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The 10 Points of Seelisberg

60 participants, Catholic, Protestant and Jewish
Suiza (1947/08)

1. It must be recalled that one and the same God speaks to us in the Old and New Testament.
2. It must be recalled that Jesus was born of a Jewish mother, belonging to the family of David and the people of Israel, and that his everlasting love and mercy embrace his own people and the entire world.
3. It must be recalled that the first disciples, the apostles, and the earliest martyrs were Jews.
4. It must be recalled that the principal commandment of Christianity, the love of God and neighbour, which was announced in the Old Testament and confirmed by Jesus, is of equal obligation, in all human relations without exception, for Jews and Christians alike.
5. Belittling biblical and post-biblical Judaism as a means of exalting Christianity must be avoided.
6. Using the word 'ews' in the exclusive meaning of' Jesus' enemies' and the words 'the enemies of Jesus' to designate the Jewish people as a whole must be avoided.
7. Presenting the passion of Jesus as if all Jews, or Jews only, have incurred the odium of the crucifixion must be avoided. Not all Jews demanded the death of Jesus. Not only Jews were responsible for it. The cross, which saves humanity, reveals that Christ has died for the sins of all of us. Christian parents and teachers should be reminded of their great responsibility in telling the story of Jesus' suffering. By doing it in a superficial manner, they run the risk of creating an aversion in the hearts of their children or listeners. In a simple mind, moved by an ardent love and compassion for the crucified Saviour, a natural abhorrence for Jesus' persecutors may easily turn, from psychological reasons, into an indiscriminate hate of the Jews of all times, even of our own day.
8. Care must be taken to avoid treating the condemnations of Scripture and the cry of the enraged crowds, 'His blood be on us and our children', without recalling that this cry does not outweigh the words of our Lord of incomparably greater consequence, 'Father forgive them, for they know not what they do'.
9. Care must be taken to avoid encouraging in any way the opinion that the Jews are a people accursed, reprobated, and set aside for perpetual suffering.
10. It must not be left unmentioned that the first members of the Church were Jews.