Dear First Things,
In “Torah and Incarnation” (October 2010), Meir Soloveichik captures quite well the essential distinction between rabbinic Judaism and Christianity, one grounded, ironically, in their respective readings of the Torah. That distinction is not so much how the gap between man and God is bridged, but who is to do the bridging.
Soloveichik finds in Deuteronomy 4:15 a declaration that the infinite God cannot, by his nature, become a finite human, whereas the passage itself warns Israel not to presume to worship God by images; in other words, to devise their own way to bridge the gap between man and God. The Lord controls his relationship with his people, saying later in Deuteronomy 30:14 that he has given his Word to instruct his people how to respond to him. In this vein, Soloveichik eloquently captures the communal, intergenerational dialogue participated in by every serious student of that Word. However, as Paul (reflecting on Deuteronomy 30:14) argues in Romans 10, this dialogue must not become our pursuit of God, but a discovery of God’s call to believe Jesus is the risen Lord.
Again, when he observes Christians are “carnal” in their belief in an Incarnate God who is really present in the Eucharist, Soloveichik is quite right. But for the Christian, this carnality is identical to, not at odds with, communion with God the Spirit; that is, the Christian faith rejoices in the union of spirit and body and rejects a solely intellectual pursuit of God without regard for one’s body. As the Torah itself teaches us to accept only God’s self-revelation, and as the Lord has revealed himself to us in his Incarnation, the Christian looks not to a present redemption, an Eden of the mind in this present age (however Isaiah 51:3 is properly translated), but to the inauguration of the new heavens and earth in which his body and soul will be one in resurrection glory, even as are those of the Incarnate Lord and Son of God, Jesus Christ, himself.
In “Torah and Incarnation” (October 2010), Meir Soloveichik captures quite well the essential distinction between rabbinic Judaism and Christianity, one grounded, ironically, in their respective readings of the Torah. That distinction is not so much how the gap between man and God is bridged, but who is to do the bridging.
Soloveichik finds in Deuteronomy 4:15 a declaration that the infinite God cannot, by his nature, become a finite human, whereas the passage itself warns Israel not to presume to worship God by images; in other words, to devise their own way to bridge the gap between man and God. The Lord controls his relationship with his people, saying later in Deuteronomy 30:14 that he has given his Word to instruct his people how to respond to him. In this vein, Soloveichik eloquently captures the communal, intergenerational dialogue participated in by every serious student of that Word. However, as Paul (reflecting on Deuteronomy 30:14) argues in Romans 10, this dialogue must not become our pursuit of God, but a discovery of God’s call to believe Jesus is the risen Lord.
Again, when he observes Christians are “carnal” in their belief in an Incarnate God who is really present in the Eucharist, Soloveichik is quite right. But for the Christian, this carnality is identical to, not at odds with, communion with God the Spirit; that is, the Christian faith rejoices in the union of spirit and body and rejects a solely intellectual pursuit of God without regard for one’s body. As the Torah itself teaches us to accept only God’s self-revelation, and as the Lord has revealed himself to us in his Incarnation, the Christian looks not to a present redemption, an Eden of the mind in this present age (however Isaiah 51:3 is properly translated), but to the inauguration of the new heavens and earth in which his body and soul will be one in resurrection glory, even as are those of the Incarnate Lord and Son of God, Jesus Christ, himself.
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