Two Faiths, One Covenant?

Judaism and Christianity are religions bound together by their claims to the same biblical covenant initiated by God with Abraham and his descendants. Yet, despite the inseparable connection between the election of Israel and that of the church, between the 'old' and the 'new' covenant, this shared spiritual patrimony has been the source of a type of violent sibling rivalry competing for the same paternal love and inherited entitlement. God, it seemed, had but one blessing to bestow. It could be given to either Jacob or Esau-but not both. In the twenty-first century, however, Jews and Christians are challenged to reconsider their theological assumptions by two inescapable truths: the moral tragedy of the holocaust demands that Christian thinkers acknowledge the violent effects of theologically de-legitimizing Jews and Judaism, and the pervasive reality of cultural and religious pluralism calls both Christian and Jewish theologians to rethink the covenant in the presence of the Other. Two Faiths, One Covenant? Jewish and Christian Identity in the Presence of the Other is a breakthrough work that embraces this contemporary challenge and charts a path toward fruitful interfaith dialogue. The Christian and Jewish theologians in this book explore the ways that both religions have understood the covenant in biblical, rabbinic, medieval, and modern religious writings and reflect on how the covenant can serve as a reservoir for a positive theological relationship between Christianity and Judaism-not merely one of non-belligerent tolerance, but of respect and theological pluralism, however limited.

David Novak is the author of nineteen books, the latest being Athens and Jerusalem: God, Humans, and Nature which received the Canadian Jewish Literary Award in 2020. His 2000 book, Covenantal Rights received the American Academy of Religion Award in 2000 for Best Book in Constructive Religious Thought. He is also the author of The Sanctity of Human Life (2009) and Zionism and Judaism: A New Theory (2016). He had edited four books and authored over 300 articles and reviews in numerous scholarly and intellectual journals. He is also one of the co-authors of the 2000 manifesto, Dabru Emet: A Jewish Statement on Christians and Christianity, which has been translated into eight languages. In 2019 he received the James Q. Wilson Award from the Association for the Study of Free Institutions at Princeton University; and Prix Philippe Pinel in Rome from the International Academy of Law and Mental Health, and L’Académie International d’Éthique, Medécine et Politique Publique.