American Baptists Issue Reply to "Dabru Emet"

The Committee on Christian Unity of the American Baptist Churches U.S.A. has issued a response to "Dabru Emet: A Jewish Statement on Christians and Christianity"

American Baptists Issue Reply to "Dabru Emet"

The Committee on Christian Unity of the American Baptist Churches U.S.A. has issued a response to "Dabru Emet: A Jewish Statement on Christians and Christianity," which was issued in September, 2000, by a group of Jewish scholars and rabbis. The Baptist statement, released in June, 2002, hails the earlier statement as marking a significant new step in Jewish-Christian dialogue. "With the authors of Dabru Emet, we wish to believe that a new day of broader conversation and mutual religious appreciation has begun."

The Baptist statement notes that not all members of the Jewish community may agree with the appreciative attitude toward Christianity expressed in Dabru Emet, and acknowledges that also among Baptists, there are differences over "the nature of the mutual affirmation of our two traditions that is consistent with Christian identity." The statement notes that Jews and Baptists in the United States have a long record of collaboration in support of religious liberty, and urges Baptist churches "to maintain and extend relations with synagogues and temples in their communities, both for shared service and for mutual study."

F.S.

Full text of the statement