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Authentic Christian Witness

World Council of Churches Consultation on the Church and the Jewish People
Israel (1977/06/23)

The following extract is taken from the conference paper on Christian-Jewish relations adopted by the Jerusalem Conference of the World Council of Churches Consultation on the Church and the Jewish People which met in Jerusalem June 20 to 23, 1977.

C. AUTHENTIC CHRISTIAN WITNESS

1. Proselytism, as distinct from Mission or Witness, is rejected in the strongest terms by the WCC: "Proselytism embraces whatever violates the right of the human person, Christian or non-Christian, to be free from external coercion in religious matters, or whatever, in the proclamation of the Gospel, does not conform to the ways God draws free men to himself in response to his calls to serve in spirit and in truth" (Ecumenical Review 1/1971, p. 11).

We now realize more than ever before that the world in which we live is a world of religious pluralism. This demands from us that we treat those who differ from us with respect and that we strongly support the religious liberty of all.

2. This rejection of proselytism and our advocacy of respect for the integrity and the identity of all peoples and faith-communities is the more urgent where Jews are concerned. For, as stated above, our relationship to the Jews is of a unique and very close character. Moreover, the history of "Christian" anti-Semitism and forced baptisms of Jews in the past makes it understandable that Jews are rightly sensitive towards all religious pressures from outside and all attempts at proselytizing.

3. We reject proselytism both in its gross and more refined forms. This implies that all triumphalism and every kind of manipulation are to be abrogated. We are called upon to minimize the power dimension in our encounter with the Jews and to speak at every level from equal to equal. We have to be conscious of the pain and the perception of the others and have to respect their right to define themselves.

4. We are called upon to witness to God's love for and claim upon the whole of humankind. Our witness to Christ as Lord and Savior, however, is challenged in a special way where Jews are concerned. It has become discredited as a result of past behavior on the part of Christians. We therefore are seeking authentic and proper forms of Christian witness in our relations with the Jews. Some of us believe that we have to bear witness also to the Jews; some among us are convinced, however, that Jews are faithful and obedient to God even though they do not accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Many maintain that as a separate and specific people the Jews are an instrument of God with a specific God-given task and, as such, a sign of God's faithfulness to all humankind on the way towards ultimate redemption.