Blogger Priest

We can certainly make the distinction that both Judaism and Islam signify “natural” religions because of the espousal of one true God. Christianity signifies a “supernatural” religion due to the revelation of this one God as “Trinity.” However, Bishop Schneider grants Islam as a religion no credit on this point. He only admits that an individual Muslim might incidentally or let me interject “accidentally” worship the true God with a natural faith.

While left unsaid at this point, such an assessment would also include the modern Jews. By contrast, many of us were taught that what the Scriptures condemned were those Jewish religious leaders (the Pharisees) who rejected the truth out of malice. However, for many of the Muslims and Jews today the issue is one of ignorance. Despite the apologetics of St. Paul, he never condemned his fellow Jews as idolaters. They worshipped the true God. Bishop Schneider might concede this but then contends that Judaism after the destruction of the temple in 70 AD becomes a distinct religion from what came before. Even though Islam cannot genuinely claim the Hebrew trajectory of faith; he would deny it for Jews as well.

While Jews and Muslims alike call upon Abraham as their father in faith, Bishop Schneider would have us believe that God is deaf to their entreaties. His focus is entirely upon Christians as spiritual children of Abraham.

Bishop Schneider directly contradicts Pope John Paul II who taught in 1999 the following:

“We Christians joyfully recognize the religious values we have in common with Islam. Today I would like to repeat what I said to young Muslims some years ago in Casablanca: ‘We believe in the same God, the one God, the living God, the God who created the world and brings his creatures to their perfection’ (Insegnamenti, VIII/2, [1985], p. 497). The patrimony of revealed texts in the Bible speaks unanimously of the oneness of God. Jesus himself reaffirms it, making Israel’s profession his own: ‘The Lord our God, the Lord is one’ (Mk. 12:29; cf. Dt. 6:4-5). This oneness is also affirmed in the words of praise that spring from the heart of the Apostle Paul: ‘To the king of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen'(1 Tm. 1:17).”

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I suspect that Bishop Schneider would never go out of his way to placate the sensibilities of Jews. Here is another quote from his book, CREDO.

I may be wrong, but his take on the subject seems to depart from the revision in the universal catechism:

“To the Jewish people, whom God first chose to hear his Word, ‘belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ.’”

The USCCB added:

“The clarification reflects the teaching of the Church that all previous covenants that God made with the Jewish people are fulfilled in Jesus Christ through the new covenant established through his sacrificial death on the cross. Catholics believe that the Jewish people continue to live within the truth of the covenant God made with Abraham, and that God continues to be faithful to them.”

Back in 1986, Pope John Paul II visited a Roman synagogue and stated:

“The Church of Christ discovers her ‘bond’ with Judaism by ‘searching into her own mystery’, (cf. Nostra Aetate, ibid.). The Jewish religion is not ‘extrinsic’ to us, but in a certain way is ‘intrinsic’ to our own religion. With Judaism therefore we have a relationship which we do not have with any other religion. You are our dearly beloved brothers and, in a certain way, it could be said that you are our elder brothers.”

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