Most faith traditions have a sacred book. But, what happens when two traditions share the same text? For over two thousand years, both the Jewish and Christian faiths have  proclaimed the Tanakh or the  “Old Testament”.

This morning I was reading a review of a new book, The Rise and Fall of the Bible, by author Timothy Beal. This very well written review (which appears on The New Republic website) points to the resentments that inevitably flare from differing ways of  referring to these texts and reading them. Putting aside the merits of the book being reviewed, I thought the review itself shed some light on this point of contention:

“It is exactly because Jews and Christians agree on the divine status of the Hebrew Bible that their disagreement about the New Testament has been so fraught. To a believing Christian, a Hindu who venerates the Vedas would simply be an unbeliever, a heathen, and so he would present no particular theological challenge. But a Jew, who accepts part of the Christian Bible but not the whole, is something more troubling—a critic, a breeder of doubts. From the Jewish perspective, meanwhile, the Christian demotion of the Hebrew Bible to the Old Testament is especially bitter: the suggestion that Judaism has been superseded is even more objectionable than the idea that it was never true in the first place.”

The reviewer, Adam Kirsch, quickly moves on to a fuller review of the book’s contents. However,  after reading  this insightful prelude, I found myself  intrigued by the  interfaith issues being addressed. What could be done to bridge this family feud?  I know of interfaith scripture study circles that exist in our community – is this something we should be facilitating between different Jewish and Christian communities? Or, more broadly, should we offer a general course on the sacred texts of all traditions?

What do you think?

The sacred books that comprise the Tanakh or the Old Testament have inspired many generations of faithful believers to lead more God centered lives. Could shared study of these scriptures help make the world a more peaceful place for the generations to come?