Redeeming Our Sacred Story : The Death of Jesus and Relations between Jews and Christians

Stories Of Jesus' Passion And Death Lie At The Core Of Christian Identity. They Offer An Encounter With His Experience Of The Human Condition: Betrayals By Those Closest To Him, His Own Fear Of Death, Uncertainty About God's Will, And The Endurance Of Terrible Suffering And An Ignominious Death. From Generation To Generation, These Stories Have Functioned In Sacred And Saving Ways For Christians. Yet, Misinterpretations Of The Passion Narratives Have Rationalized Hostility To And Violence Against Jews As Christ Killers. This Sacrilegious Telling Cries Out For Redemption. Redeeming Christianity's Sacred Story Requires Respect, Even Awe, For Its Power; Demands Rigorous Examination Of The History Between Jews And Christians And The Ethical Obligation To Be Altered By This History; And Entails Pursuing Solid Biblical Scholarship, Principles For Reinterpreting Troubling Texts, And Incorporation Into Christian Spirituality. Redeeming Our Sacred Story Challenges Us To Forge More Just Relations Between Jews And Christians. It Witnesses To The World That Reconciliation Is Possible. (back Cover). Part I. A Trembling Telling. The Cornerstone And A Stumbling Block -- Power In The Story : Stories Rightly Told -- Part Ii. A Troubling Telling : And Its Tragic Consequences. Troubling Texts : Raw Materials For Hostility To Jews -- Christ Killers : A Consistent Refrain -- Christ Killers : A Deadly Accusation -- Christianity's Troubling Tellings And The Holocaust -- Part Iii. A Transformed Telling. New Perspectives On Troubling Texts I : The Roman Empire As A Backstory To The Crucifixion -- New Perspectives On Troubling Texts Ii : Complicated Identities -- Turn It And Turn It Again -- The Cross As The Tree Of Life For The Healing Of The Nations. Mary C. Boys. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 341-370) And Index.