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Has God Only One Blessing?: Judaism as a Source of Christian Self-Understanding (Contraversions Jews and Other Differences)

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In our contemporary era, it is not usually considered acceptable to explicitly embrace bigotry and religious intolerance. Yet, as Christians we often do it in implicit ways which have shaped us since childhood. In this powerful book, Mary Boys offers a review of the history whereby Jews and Christians moved from being siblings, to being rivals and finally, enemies. This is a situation that can be reversed as Christians learn more about Judaism and, in turn, understand their own religion with more depth.

Mary does not profess to be an expert of Judaica. But here grasp of catholic theology and history is superb. Carefully and objectively she lays out her case for why Christians should refuse the supersessionism which infects our tradition. As she explains, Christianity should be able to express the power which is inherent in its tradition without denegrating the faith of the Jewish people. It is not necessary to insist that Christians are the new People of God in a way which proposes that the Jews are no longer God's people. As the title suggests, Mary demonstrates that God has blessings enough for both.

As a doctoral student in a summer session at Boston College, I have had the privilege of studying with Mary Boys. Hers is a powerful and persuasive argument that seeks to recapture something authentic and true about the foundations of Christianity. It is too easy to misread the gospel accounts as if Jesus and the Jews were arrayed against one another. In reality, Jesus of Nazareth was a Jew himself and this fact is far too often forgotten by Christians.

Typical of other Pharisaic rabbis of his day, Jesus had a particular approach to Jewish Law and customs and he had his own group of disciples who referred to themselves as "followers of the Way." In this simple rabbi these disciples encountered the power of God, placing Christians in a position which should be one of gratitude toward the Jews, not condescension and condemnation.

As Christians, are we able to develop a new paradigm which is faithful to our tradition without demonization of the Jews? I believe we can. I believe we must, and Mary Boys points a way in which we can better understand ourselves in the process.

With "Has God Only One Blessing" Mary Boys has made a major contribution to Jewish Christian relations. It is a singular contribution and advances the conversation to what is for Christians the most challenging area, which is the way we worship.

Jews and Christians have made enormous progress in mutal respect and understanding over the last forty years. Religious text books have been reviewed for negative stereotypes. We are quick to rally support for victims of discrimination and hate crimes. Our leaderships have made thoughtful policy statements. There are high levels of cooperation in efforts for justice and peace. Scores of colleges and universities have centers for interreligious study and research.

How Jews and Judaism are presented in our worship is quite another matter. Our words and our structures are riven with supersessionism, the assumption that Christianity fulfills and replaces Judaism.

It is this enormous diffuculty Mary Boys analyses with the a clear vision and practical directives. Her work is most welcome and merits great attention.

Mary C. Boys' book is desperately needed, especially in a culture where Mel Gibson's movie about the Passion is the only source many people will go to for their history (or lack of). After reading this book, if you are a thinking person, your spiritual foundations will grow and your previously mistaken understandings about Jews and Judaism (not to mention God's "irrevocable" gifts and call to Israel - Rom 11:25-36) will change for the better.

It is time to let theologians like Mary C. Boys pave a new path for the ongoing Christian culture and its relation to "the root that supports" it. Buy this book for your Pastor!

This book was not only way too long but it was difficult to read and her views just really are not in line. Stuff like, We need this and we need that. One of the many things that bugged me in this book was saying that we needed to read the bible with a special non-antisemetic lense. Ok, really now the bible should not have to be read with a lense of anything. We are supposed to study the meaning of the text through it's historical and theological backgrounds not through some special lense.

I have spent a long time reading "Has God Only One Blessing", to my dismay. Mary Boy's reflections are biased and almost anti-Catholic. I'm given the impression that to improve Jewish-Christian relations, I must hide behind, almost reject my own religion in order to appreciate another's. I hope that instead, I can live what Jesus taught and be self-giving to my Jewish neighbors. Perhaps those of us who have grown up in a post Vatican II time would do better to focus (and act) on how to be true Christians and less on (due to our admitted mistakes) how we can be less Catholic and more sensitive. Those two are not mutually exclusive. I do not agree with her point of view and do not recommend this book.