Engaging the Doctrine of Israel: A Christian Israelology in Dialogue with Ongoing Judaism
Overview
This book is the dogmatic sequel to Levering's Engaging the Doctrine of Marriage, in which he argued that God's purpose in creating the cosmos is the eschatological marriage of God and his people. God sets this marriage into motion through his covenantal election of a particular people, the people of Israel. Central to this people's relationship with the Creator God are their Scriptures, exodus, Torah, Temple, land, and Davidic kingship. As a Christian Israelology, this book devotes a chapter to each of these topics, investigating their theological significance both in light of ongoing Judaism and in light of Christian Scripture (Old and New Testaments) and Christian theology. The book makes a significant contribution to charting a path forward for Jewish-Christian dialogue from the perspective of post-Vatican II Catholicism.
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- Provides extensive meditations on biblical texts drawn from the entirety of Christian Scripture
- Undertakes, within Catholic dogmatics, a full-fledged treatment of the central realities of God’s biblical people Israel
- Engages the following topics: Jewish/Chistian dialogue, creation and Scripture, the exodus, the Torah, the temple, the promised land, and the Davidic kingship
- Jewish-Christian Dialogue
- Creation and Scripture
- Exodus
- Torah
- Temple Land
- King
Some years ago, the late cardinal Avery Dulles, the most distinguished American Catholic theologian, told me he considered Matthew Levering ‘the most up-and-coming young Catholic theologian in the world.’ This new book shows us once again that Cardinal Dulles’s prediction was not exaggerated. This new book is a testament to Matthew Levering’s faith, his learning, his insightfulness, and his commitment to a theologically vibrant relationship with ‘ongoing Judaism.’ Well done!
—David Novak, University of Toronto
This is systematic and biblical theology at its best, thought through in the company of some of the greatest modern Jewish thinkers. Levering manages to keep intact fulfillment without supersessionism, reverence and respect toward the Jewish people with a deeply confessional Catholic-ecumenical approach. Levering does this walking a daring tightrope addressing the most difficult topics that are unresolved between Jews and Catholics. A landmark book.
—Gavin D’Costa, author of Catholic Doctrines on the Jewish People after Vatican II
In this deeply learned and religiously sensitive volume, the reader will enter a discussion like no other about the place of Israel within the domain of Christian theology. The place of Judaism within the theological work of the church will look different after working through these illuminating pages.
—Gary A. Anderson, University of Notre Dame