Reviewed Book: Cohn-Sherbok, Dan. On Earth as It Is in Heaven: Jews, Christians, and Liberation Theology. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1987

Wehrfritz-Hanson, Garth

English

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On Earth as It Is in Heaven: Jews, Christians, and Liberation Theology

Wilfrid Laurier University

ConsensusVolume 15Issue 1 Mission of the Church Article 225-1-1989On Earth as It Is in Heaven: Jews, Christians, andLiberation TheologyGarth Wehrfritz-HansonFollow this and additional works at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensusThis Book Reviews is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Consensus by anauthorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact scholarscommons@wlu.ca.Recommended CitationWehrfritz-Hanson, Garth (1989) "On Earth as It Is in Heaven: Jews, Christians, and Liberation Theology," Consensus: Vol. 15 : Iss. 1 ,Article 22.Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol15/iss1/22132 Consensusthe homoiousion position is attributed to Arius at Nicaea (it emerged as anexplicit theological alternative two decades later). The latter error arises,again, because of a too general treatment. Chapter six provides a gooddiscussion of Christian worship and at last a discussion of the Orthodoxtradition. Here the cultural perspective helps to illuminate the importanceof symbol and ritual in Christian worship. The final two chapters turnto issues of a more sociological nature. Troeltsch’s sect and church typesprovide the structure for a description of contemporary Christianity’s re-lationship to its culture. The book concludes with a brief glossary and abibliography for further reading.Because the same phenomena are often viewed from the particular van-tage points of the various chapters, there is a tendency to be repetitious.Given the economy of space the authors have allowed themselves, this isunfortunate because in a book of this nature every word counts.In the end one’s assessment of the book will vary according to what oneregards as the proper task of introductory university texts. If one thinksthat they should provide a kind of intellectual “first date”—to titillate witha view to whetting the appetite for a more involved acquaintance—this bookis successful. If, however, one desires of an introductory text both titillationand information, Christianity will leave one dissatisfied.Harry O. MaierSaskatoon, SaskatchewanOn Earth as it is in Heaven: Jews, Christians, andLiberation TheologyDan Cohn-SherbokMaryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1987As the title suggests. Rabbi Cohn-Sherbok’s recent work is a brief sur-vey in comparative religion and ethics. He begins by presenting the differ-ences of Judaism and traditional Christianity in such doctrinal categoriescLs: God, Jesus Christ, the Law, free will, sin and atonement. Then, therefollows a comparative study of the similarities of contemporary Christianliberation theology and the Jewish tradition. In the closing chapter, therabbi gives his readers a good summary of the common ground shared byJewish theology and liberation theology.Cohn-Sherbok points out that the doctrine of the Trinity remains acontinuing “fly in the ointment” for contemporary Jewish theologians. Butthose readers seeking a thorough, concise overview of the problem will berather disappointed. The rabbi’s discussion is far too brief.In addition to Jewish thinkers rejecting the Incarnation, the two naturesof Jesus, and Jesus as Messiah, there are several other problems concerningBook Reviews 133traditional Christology. According to Cohn-Sherbok, Jesus has no specialrelationship with God, his view of sin and sinners is in conflict with tra-ditional Judaism, as is his otherworldliness, his renunciation of all humanties, his interpretation of Jewish law and his violation of laws. In Jewishtheology—ancient, medieval and modern—sin, evil and temptation can beovercome by human beings. Thus, Judaism has no need of Christ’s atone-ment for sin. Repentance and atonement are the responsibility of everyhuman being.Cohn-Sherbok believes that modern Jewish thinkers share much in com-mon with contemporary liberation theologians. Both are critical of abstractthought concerning Christ’s divinity. Both focus on the Jesus of history. Je-sus as prophet in historical continuity with the other great ancient Israeliteprophets is “the” pivotal theological paradigm for contemporary Jews andliberation theologians. Christ as prophet critiqued the religious establish-ment of his day and pointed the people to authentic Judaism. Jesus, like theIsraelite prophets, believed that wealth was the cause of poverty, exploita-tion and oppression. Wealth also hindered the quality of one’s relationshipto God. Christ’s emphasis on love is also consistent with the prophets.This shared prophetic tradition affords modern Jews and Christians theopportunity to work together on many social justice projects.A critique of the traditional Christian view of God’s kingdom is offeredwith particular attention to Pauline theology as: too individual oriented,internalized and spiritualized. The rabbi once again sees a common threadfor liberation and Jewish theologians in that they both view God’s kingdomas a collective, ethical transformation of this world. The link betweenthis- worldly justice and the kingdom is an extremely important one. ForJews, ethical primacy is what ushers in a realized kingdom of God. Isthis ultimately in conflict with or radically different from Christianity’sprimacy of grace and love? The author once again suggests that there ismuch common ground.According to Cohn-Sherbok, the Exodus-Passover is the universal eventpar excellence of freedom, redemption, and salvation for all humankind.The Exodus-Passover themes and motifs abound with richness and diver-sity. Today the Exodus-Pcissover is, among other things, a critique of op-pressive modern society.Liberation theology, similar to Jewish theology, has linked faith to or-thopraxis and not orthodoxy. Moral action in concert with the poor andoppressed is not an option for Jews and liberation theologians. Moral actionfor Jews and liberation theologians ushers in the eschatological kingdomalong the lines of utopian Marxist ideology. This assumes, on the part ofboth Jewish and liberation theologians a rather high view of humanity, aview of humanity which remains problematic for many Lutheran Christians.Contemporary Jews and Christians have much in common and are thusenabled to work together for peace and justice for the poor, women, theunemployed and responsible stewardship of creation.In light of the recent anti-Semitism in Canada (the Keegstra and Zun-del cases, the conspiracy to murder a prominent Calgary Jew and bomb134 Consensusthe Calgary Jewish Centre, and, dare I say, the subtle and not-so-subtleanti-Semitic attitudes of some Canadian Lutherans) this is a very timelybook. Rabbi Cohn-Sherbok presents a convincing case for the necessity ofcontinuing dialogue and action between contemporary Jews and Christiansfor theological, practical, and historical reasons that are obvious to anysensitive reader.Garth Wehrfritz-HansonSt. John’s Lutheran Church, New Sarepta, AlbertaFacing the TigerShirley Jane EndicottWinfield, British Columbia: Wood Lake Books, 1987121 pp.Rooted in her earliest memories of life in China, Shirley Endicott re-members. “The tiger is coming”—the tiger that comes to disobedient chil-dren. After 50 years she turns. In the trauma of mental breakdown, her re-sistance is penetrated. She faces her tiger and relives her life experiences—her life as a “missionaries’ kid”, her idealistic involvement in her youth, heruniversity lectures in Sociology, her discovery of a feministic context for lifeand faithShirley’s companion in dialogue, for her reflections, is Miriam, protectorof the baby Moses, co-leader of the Exodus and wanderer in the Wilder-ness. She muses, “Miriam began as a literary device. ..,however she becamemore. ..,a way of doing theology She represents the life force within me,the creative energy which propels me in my quest for meaning” (11). Theirlife stories are reviewed, one as a foil for the other. Meaning and insight arediscovered as the haze of forgetting is brushed aside, the tigers are revealedand the anticipation of a “Promised Land” is recalled.The parallels enlarge her autobiography into a biblical and global exe-gesis: the tigers of our living, the fog of our misunderstandings. Readerswill reflect and identify. They will find themselves caught in the imagery,exposing personal fears, contemporary issues and the nagging questions ofthe faith heritage: the “tiger” of living the faith of parents; the struggleto understand and authenticate a personal belief; the “tiger” of integratingthe true self and the public image while gaining perception of and compas-sion for former struggles; the struggle and pain of questioning and beingquestioned, such as the disturbing queries of feminists, the examination ofthe patriarchy, the revelations concerning wife abuse. These are “tigers”we would rather avoid, the tigers we fear are coming.We are drawn to admire Shirley’s energy, her honesty and her authen-ticity. What could be seen as an egotistical exercise in navel gazing becomes

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