Book Reviews 77

George Hunsinger , the Jews, and (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2018), viii + 189 pp., $65.00, cloth (ISBN 978-0802875761).

Karl Barth’s contribution to positively articulating the Jewish-Christian rela- tionship is widely recognized. To explore and expound this contribution, edited this volume based on a conference held at Princeton Theological Seminary in 2014. Nonetheless, it consists not only of the confer- ence papers, but also of another four essays (chapters 4, 7, 8, and 9), by George Hunsinger, T.F. Torrance, C.E.B. Cranfield, and Hans Küng, respectively. In what follows, we focus on the conference papers.

The first chapter, by David Novak, seeks to demonstrate Barth’s contribution to shaping the Jewish identity of Jewish theologians. His approach is to explore “how Barth thought like a Jewish thinker thinks or ought to think of the Torah, the object of common concern to both Jews and Christians” (1). Novak’s argu- mentation is centered on unpacking Barth’s and the rabbinic exegesis of Micah 6:8. In doing so, he sets forth the benefits of Barth’s theological project to Jewish theologians’ views of God and divine revelation. Chapter 2 presents Eberhard Busch’s original archival study of the histori- cal contexts of Barth’s view of Jewish-Christian relations. Starting from Barth’s connection with the Patmos Circle of baptized Jews, Busch successively exam- ines the notions of covenant, law, church, and synagogue in Barth’s . By this historical survey, he sketches Barth’s defense of the Jews at the start of the Third Reich. The third chapter is George Hunsinger’s transcript of the conference dia- logue between Novak and Busch. This dialogue is carried out by the questions designed by George Hunsinger on election, one true religion, revelation, the belief in the same God, natural theology, mutual learning between Jews and Christians, their critical appreciation of Barth’s theology, and the Holocaust. The dialogue is not restricted within the confines of Jewish-Christian relations. Rather, it brings into conversation broader theological ideas, reflecting how Jews and Christians can maintain their own faith while trying to understand the other. In chapter 5, from the perspective of Barthian theology, Peter Ochs reflects on Dabru Emet, which is vital for articulating Jewish-Christian relationships. He spells out his Jewish Barthian reading of the distinction between the plain sense of scripture and scripture’s interpreted sense with a kind of philosophy of language. Then he applies this method to the Barthian reading of Dabru Emet. By doing so, Ochs argues that the Jewish-Christian relationship should

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2018 | doi: 10.1163/15697312-01201010 78 Book Reviews be guided by the Word of God and then focus on their intimate religious belief. Hence, he proposes that “Jewish-Christian theological dialogue may be charac- terized, for one, as a dialogue between rabbinic and christological eschatologies or between meantime and ontological accounts of the meaning of God’s pres- ence in history” (101). In chapter 6, Victoria Barnett sketches Barth’s important impact on Jewish- Christian dialogues between 1945 and 1950 through the lens of the early post- war interfaith encounters. Barnett contends that the post-Holocaust Christian- Jewish dialogue was articulated on the ground of the statements of the Seelis- berg meeting of 1947 that Barth attended in person. By focusing on a specific period, Barnett on the one hand expounds how Barth’s theology exerted a great influence on others’ view of the Jewish-Christian dialogue, and, on the other hand, seeks to render Barth’s theology as an example for a broader interreli- gious conversation. In chapter 10, argues that the church’s theological teaching on Israel in God’s economy (Israelology) should have its place in . Then she compares Barth’s Israelology with Paul’s, Augustine’s, and Aquinas’s teachings on Jews and Judaism. In doing so, Charry demonstrates that by the doctrine of election, Barth, the first Israelological dogmatician since Paul, innovatively eliminates the standard dichotomy between Israel and the church within the divine covenant. Thereby Barth’s Israelology prompts Jewish-Christian relationship and promotes their common mission of advanc- ing God’s glory in the world. This volume’s merits are apparent. It articulates Barth’s Israelology theologically and historically. In particular, Eberhard Busch’s archival study offers a fascinating historical lens through which Barth’s Israelology can be grasped comprehensively. Meanwhile, the authors engage Barth’s theology crit- ically. For example, Ellen Charry points out that the inconsistencies in Barth’s Israelology consist in how Jews and Judaism pass away if they bear witness to human sin and God’s judgment (164). Moreover, this volume brings Jewish Barthian thinkers into the conversation. David Novak and Peter Ochs, respec- tively, demonstrate how Barth’s Israelology has influenced them as Jewish thinkers to develop Jewish-Christian dialogue from the side of the Jews. Nonetheless, this volume could be strengthened by demonstrating Barth’s ver- sion of supersessionism. In other words, it should be laid out in detail how Barth’s view of the election of the church does not nullify his high Israelology.

This volume is highly recommended for those who intend to study Barth’s the- ology of Israel and who dedicate themselves to research on Jewish-Christian

Journal of Reformed Theology 12 (2018) 65–79