Rev. Fr. Michael Beaumont

We have no intention of broaching political questions, such as the current State of Israel. There would be many very interesting things to say, notably on the diplomatic relations between the Vatican and Israel, as well as the current political situation in Israel....Nor will we touch on the points about Judaism on which we are in agreement with Conciliar Catholics more or less favorable to "dialogue." Only those points that are absolutely unacceptable by the light of the true Faith will be the object of our reflections.

The Jews and the Covenant

The first document in the current dialogue between Jews and Catholics is the Vatican II Declaration Nostra Aetate. But this declaration, already questionable on several points, has been considerably aggravated by subsequent, high-level declarations.

At the heart of the errors of dialogue between Catholics and Jews (see sidebar, "Syllabus of Errors Taken from the Jewish-Catholic Dialogue"), we find this central proposition (No.2 below): "Jews of today are living in a 'divine covenant.'" The other propositions logically follow from this. If the covenant with the Jews is still in vigor, it is logical that it would be salvific for them. It would be logical that the Jewish interpretation of the Bible be recognized as legitimate; it would be logical that the Jews' waiting for the Messiah be recognized as legitimate; etc. But this central proposition is essentially false by its profound, deliberate equivocation. A simple anecdote will illustrate the point before any theological considerations are advanced.

During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, the National Defense government fell back to Tours, France, and camped in the bishop's residence. One day at table both the Archbishop, Msgr. Guibert, and the Minister of Justice, a Jewish lawyer named Adolphe Cremieux, were present. Announcing himself before introducing the Archbishop, Cremieux wittily proclaimed: "Here are the old and the new testaments. The question is to know which one is good." Wittier still, Msgr. Guibert retorted: "Mr. Minister of Justice, you are a lawyer. Therefore you know that when two testaments exist, only the last one is valid."

The New and Eternal Testament

In Msgr. Guibert's retort, the whole question is admirably summed up. If our Lord, "the night He was betrayed," inaugurated "the new and eternal covenant," then that irrevocably abolished the old covenant, the old testament.

The Redeemer had announced that new wine is not put into old wineskins, and that if the Jews legitimately worshipped at Jerusalem ("salvation is from the Jews"), the time was near when it would be necessary to adore "in spirit and in truth." The veil of the Temple which, at the moment of the supreme sacrifice of Calvary, was solemnly rent, manifested in the clearest way, at the heart of the very symbol of Mosaic worship, that this rite, this first, preparatory testament had ceased to exist. The old covenant had just been abolished, though not to be effaced, forgotten, or rejected, for it was of divine and supernatural institution. Rather, it was in order to be absorbed, to be made clear, to be assumed by the new testament, the one established by the Redeemer promised to Adam and Eve, by the Prophet announced by Moses, by the Messias described by the prophets: our Lord Jesus Christ. Abolished as to the letter, the old testament was to live henceforth fully as to the spirit in the heart of the new testament.

The Spirit and the Letter

As the Apostles taught, notably at the Council of Jerusalem ( A.D. 49), everything in the Old Testament that was of perpetual validity was still in force as a part of divine Revelation, for example, the Ten Commandments. On the other hand, those external acts that had been exclusively destined to prepare souls for the coming of the promised Savior, such as circumcision, animal sacrifice, the paschal lamb, etc., only remained as symbols. These rites could no longer be legitimately practiced (after a brief interval, as St. Augustine admirably explained), since otherwise they would have signified the contrary of the truth: that the Savior was still to come, when He had already come.

The Ambiguity of the Term "Judaism"

How have the supporters of Jewish-Catholic dialogue arrived at such a flagrant error? They have arrived there because of an erroneous presupposition underlying all of Jewish-Catholic discourse, and which underlies the major ambiguity on the covenant or testament, that is, the affirmation that modern Judaism, the Judaism after Christ, is "Judaism" pure and simple. This is a gross error, of which a single consequence suffices to show its falsity. According to this hypothesis, it would be necessary to affirm that the Lord, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the Apostles were neither Jews nor representatives of the authentic truth of the Mosaic Revelation.

The Judaism of the Old Testament was the true divine religion, the true supernatural revelation preparatory to the coming of the Messias. When, in the fullness of time, the Messias sent by God came, He replaced (by assuming it) the first, provisional testament by the new and eternal testament. Henceforth He would address Himself not just to a particular race of men, but to all men of good will. The children of the Chosen People, the Israelites, evidently had their place, and an eminent place, in the new and universal People of God, in the Catholic Church. And this place was in fact taken, by our Lord Himself, by His holy Mother, by the Apostles, by the disciples, and by all the children of Israel who, over the centuries, recognized in Jesus the Messias promised by the Scriptures.

But a part of this people, under the influence of bad leaders (as, under the influence of bad kings it had so estranged itself from God that it was punished by the Babylonian Captivity), it did not want to recognize its Savior:

These leaders set in motion the bad tendencies which had already come to the fore in the current of Pharisaism which Jesus had denounced, and they created a new "Judaism," the Judaism of the refusal, the Judaism of which the major creed is the Talmud. This new "Judaism"–this modern Judaism–unlike the old religion practiced by our Lord Jesus Christ and the Apostles, is not a true religion. Rather, it is a corruption which turns its adepts away from authentic, divine Revelation, because its basis is precisely the refusal of God's plan of salvation announced by the Old Testament and realized in the New Testament.

The Ambiguity of Covenant [or Testament]

Let us return to our essentially equivocal proposition, "Today's Jews are living in a divine covenant," in order to make the necessary distinction that will clear up the debate. The Jews of the old Judaism–Abraham, Moses, David, Esdras, Judas Maccabeus, John the Baptist, etc.–had a covenant with God. This is an absolutely true proposition integral to the Catholic Faith. The Jews of modern Judaism, the Judaism of the refusal of the Messias, have a covenant with God. This is an absolutely false proposition which is contrary to the Catholic Faith. "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved: he that believeth not shall be condemned" (Mk. 16:16).

The Gifts of God Are Without Repentance

It will be objected: "The gifts of God are without repentance" (Rom. 11:29). Now, since God concluded a covenant with the Jewish people, this covenant continues despite the infidelity of this rebellious people. This objection is indeed true. Yes, God's covenant with the Jewish people continues. But (and this is the fundamental distinction) it continues in its current state, which is to say, under the form of the new and eternal testament in Jesus Christ which God established as continuation and replacement of the first, provisional testament. Every Jew is thus called to this covenant, to this salvation, and this in a particular way, different from the way in which a Gentile is called, because he is called not only as an individual, but also as a member of a nation, given that it was to his nation that the first part of Revelation was manifestly addressed. To this major ambiguity and central error of Jewish-Catholic dialogue (i.e., "The Jews have a legitimate, salvific covenant with God, parallel to the new covenant, etc"), one must reply by Catholic theology, constantly taught by the Magisterium and based directly upon Scripture.

Jesus Christ is the one Savior, obligatory for all, Jews and Gentiles alike, within the new and eternal testament. "Neither is there salvation in any other. For there is no other name under heaven given to man, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). This inescapable, divine, absolute obligation of going through Jesus applies to the Jews as much as to the Gentiles, or rather, we should say, applies even more to the Jews than to the Gentiles, for, historically, it is the Jews "to whom belongeth the adoption as of children, and the glory, and the testament, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises: whose are the fathers, and of whom is Christ, according to the flesh, who is over all things, God blessed for ever" (Rom. 9:4.5).

Syllabus of Errors taken from the jewish-catholic dialogue

The extracts that follow are drawn from four basic documents treating specifically the dialogue between Catholics and Jews. Following each extract, the titles of these documents are abbreviated. So the reader understands which document the excerpt is taken from, we provide the key that follows beneath. Reader, beware! These propositions are condemned as errors by the perennial teaching of the Catholic Church. It is the strange new teaching since the Second Vatican Council which claims that these errors are, in fact, the "new Catholic truth" regarding the Jews and the Jewish religion.This "new Catholic truth" often utilizes quotes from especially the following four documents to erode the perennial teaching.

Guidelines: Guidelines on Religious Relations with the Jews, Vatican Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, (Dec. 1, 1974) in Vatican Council //: The Conciliar and Post-Conciliar Documents, ed. Austin Flannery, O.P. (Liturgical Press, 1975).

Notes: Notes on the Correct Way to Present the Jews and Judaism in Preaching and Catechesis in the Roman Catholic Church,Vatican Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews (June 24, 1985).

TJP: The Jewish People and Their Sacred Scriptures in the Christian Bible, Pontifical Biblical Commission (Ascension, 2001).

RCM: Reflections on Covenant and Mission, Consultation of the National Council of Synagogues and the Bishops' Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs (USCCB, Aug. 12, 2002).