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

Jovanović, Marko (author)

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.

• Language: English
• Keywords: Jewish-Christian dialogue, Epistle of James, Lord's brother, roots, Jewishness
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: TEOF - Theological Faculty
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 01.01.2020
• Year: 2020
• Number of pages: Str. 119-139
• Numbering: Letn. 75, št. 2
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-163431
• UDC: 27-277-248.76:26
• ISSN on article: 2335-4127
• DOI: 10.34291/Edinost/75/02/Jovanovic
• COBISS.SI-ID: 44183811
• Publication date in RUL: 07.10.2024

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Edinost in dialog : revija za ekumensko teologijo in medreligijski dialog
• Publisher: Inštitut za ekumensko teologijo in medreligijski dialog pri Teološki fakulteti Univerze v Ljubljani, Inštitut za ekumensko teologijo in medreligijski dialog pri Teološki fakulteti Univerze v Ljubljani, Inštitut Stanka Janežiča za dogmatično, osnovno in ekumensko teologijo ter religiologijo in dialog, Teološka fakulteta Univerze v Ljubljani
• ISSN: 2335-4127
• COBISS.SI-ID: 268194560

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Interpretacija Jakobovega pisma po Franzu Mußnerju in njen vpliv na judovsko-krščanski dialog

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.

• Keywords: judovsko-krščanski dialog, Jakobovo pismo, Jezusov brat, korenine, judovstvo