Franz Mußner's interpretation of the Epistle of James and its impact on Jewish-Christian dialogue

Abstract

One of the protagonists of Jewish-Christian dialogue in Germany was the late Franz Mußner (1916–2016), who, in 1985, was awarded for his contribution to this field with the Buber-Rosenzweig Medal. According to his own self-reflection, he owed his »discovery« of Judaism to his work on the commentary to the Epistle of James (1964, 67.75.81.87). The motto of Mußner’s commentary is a dictum of Pope Pius XII: »We Christians are also Jews.« These programmatic words of the commentary oppose every strict demarcation and confrontation between Jews and Christians and demand a new questioning of Christian identity, which leads us to the question: What makes Mußner’s commentary on James so important for the Jewish-Christian dialogue? This article shows that Mußner discovered a Jewish (as well as a Christian) profile of James on the basis of a theological closeness between the author of James and Jesus of the Gospels (he also drew a physical closeness between the author of the letter and Jesus). According to Mußner, this closeness was reflected in words about poor people, the image of God, faith, and justification of people.

Keywords

Jewish-Christian dialogue;Epistle of James;Lord's brother;roots;Jewishness;Mußner;Franz;1916-;

Data

Language:	English
Year of publishing:	2020
Typology:	1.01 - Original Scientific Article
Organization:	UL TEOF - Theological Faculty
UDC:	27-277-248.76:26
COBISS:	44183811
ISSN:	2335-4127
Views:	30
Downloads:	5
Average score:	0 (0 votes)
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Other data

Secondary language:	Slovenian
Secondary title:	Interpretacija Jakobovega pisma po Franzu Mußnerju in njen vpliv na judovsko-krščanski dialog
Secondary abstract:	Eden od protagonistov judovsko-krščanskega dialoga v Nemčiji je bil pokojni Franz Mußner (1916–2016), ki je bil leta 1985 za svoj prispevek na tem področju nagrajen z Buber-Rosenzweigovo medaljo. Glede na njegovo samorefleksijo je za njegovo »odkritje« judovstva zaslužno njegovo ukvarjanje s komentarjem k Jakobovemu pismu (1964, 67.75.81.87). Geslo Mußnerjevega komentarja je izrek papeža Pija XII.: »Tudi mi kristjani smo Judje.« Te programske besede komentarja nasprotujejo vsaki strogi razmejitvi in obračunu med Judi in kristjani ter zahtevajo nov premislek krščanske identitete, ki nas vodi do vprašanja: Zakaj je Mußnerjev komentar o Jakobu tako pomemben za judovsko-krščanski dialog? V članku bom pokazal, da je Mußner na podlagi teološke bližine med avtorjem Jakobovega pisma in Jezusa evangelijev (med njima je domneval tudi fizično podobnost) odkril židovski (pa tudi krščanski) Jakobov karakter. Po besedah Mußnerja se je ta bližina odražala v besedah o ubogih, Božji podobi, veri in opravičenosti ljudi.
Secondary keywords:	judovsko-krščanski dialog;Jakobovo pismo;Jezusov brat;korenine;judovstvo;Luther;Martin;1483-1546;
Pages:	str. 119-139
Volume:	ǂLetn. ǂ75
Issue:	ǂšt. ǂ2
Chronology:	2020
DOI:	10.34291/Edinost/75/02/Jovanovic
ID:	25250195