NEW YORK \u2014 It\u2019s hard for Roy Schoeman to share his faith without mentioning Abraham, his son Isaac and a sacrificial altar on Mount Moriah.<\/p>\n\n
This story from Genesis is a cornerstone of the Jewish faith in which he was raised and educated, the son of Jews who escaped the Holocaust and came to America. But this familiar passage \u2014 with its covenant between God and Abraham\u2019s children \u2014 also is crucial to his testimony as a convert to Roman Catholicism.<\/p>\n\n
For Schoeman, these faiths cannot be pried apart.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cIf Christianity was meant for anyone it was meant for the Jews,\u201d he said at a gathering of the Association of Hebrew Catholics. Thus, the Catholic faith \u201cis Judaism as it was defined by God Incarnate, Jesus Christ. \u2026 He did not come to bring Christianity to the gentiles and leave the Jews alone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
The Palm Sunday-weekend conference was held at Sts. Cyril and Methodius Church, not far from Times Square. It drew more than 100 Catholics from across the nation and overseas, including a core group of converted Jews.<\/p>\n\n
Some in the audience shed tears as Schoeman emotionally offered a prayer for the conversion of his own mother. They murmured \u201camen,\u201d as he read the biblical account of Abraham preparing to sacrifice \u201chis only son,\u201d until being stopped by an angel who said God would provide a lamb. Because Abraham was willing to surrender his son, God said: \u201cI will indeed bless you and I will multiply your descendents as the stars of heaven. \u2026 And by your descendents shall all the nations bless themselves, because you have obeyed my voice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Surely this prophecy foreshadows the life and sacrifice of Jesus, said Schoeman, a former Harvard Business School professor who now focuses his studies on theology. This is why Hebrew Christians insist that conversion does not destroy Jewish identity, but \u201cfulfills it,\u201d \u201ccompletes it\u201d and even \u201ccrowns it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
It would be hard to craft a statement that would be more offensive to millions of religious and secular Jews.<\/p>\n\n
However, leaders of the Association of Hebrew Catholics spend as much, or more, time addressing the beliefs of Catholics who say the Second Vatican Council teaches that Jews can \u201cbe saved\u201d without embracing Jesus. This division in Catholic ranks has affected many public debates, from clashes about the goals of Jewish-Christian dialogues to the content of Mel Gibson\u2019s \u201cThe Passion of the Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
The conflict intensified in 2002 when a study committee linked to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, working with National Council of Synagogues, released a set of theological reflections that inspired blunt headlines. The Washington Post went with \u201cCatholics Reject Evangelization of Jews,\u201d while Christianity Today offered \u201d Jews Are Already Saved, Say U.S. Catholic Bishops.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
The document argued that while the \u201cCatholic Church regards the saving act of Christ as central to the process of human salvation for all, it also acknowledges that Jews already dwell in a saving covenant with God.\u201d Thus, the unique Jewish witness to God\u2019s kingdom \u201cmust not be curtailed by seeking the conversion of the Jewish people to Christianity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Cardinal Avery Dulles of Fordham University was one of many rejecting this text as a statement of Catholic teaching.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cPeter on Pentecost Sunday declared that the whole house of Israel should know for certain that Jesus is Lord and Messiah and that every one of his hearers should be baptized in Jesus\u2019 name,\u201d wrote Dulles, in America magazine. \u201cPaul spent much of his ministry proclaiming the Gospel to Jews throughout the Diaspora. Distressed by their incredulity, he was prepared to wish himself accursed for the sake of their conversion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
The problem is that progressive elements inside Judaism and Catholicism are striving to \u201credefine both of these faiths,\u201d said David Moss, president of the Hebrew Catholic association. Thus, most mainstream Jewish leaders are convinced that the Vatican has officially changed its doctrine.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThe truth is that Catholicism teaches that there is only one path to salvation and that is through Jesus Christ,\u201d said Moss. \u201cNow how does that salvation happen for individual people? That\u2019s up to God. He\u2019s in charge, not us. \u2026<\/p>\n\n
\u201cBut there is nothing in Vatican II that says Catholics are not supposed to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to his own people.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW YORK \u2014 It\u2019s hard for Roy Schoeman to share his faith without mentioning Abraham, his son Isaac and a sacrificial altar on Mount Moriah. This story from Genesis is a cornerstone of the Jewish faith in which he was raised and educated, the son of Jews who escaped the Holocaust and came to America. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[168,1538,551,764,893],"class_list":["post-1326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-catholicism","tag-judaism","tag-messianic-jews","tag-salvation","tag-universalism"],"yoast_head":"\n