of the relationship between the Roman Catholic Church in
particular, but the Christian Church in general, and Judaism. What
Carroll wanted was to overcome the accusation of antisemitism
on the part of the Christian Church (and we all need to admit
as Christians there has been antisemitism). It is certainly true
that there have been horrible abuses in the name of Jesus
Christ against His own people. But the cost of overcoming that
accusation in this culture, according to this influential book,
is nothing less than the rejection of the claim that Jesus is
the Messiah. Carroll says what we need to do is go back and
re-envision the gospel. We need to understand that the gospel as
we have it, the gospel as is in the four gospels, the gospel as was
preached by the apostles, is inherently antisemitic. He calls for a
Vatican III to repeal this doctrine. Let me remind you that Vatican
II repealed it in a very real way. Vatican II officially says that the
Jewish people need not receive Jesus the Messiah to be accepted
by the Father. Well, that is what we must overcome.
We now get down to the real issue, and with books like this,
James Carroll is helpful to us in ways he does not intend. He helps
us to see what really is at stake. To overcome the offense of the
gospel, we simply have to give up the gospel. To overcome the
scandal of the Cross, all that is required is abandoning the Cross.
Conversely, if we do not bear the scandal of the Cross, we must
admit that we have abandoned the Cross. The choice is between
the authentic gospel as set down by Jesus and preached by the
apostles, or a false, synthetic, compromised, and disguised gospel
set down on the terms of modern political correctness.
Jesus Himself says, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no man
comes to the Father but by Me (John 14:6).” Southern Baptist
conservatives did not come up with that idea. Chosen People
Ministries did not come up with that at the beginning of the last
century. The Reformers did not come up with that in the 16th
century and the early Church did not come up with that in the
first centuries of its life as it tried to come up with something to
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