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PROVIDENCE —On March 18 at Providence College, another stone was laid in the bridge of the Jewish-Christian Theological Exchange. Hosted by Dr. Thomas Bolin, scholar-in-residence in Jewish Studies and Jewish-Christian Relations at PC, the event brought many students, professors, and Rhode Islanders from different backgrounds to hear the theological exchange on the central question, “Whose Bible?”
Dr. Ethan Schwartz is an Orthodox Jew, Jewish Biblical Scholar, and Professor at Villanova University. Dr. Andrew Davis of Boston College is a professor and Scholar of Catholic Biblical studies. Each of them heads up the embracing Jewish-Christian dialogue at their respective universities. They each are well-versed in the texts to know one another’s beliefs, as well as encouraging their students to do the same.
The event focused on the profound and often overlooked similarities between Catholic and Jewish texts, traditions, and lived experiences.
Each scholar spent 20 minutes presenting on a text from the other’s tradition, identifying shared themes. Dr. Schwartz analyzed the Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation “Dei Verbum,” while Dr. Davis examined Jewish scholar Hindy Najman’s “The Vitality of Biblical Texts.” Davis highlighted the concept of “vitality,” arguing that because the Bible is a living, “divine” text, it requires constant re-reading to generate new meaning for every generation. The session concluded with a joint discussion on interreligious dialogue and an audience Q&A.
“Commenting on means of interpreting scripture, Dr. David says, “I find an analogy to artwork a very helpful way to think about biblical interpretation.”
Each Jewish and Catholic understanding points out how artwork bridge the gap between historical criticism and personal understanding of the text; in an artwork, both can be made true and be understood.
“The balance then is between innovation and continuity. You know, always being willing to innovate, to see tradition as something innovative and creative and exciting, but also never innovating so far that you create some sort of discontinuity. So to me, that’s what I find over and over again in the Bible, is the biblical author striking this balance between innovation and continuity. And it’s something that I find hidden diamonds in the description of her own method, of biblical interpretation.”
Dr. Schwartz’s report on “Dei Verbum” focused heavily on how vital it is that document recognizes the importance of equal authority of scriptures and Tradition, and how important this is in Jewish life and studies.
Dr. Schwartz highlighted the shared origins of Scripture and Tradition in “Dei Verbum,” noting the parallel to his own faith:
“To some extent, they’re all rooted in the same divine truth... but they do play different roles. As a traditional Jew, this is an incredibly tantalizing description of Catholicism, because it has a direct analog to the way that Jews think about this.”
The latter part of Dr. Schwarts’ appreciation of “Dei Verbum” is that we can actually apply this understanding to Jewish-Christian Theological Exchange today. He reports that actually having these discussions between Jews, Catholics, and Protestants is made difficult because Jews and Catholics are often more similar than Catholics and Protestants because of the importance of tradition in each respective religion. It is nearly impossible to have an honest dialogue when the Protestant point of view doesn’t allow the others to cite the earliest Church fathers or the Tannaim, the earliest rabbis.
This is when the conversation really became a joint effort to overcome this understanding. Each expressed the difficulty of having a conversation on a larger scale when they need to leave their tradition, a huge aspect of their respective positions at the door, and only focus on the cannonical texts without talking about the people who compiled them.
Dr. Davis asked, “What do we lose when we always leave our identity at the door?”
This was a recurring theme in their discussion. Dialogue must take into account the totality of the factors within each respective religion; it is not actually a productive conversation if it is not the complete picture.
Both scholars lamented a shared challenge: the decline in biblical literacy. They noted that teaching has become increasingly difficult now that students rarely grow up reading sacred texts.
Dr. Shwartz says, “Biblical studies is meant to ‘blow people’s minds,’ but that’s impossible when students don’t know the text in the first place.”
Bishop Bruce Lewandowski, C.Ss.R., was excited to be attending the event, stating,
“I think we’re in sacred ground when we’re in these conversations and these dialogues. The other piece of this, I think, which is important, Vatican II did this. This is the direct result of the inspiration and the wisdom, and all that comes from the fruit of the hard work of the Second Vatican Council...And so I’m very grateful for Providence College for hosting continuously these kinds of dialogues and conversations. My own personal take on it is, I try to be at as many of these as possible, because we always learn, and we should dedicate ourselves to a kind of pattern and a habit of lifelong learning when it comes to sacred scripture, because there’s always something new and always fresh.”
When asked how meetings like these could help bridge the divide between Jewish and Christian persons, Dr. Shwartz said, “The best Jewish-Christian dialogue is happening between Jewish and Catholic students in their dorm rooms, right? What I would tell people in their own communities, if you’re a Catholic and you’re talking to your Jewish friend about Judaism and Catholicism, congratulations. You’re doing Jewish Catholic dialogue! You should value that as something that’s important.”
The night’s final takeaway was a simple call to action: take up the Bible, speak openly with other traditions, and never underestimate the power of a casual conversation about faith.
