Gabriel Wilensky
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Author
Six Million Crucifixions:
How Christian Teachings About Jews Paved the Road to the Holocaust
http://www.SixMillionCrucifixions.com
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I would have to read up some more before responding to the points you make in your first two paragraphs.

Regarding the third paragraph about John’s gospel, that is interesting. I would want to read more in order to better understand the significance of that. Under any circumstances, the translations I have read, or, more significantly, heard from the pews, seem to use “the Jews”. Even if I could arrive at a more precise or sophisticated understanding for myself, I would still want priests to provide more commentary about this in their homilies. In fact, it might make me more of a nag about it.

The term “Jews,” referring either to members of the tribe of Israel or to citizens of the nation-state of Judah, relates to the division of the Davidic kingdom Israel into a southern (Judah) and a northern (Israel) kingdom.

By the way, Peter S, much of the difficulty you indicate you have with the Gospel of John can be resolved if, instead of accepting the common translation of the Greek “Ioudaios” as “Jews” or “Jewish,” you remember that it could also mean (and, I think, more plausibly means, at least in most cases in the New Testament) “Judeans” or “Judean.”

Where are the local churches named for Saint Elijah (July 20), Saint Samuel (August 20), or Saint David of Bethlehem? Where are the popular devotions to these saints? Nowhere, the answer to both of these questions appears to be.

So much of the Church’s Jewish heritage has been stowed away up in the attic. When we unpack it and begin to use it again, as I gather Cardinal Kasper is suggesting we do, the graces we will enjoy and the power and the glory that the world will see in this development — I think it will be literally awesome.

Ars Artium’s comment comes pretty close to expressing my view on the relationship between the biblical Israel and the modern nation state of Israel. God’s covenant is with the people of Israel, no matter where they are located geographically. That does not mean that I oppose the existence of the state of Israel. It does mean that I consider Israel to be just as subject to scrutiny and criticism as any other nation state. I do not believe that God gives a “favored nation status” to any modern state, be it the U.S. or Israel.

I suppose that, to be consistent, I would have to add to that list the Vatican. If, for some reason, the Vatican ceased to be, the Pope could relocate to, say, a condo development on the outskirts of Sioux Falls, SD, and we would still have the Church.

Many years ago I lived in France, and my best friend was a bright, thoughtful man from Morocco. He had grown up exposed to a lot of anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli propaganda, but he was also critical of the government that emitted that propaganda and was generally skeptical about politics. He would sometimes complain about Israel by speaking of “les juifs”. I discussed with him the distinction between the Jewish people and the Jewish faith and the state of Israel. After that, at least around me, he focused his complaints on “les israelis”.

I sometimes wonder what would have happened if the U.S. and other nations had offered themselves as places of asylum to the many Jewish refugees from the Nazi regime who tried but failed to escape for lack of a place to go. The state of Israel might still have come into being, but perhaps its existence might not have become so equated with the survival of the Jewish people.

These are difficult issues to discuss. I hope that anyone who might take offense at what I have said will give me the benefit of the doubt. We only know one another through these words we write on our screens.

China said it remains a long-term investor in Europe.

I tried to read the article, but it is only available to current FT subscribers (I did not renew an earlier subscription because I could get it at a local store, until recently at least.) So, I can’t respond directly to that particular article.