Supersessionism

Supersessionism (British English: supercessionism) and replacement theology are particular interpretations of New Testament claims, viewing God's relationship with Christians as being either the replacement or completion of the promise made to the Jews (or Israelites) and Jewish Proselytes. Biblical expressions of God's relationships with people are known as "covenants", ["The notion of covenant is at the foundation of religious identity because it constitutes the primary designation of relationship between humanity and God." Michael A. Signer, [http://books.google.com/books?id=9ZJs8j3X89MC&pg=PA111&lpg=PA111&dq=%22the+notion+of+covenant+is+at+the+foundation+of+religious+identity+because+it+constitutes+the+primary+designation+of+relationship+between+humanity+and+god%22&source=web&ots=TKgtVytBNw&sig=9jJnM5n2nza6MzoRJeK2aMNNs7A 'The Covenant in Recent Theological Statements',] in Eugene B. Korn (ed.), "Two Faiths, One Covenant?: Jewish and Christian Identity in the Presence of the Other", (Rowman & Littlefield, 2004), p. 111.] so the contentious element of supersessionism is the idea that God's New Covenant with the Christian Christian Church replaces God's Mosaic Covenant with Israel and B'nei Noah, and in particular the Mosaic Law (or Torah).

Etymology

The word "supersessionism" comes from English "supersede", first known to have been used with the meaning "replace" in 1642. [ [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?l=s&p=50 'supersede'] , Online Etymological Dictionary.] Prior to this time the word is attested in Scottish legal English to describe restraining orders against debt collection, "restraint" being its original Latin sense. [A Latin use of "supersedere" in context can be found in Julius Caesar's "Commentaries on the Gallic War", Gaius Julius Caesar, "Commentarii de Bello Gallico", [http://books.google.com/books?id=It6gog_TA2oC&pg=PA87&lpg=PA87&dq=supersedere&source=web&ots=RbNGmp9Lcv&sig=JpR8O8C2E7X_JBXF3OW_MApYjBs 2:8.] ; ] Yet after the death of Jesus, the inclusion of the Gentiles as equals in this burgeoning sect of Judaism also caused problems, particularly when it came to Gentiles keeping the Mosaic Law, [; , which also deals with the place of Israel.

The covenants of works and grace, on the other hand, refer to God's covenants with man, rather than with himself, and these occur later in time, during human history. Briefly stated, both covenants are conceived of as "gifts" from God to man. They differ in that the covenant of works is a gift received by obedience — God promises good to those who do good. The covenant of grace, however, is an unconditional gift that can only be received by faith — God promises good even to those who have done bad.

In Calvin's scheme, the idea of supersession does not even arise. Because his reading of the Bible saw Jesus as God the Son and Redeemer from even before creation, those saved under Old Testament revelation, and those saved under the New are more properly, in his view, understood as saved under the same, eternal covenant of redemption. All salvation depends on a pact between Father and Son, before creation, independent of humanity. We become aware of the covenant of redemption progressively, through the revelation of various manifestations of the covenants of works and of grace. Calvin says:

In Calvin's view, the difference between old and new revelation is a difference in clarity not kind. As such, it is not conceived of as a replacement in any sense. Calvin's ideas were startling and unprecedented, and he is still controversial within Protestantism today. Whatever subsequent covenant theologians may have said, Calvin himself is explicitly against replacement:

Dispensationalism

The early development of Dispensationalism is generally attributed to John Nelson Darby (1800–1882), initially of the Plymouth Brethren denomination, but later the founder of the Exclusive Brethren. Although Darby's ideas started in the United Kingdom, they became much more widespread in the United States, perhaps due to population, and the non-exclusive nature of the American denominations that valued the teaching. The notes of the Scofield Reference Bible (1909 revised 1917) are frequently considered to have been particularly influential in establishing the popularity of Dispensationalism.

Like Covenant Theology, Dispensationalism is an interpretive or narrative framework for understanding the overall flow of the Bible. It perceives the biblical description of God's manner of dealing with mankind to fall into seven epochs known as "dispensations":
#of innocence (Gen 1:1–3:7), prior to Adam's fall;
#of conscience (Gen 3:8–8:22), Adam to Noah;
#of government (Gen 9:1–11:32), Noah to Abraham;
#of patriarchal rule (Gen 12:1–Exod 19:25), Abraham to Moses;
#of the Mosaic Law (Exod 20:1–Acts 2:4), Moses to Jesus;
#of grace (Acts 2:4–Rev 20:3), the current church age; and
#of a literal, earthly 1,000-year Millennial Kingdom that has yet to come (Rev 20:4–20:6). [Scofield Reference Bible]

A natural misunderstanding of Dispensationalism sees the covenant of Sinai (dispensation #5) to have been replaced by the gospel (dispensation #6). However, Dispensationalists believe that ethnic Israel, distinct from the church, and on the basis of the Sinai covenant, are featured in New Testament promises, which they interpret as referring to a future time associated with the Millennium of Revelation 20 (dispensation #7). In Dispensational thought, although the time from Jesus' resurrection until his return (or the advent of the Millennium) is dominated by the proclamation of the gospel, the Sinai covenant is neither terminated nor replaced, rather it is "quiescent" awaiting a fulfillment at the Millennium (click to expand diagram). This time of Jewish restoration has an especially prominent place within Dispensationalism.

Dispensationalists do not base this view on the New Testament alone, but consider that certain Old Testament prophecies concerning Israel will also be fulfilled in a return to the Promised Land, and ultimately a large-scale conversion of the Jews to Christianity. [Charles Hodge, [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/hodge/theology3.iv.iii.v.html 'The Conversion of the Jews,'] in "Systematic Theology", IV.3.5.] Those who hold this view often note that the Bible does not promise that every individual Jew will be saved, but that the nation (or family) as a whole will be saved. It will still be up to individuals to accept Jesus as Messiah, but the nation as a whole will be blessed, because many (or most) will do so.

A distinctive feature of the dispensationalist scheme is that it conceives of the church age as primarily an arrangement through which God gathers in the Gentiles, a parenthesis in his dealing with the Jews, instituted due to the Jewish people rejecting the Messiah at his first coming.
*Romans PL 4,509-536.] [ [http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism_lt/p123a9p3_lt.htm#III.%20Ecclesia%20est%20catholica "Ecclesia est catholica",] , ), and hence Judaism rejects supersessionism as contrary to the Hebrew Bible at best (see also Antinomianism) and antisemitic at worst. For Judaism and other critics, supersessionism is a theology of replacement, which substitutes the Christian church, consisting of Christians, for the Jewish and B'nei Noah people. Modern Jews are offended by the traditional Christian belief in supersessionism, [Rabbi Dow Marmur, Lecture at Regis College, Toronto, January 21, 1998, see at [http://www.jcrelations.net/en/?item=764] June 28, 2008] and historians cite the belief as one of the roots of anti-semitism in western culture. [Padraic O'Hare, The Enduring Covenant: The Education of Christians and the End of Antisemitism, (Pennsylvania: Trinity Press International, 1997)]

Supersessionists, however, understand their view as a theology of fulfillment in which no Jew who truly believes the Gospel is ever replaced and in which any "unbelieving Jew" (like Ahab or Judas Iscariot) was never truly part of God's chosen people because he or she had never followed God. Even as Judaism anticipates its own fulfillment in a coming Jewish messiah, Christianity claims that Jesus, at his Second Coming, will be the fulfillment of this hope, rather than a replacement for it.

ee also

* Anti-Judaism
* Christianity and Judaism
* Christian Zionism
* New Covenant
* Christian view of the Law
* External "Naskh" (Abrogation)
*Christian-Jewish reconciliation

Notes

Further reading

* Vlach, Michael J. [http://catalog.library.sebts.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=G094058P070A0.7126&profile=main&source=~!horizon&view=items&uri=full=3100001~!210593~!32&ri=65&aspect=basic_search&menu=search&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=thesis+ph+d+Southeastern+Baptist+Theological+Seminary&index=.GW&uindex=&aspect=basic_search&menu=search&ri=65#focus "The Church as a Replacement of Israel: An Analysis of Supersessionism".] PhD Dissertation. Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2004.
* Charles D. Provan. [http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Parthenon/9000/The_Church_Is_Israel_Now.htm "The Church Is Israel Now: The Transfer Of Conditional Privilege."] ISBN 978-1879998391 (supports supersessionism)

External links

* Robert A. Sungenis. [http://www.catholicintl.com/articles/CAI_and_the_Jews.pdf "Teachings on the Jews"] (supporting supersessionism)
* [http://www.catholicintl.com/catholicissues/Letter%20to%20Levada%20re%20US%20Catechism%202.pdf A letter] supporting supersessionism and seeking a change to the "United States Catholic Catechism for Adults" (2006, ISBN 978-1-57455-450-2) which states that "the covenant that God made with the Jewish people through Moses remains eternally valid for them."
* [http://www.israelcatholic.com/content/view/59/77/lang,en/ "Why Catholics for Israel?"] an article by Catholics opposing supersessionism.
* Michael J. Vlach. [http://www.theologicalstudies.citymax.com/Supersessionism.html Supersession Info Page] (opposing supersessionism)
* [http://christiandestiny.org/publications/newsletter/2006-03/lead2.shtml "The Attacks of Replacement Theology"] (opposing supersessionism)
* Mikael Knighton. [http://www.christiansstandingwithisrael.com/False-Gospel.html "False Gospel: Supersessionism (Replacement Theology)"] (opposing supersessionism)