Panel: THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PAUL WITHIN JUDAISM PERSPECTIVE



653.4 - PAUL IN THE WITHIN JUDAISM PERSPECTIVE AND JEWISH-CHRISTIAN DIALOGUE

AUTHORS:
Gargiulo M. (Pontificial Gregorian University ~ Rome ~ Italy)
Text:
The conciliar declaration Nostra Aetate, in addition to establishing central elements in Jewish-Christian dialogue by affirming the rejection of foundational aspects of Christian anti-Judaism, opened the way to further reflections and documents in which it is possible to discern considerable attention to Scripture and its interpretations. A survey of these materials can also provide contextual insights for rereadings of Paul that relocate him within his Jewish dimension. Nostra Aetate itself already cites Rom 9:4-5; moreover, the document commemorating its 50th anniversary—"For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable" (Rom 11:29): Reflections on Theological Questions Pertaining to Catholic-Jewish Relations, prepared by the Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity—makes the Pauline verse a cornerstone of Jewish-Christian relations, reaffirming on that basis the validity of the covenant with Israel. Texts such as the conciliar constitution Dei Verbum also frequently refer to Paul, and the most important document from this perspective, published by the Pontifical Biblical Commission in 2001, The Jewish People and Their Sacred Scriptures in the Christian Bible, devotes ample space to the Apostle and a specific section to him (§§ 79-82). The scholarly rereading of Pauline literature and thought has points of contact with this development and in turn produces significant repercussions for Jewish-Christian dialogue, since it also involves theologically central themes such as the role of the Torah/Law, justification, and salvation. In particular, it tends to show that the salvation envisioned by Paul did not in any way exclude the Jewish path, while at the same time highlighting its difficulty within an apocalyptically derived context in which the world was perceived as being subject to the power of evil.