God’s Own Covenant as the Foundation of Judaism and Christianity from the Perspective of Joseph Ratzinger

Abstract

Christian identity finds its origin in the unification of the Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament is based on the Law of submission to God’s commandments, while the New Testament is based on the Law of Freedom in Christ. God by faith in Christ, ceased to be only the God of Israel, and became the God of all nations who made a New Covenant with Him by faith in the Son of God Jesus Christ. The word »covenant«, Hebrew word »berith« in Judaism refers to the special relationship that the Lord Yahweh had with the Jewish people from whom He sought complete loyalty and devotion, giving His people the gift of the Law on the way of life. In Christianity, the New Covenant with God is characterized by the gift of grace and love in the Son, not by the power of the letter but by the power of life in the Spirit. The promise that God gave to the father of the nation, Abraham, by making a covenant with him, was fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. The article brings Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger’s view of the relationship between the Church, Israel, and Judeo-Christian dialogue. Special attention is paid to the principle of the covenant that unites the New Covenant with the Old, the living Word with the written Word and the Scripture with tradition.

Keywords

• god’s people
• judaism
• old testament covenants
• christianity
• new covenant