Reviving an ancient question

A leading Orthodox Jewish thinker says Gentile Christians are bound only by the biblical 'laws of Noah.'
By RICHARD N. OSTLING
AP RELIGION WRITER
Should Christians observe all God's laws revealed in the Old Testament?
Across the centuries, the standard church answer to that has followed distinctions as summarized, for instance, in the Church of England's 39 Articles of Religion, also adopted by America's Episcopal Church in 1801.
The articles say "the laws given from God by Moses, as touching ceremonies and rites, do not bind Christian men," and that likewise, the Old Testament's "civil precepts" no longer direct governments. On the other hand, no Christian "is free from the obedience of the commandments which are called moral."
Heated dispute
In the Anglicans' and Episcopalians' heated dispute about homosexuality, liberals say Old Testament teachings against same-sex behavior should be seen as part of ritual purity codes that Christians no longer follow. Conservatives emphasize that regarding sex, the New Testament retains Old Testament morals.
A different position on law is advocated by Michael Wyschogrod, a leading Orthodox Jewish thinker and retired philosophy professor at the University of Houston and City University of New York.
He says Gentile Christians are bound only by the biblical "laws of Noah" that cover all humanity (the commands in Genesis 9:3-7 and, by extension, other major moral precepts). But, he believes, Christians who are Jewish should observe all the commandments that God revealed through Moses.
That means Jewish Christians should not distinguish between binding moral laws and dispensable ceremonial laws. (He thinks Reform or Conservative Jews are also mistaken when they draw that distinction.)
That's among the points made in an intriguing anthology of Wyschogrod's writings, "Abraham's Promise: Judaism and Jewish-Christian Relations" (Eerdmans). Wyschogrod is a rare Orthodox Jew who's active in dialogues with Christians; most Orthodox shun formal religious discussions with other faiths.
Wyschogrod has the chutzpah to tell Christians his view of the law is what their New Testament teaches. He even informed France's Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger that he, Lustiger, retains law-keeping obligations as a born Jew who was baptized a Catholic in 1940 but still considers himself to be Jewish.
The recipient
A theology journal published Wyschogrod's letter to the cardinal without naming the addressee. The anthology includes the text, with Lustiger now identified as the recipient.
Under Jewish law, Lustiger is a lifelong Jew because he was born of a Jewish mother, even though he has joined another faith and holds a belief Wyschogrod says is "particularly objectionable to Jews" -- that Jesus is God's Son in the divine Trinity.
The philosopher informed the cardinal: "Because you are a Jew, you are obligated, like all Jews, to obey the mitzvot" including kosher diet, Sabbath-keeping, daily prayer rituals and Jewish festivals. (Lustiger did not reply.)
The New Testament church addressed the crucial question of law-keeping at a council, depicted in Acts 15, that decided Gentile converts to Christ would observe only the laws of Noah.
Wyschogrod sees no indication that the council removed the obligation to obey all Old Testament laws from the Jews who were Jesus' original followers. Otherwise, he says, the account in Acts makes no sense.
As Wyschogrod reads the New Testament, "neither Jesus nor Paul taught that any portion of the law of Moses had become outmoded for Jews," regardless of what Gentile Christians do.
There's a marginal Christian group with a totally different belief, that both Jewish and Gentile Christians are bound by all Old Testament laws. Those arguing this include the First Fruits of Zion ministry of Littleton, Colo., which declares:
"We choose to observe, submit to, and rejoice in all of the commandments [mitzvot] of Adonai in the fullness of the Messiah, Yeshua." This group calls Yeshua [Jesus] its "Torah-observant king."
First Fruits presents a case for Christians observing kosher food laws in "Holy Cow! Does God Care about What We Eat?" The authors are Hope Egan, a Jewish Christian who edits the group's Messiah magazine, and D. Thomas Lancaster, its educational director.
Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.