Baker Academic

Baker Academic

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Is the New Pope Good for Jews?

In light of this story about Pope Francis, a friend of mine recently suggested that this pope might have an appreciative understanding of the Noahide laws. He (thank you, Joel) pointed me to this article.

There are a few places where Francis has been vague (perhaps intentionally so) but he seems to care deeply for inclusivity and fence mending, whatever that means to him. Let's hope that these hints are portents for more to come.

-anthony
Posted by at

6 comments:

  1. LarryMay 23, 2013 at 10:26 AM

    Anthony, while I ponder this development (IMHO potentially the most significant development in Catholic interfaith relations since Nostra Aetate), let me point out 3 things:

    1. The expression is "good for the Jews". This is the question Jews ask each other regarding every significant news event, such as (for example) the discovery of the Higgs-Boson particle.

    2. The link to the article in question doesn't work.

    3. While Jews will (probably, mostly) welcome this development, the implications are more profound for non-believers and believers in other faiths. My understanding is that official Catholic doctrine has already acknowledged that Jews participate in God's salvation.

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  2. Anthony Le DonneMay 23, 2013 at 11:20 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  3. LarryMay 23, 2013 at 12:19 PM

    Anthony, it's the last link that doesn't work. It seems to be a link to a file attachment in your gmail account.

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    Replies
    1. Anthony Le DonneMay 23, 2013 at 1:50 PM

      of course, you're correct. My bad. I think I've fixed the link above.

      -anthony

      Delete
  4. Anthony Le DonneMay 23, 2013 at 1:49 PM

    Okay try this:

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/22/pope-francis-good-atheists_n_3320757.html

    http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/9679-laws-noachian

    http://www.stbedechadwellheath.co.uk/Jews%20now%20have%20a%20good%20partner%20in%20the%20Vatican.pdf

    sorry about that.

    anthony

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  5. LarryMay 23, 2013 at 4:36 PM

    Reading all this more carefully ...

    ... first, I don't see what any of this has to do with the Noahide Laws.

    Second, I'm clearly out of my element here. Is it traditional, orthodox Christian doctrine that Jesus "redeemed" all of humankind, or just believers? I'd always assumed the latter. (Is this a Catholic - Protestant doctrinal difference? I hadn't thought so.) Second, is there a theological difference between "redemption" and "justification"? I hadn't thought so ...

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