Marcion and Prometheus: Balthasar Against the Expulsion of Jewish Origins from Modern Religious Dialogue

Highlighting the dangerous tendency among the humanist critics of Christianity to dismiss or “debunk” the religious claims of historic Judaism, this study defends the importance of Jewish revelation and seeks to build a bridge between conservative Christians and faithful Jews. In doing so, it clarifies the uniqueness and historical claims of Christianity, especially in the context of interreligious dialogue. The book grounds itself in the thought of Swiss theologian and priest Hans Urs von Balthasar, who argued that the Western modernist dismissal of Jewish religious was a reinvention of the historical heresy of Marcionism, which rejected the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament God. The book contends that for genuine, effective interreligious dialogue to occur, there must be more respect for Jewish origins.

Anthony Sciglitano is an associate professor in, and the chair of, the department of religion at Seton Hall University, as well as the director of the university core curriculum housed in the Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies. His areas of focus are theological hermeneutics; theology, religion, and secularism; theology of religions; and fundamental religion. He has published articles in Modern Theology and the journal Pro-Ecclesia, which focuses on Catholic–Evangelical dialogue. He lives in Morris Plains, New Jersey