final
Destinies: Qualifications for Receiving an Eschatological Inheritance,"
which appears in this issue. Dr. Kinzer adheres to unconscious mediation-that the people of
Israel may be saved through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus, without their conscious individual
acceptance of Him. In defining the issue Kinzer states:
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Salvation and the People of Israel - Harmonizing a Soteriological Dilema
Written by David Sedaca
What qualifications must individual human beings possess to inherit life in the world to come?
Underlying this general question is a more specific one: Do we have grounds for hope that
some who do not explicitly acknowledge Yeshua before death will be among those who inherit
life in the world to come? Within the Messianic Jewish movement the driving concern is even
more specific: Do we have grounds for hope that some Jewish people who do not explicitly
acknowledge Yeshua in this life will be among the redeemed in the world to come? I call this
the question of final destinies. In my view, the good news proclaimed and lived by the apostles
is primarily concerned with final destiny (in the singular): the eschatological consummation of
covenant history and the created order in Messiah Yeshua by God's Spirit. Most Messianic
Jews would also consider salvation as dealing prominently with nations, and in particular with
the nation of Israel." [iii]
The second issue that makes this topic relevant is a recently published book by Rev. John
Hagee, "In defense of Israel: The Biblical Mandate for Supporting the Jewish
State."
[iv] Hagee is pastor of a non-denominational 19,000 member church in
San Antonio, Texas. He is an ardent supporter of the State of Israel and the Jewish people in
general, as evidenced by his website,
[v] containing a plethora of
comments and articles supporting Israel and the Jewish people. He is also founder of
Christians United for Israel whose membership can be counted in the millions and whose
purpose is "to stand in support of Israel and the Jewish people, thus fulfilling Isaiah 62: 1,
"For Zion's sake I will not be silent."
[vi]
Rev. Hagee's support for Israel is unquestionable, yet he takes his position to the extreme by
"excusing" Israel and Jesus' contemporaries for not accepting him as Messiah.
Hagee's position is what I have termed "loving the Jews to death." Hagee makes
the following arguments:
Five major points must now be made that are crucial to understanding that the Jews did not
reject Jesus as Messiah .
1. Jesus had to live to be the Messiah
2. If it was God's will for Jesus to die from the beginning...
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Salvation and the People of Israel - Harmonizing a Soteriological Dilema
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3. If it was Jesus intention to be obedient unto death...
4. If there is not one verse of Scripture in the New Testament that says that Jesus came to be
the Messiah....
5. And if Jesus refused by his words or actions to claim to be the Messiah to the Jews, then
how can the Jews be blamed for rejecting what was never offered?
(emphasis by Hagee)
[vii]
These two events-the Borough Park Symposium and John Hagee's book-have indeed made
the topic of soteriology and the Jewish people very relevant, especially for Messianic Jews
who have believed that Jesus is the Messiah and have made his Great Commission their raiso
n d'etre
and motive for their missionary endeavors. On the other hand, if Jewish people have been
unconsciously and unknowingly saved by Jesus' sacrifice, or in Hagee's case, they were right
in rejecting Jesus, what reason or right do we have to proclaim Jesus' messiahship to the
Jewish people?
Salvation as Interpreted by Judaism
It is not uncommon to see on top of a church building a sign that read simply JESUS SAVES.
Just by placing a sign with these simple two words these churches are stating their
fundamental belief : the need for salvation and that Jesus is the one who provides it. And this is
precisely a point of friction with traditional Judaism, namely, that there is a need for a savior,
and that that savior is Jesus.
We need to go back to the earliest biblical texts to understand the Jewish concept of
salvation. Based on God's unique relationship with the people of Israel as presented in the
Tanakh, salvation is almost always understood as collective and national, not personal and
individual.
Thus, the Lord hears the cries of
the children of Israel and delivers them from bondage. Passover is a national and collective
celebration; it remembers how God saved the Israelites and formed them into a nation, and the
same nation of people collectively accepted the Mosaic Covenant, thus endearing them as the
chosen people. "
For you are
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Salvation and the People of Israel - Harmonizing a Soteriological Dilema
Written by David Sedaca
a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples
on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.
"
[viii]
"I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of
Egypt
, out of the land of slavery."
[ix]
Likewise, Yom Kippur was to be observed by the whole community of Israel, not just the
individual. God's pact was not made with the individual Israelite but with the whole nation.
Moses' words were:
You stand today, all of you, before the Lord your God: your chiefs, your tribes, your elders
and your officers, even all the men of Israel, your little ones, your wives, and the alien who is
within your camps, from the one who chops your wood to the one who draws your water, that
you may enter into the covenant with the Lord your God, and into His oath which the Lord your
God is making with you today, in order that He may establish you today as His people and that
He may be your God, just as He spoke to you and as He swore to your fathers, to Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob.
Now not with you alone am I making this covenant and this oath, but both with those who
stand here with us today in the presence of the Lord our God and with those who are not with
us here today. [x]
Judaism believes that in the same way that the Lord saved the children of Israel in the past as
a nation, he also promises to restore Israel as a nation, meaning collectively, not individually.
This is the way that rabbinic literature understands every prophetic passage that deals with
Israel's restoration, especially passages like Jeremiah 31:31 which clearly states that the New
Covenant will be made "with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah."
Again, this restoration is collective and national.
In the Talmud, the rabbis taught: "The rest of the prayer: [Accept my] song, petition,
supplication before Thee for Thy people
Israel, which
are in need of salvation.
"
[xi]
Again we cite the Talmud where it is implied that salvation is for all Israel "
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Salvation and the People of Israel - Harmonizing a Soteriological Dilema
Written by David Sedaca
Said Raba, Samuel may have taken all
Israel
collectively, using the singular expression [verb], as it is written [elsewhere]: O
Israel
, thou art saved by the Lord with an everlasting salvation, Ye shall not be ashamed?
"
[xii]
In the Hebrew Bible, salvation comes from the Lord and is a favor bestowed upon the nation
as a whole. In Deuteronomy 28: 23 and following Moses reminds the children of Israel of the
consequences of disobedience: dispersion and bondage among the nation, a desolate land,
sufferings and hunger. Conversely, the following chapter states that if they repent, their
blessings shall be restored.
[xiii]
In Messianic Judaism, the believer puts his hope in what the Messiah does for him by atoning
for his sins. Judaism places that responsibility on the sinner himself. A difference must be
noted because in traditional Judaism the blessings for obedience and the consequences for
disobedience have effect in the here and now, not in the world to come. Messianic Jews and
Bible believing Christians understand that salvation has eternal effects, that is, salvation not
only applies to the here and now but also to there and then.
In a recent debate between Messianic Jewish scholar, Dr. Michael Brown, and renowned
Orthodox rabbi, Schmuley Boteak, Rabbi Boteak said "You make it easy for you because
you can sin all you want, and then leave it to Jesus to pay the consequences of your
actions."
[xiv] Judaism
stresses the fact that instead of "salvation," one's relationship with God has to be
based on three elements: repentance-"
teshuva
," good deeds resulting from repentance-"
tzedakah
and
mitzvot
" and a life of devotion-"
kavanah and tefilah
." The questions is whether these three things, albeit meritorous, are able to restores
one's relationship with God.
We may find an answer when considering what was in Biblical times, God's remedy to man's
disobedience. God provided a way for "covering" man's sin when He instituted Yom
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Salvation and the People of Israel - Harmonizing a Soteriological Dilema
Written by David Sedaca
Kippur (the Hebrew root kopher; kippur means "cover"). In present day observance
of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, devout Jews base their hopes for forgiveness on three
main foundational principles: repentance, prayer, and the merits of the Patriarchs. We know
that it would be impossible to observe this day the way God commanded, as there is no
Temple, no priests, and no sacrifices. Can these be replaced with prayer, repentance and the
merits of the Patriarchs? Why did not God establish these principles instead of the rituals
commanded in Leviticus? It is my conviction that there was a need for sacrifice and although
today there is no Temple to fulfill these requirements, in order to be saved from the
consequence of sin there has to be a sacrifice. Was God incapable of stopping the Romans
from destroying the Temple, or did He have another means that did not need the Temple while
preserving the significance of sacrifices? It is my conviction that in Jesus the Messiah the
sacrificial requirements were met: an innocent dying for the guilty, a blameless lamb accepted
by God and the severity of sin erased by the shedding of blood.
One Dilema, Two Possibilities
There are only two options to the dilemma of salvation and the Jewish people; if we stand firm
with the principles of salvation as expressed in the Scriptures, we then have to consider Jesus
the Messiah as the provider (soter) of salvation. Conversely, if we deviate from biblical
principles and replace them with man-made systems, albeit they seem reasonable, we may be
at risk of having devised a way for salvation that puts in peril our eternal life. Although present
day Judaism denies the need for individual and personal salvation, it acknowledges the need
for forgiveness, atonement and repentance. I make mine the words of the Apostle Peter, when
addressing the people of Israel after their rejection of Jesus of Nazareth as Messiah; he
declares "
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is
no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved
."
[xv]
I have chosen to put my hope in Jesus the Messiah.
David Sedaca received his BA "summa cum laude" in Psychology from Harvard
University, attended Biola University and continued at the Baptist Theological Seminary. David
Sedaca studied Judaism in New York and continued Jewish studies at the School of Middle
East Studies of the University of Belgrano. He also was the editor of
Messiani
c Jewish Life
magazine. David Sedaca is now vice-president of Chosen People Ministries.
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Salvation and the People of Israel - Harmonizing a Soteriological Dilema
Written by David Sedaca
Notes
[i] Ephesians 2:8-9
[ii] Mark S. Kinzer., Postmissionary Messianic Judaism (Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2005.
[iii] Mark S. Kinzer, "Final Destinies: Qualifications for Receiving an Eschatological
Inheritance."
http://www.boroughparksymposium.com/paper
s
(see also this issue.)
[iv] John Hagee, In Defense of Israel ( Lake Mary, FL: Frontline, 2007), 135
[v] http://www.jhm.org
[vi] Ibid, introduction
[vii] Hagee, 135-136.
[viii] Deut. 7:6.
[ix] Ex 20:2.
[x] Deut 29:10-15.
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Salvation and the People of Israel - Harmonizing a Soteriological Dilema
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[xi] Yoma 70 a.
[xii] Makkoth 23 b.
[xiii] Deut 30:1-10
[xiv] http://www.chosenpeople.com/debate.
[xv] Acts 4:12.
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