Springer Jewish Conscience of the Church: Jules Isaac and the Second Vatican Council

This book presents the backstory of how the Catholic Church came to clarify and embrace the role of Israel in salvation history, at the behest of an unlikely personality: Jules Isaac. This embrace put to an end the tradition, more than fifteen centuries old, of anti-Jewish rhetoric that had served as taproot to racial varieties of anti-Semitism.  Prior to Isaac’s thought and activism, this contemptuous tradition had never been denounced in so compelling a manner that the Church was forced to address it. It is a story of loss and triumph, and ultimately, unlikely partnership.  Isaac devoted his years after World War II to a crusade for scriptural truth and rectification of Christian teaching regarding Jews and Judaism. Isaac’s crusade culminated in an unpublicized audience with Pope John XXIII―a meeting that moved the pope to make a last-minute addition to the Second Vatican Council agenda and set in motion the events leading to a revolution in Catholic teaching about Jews. Review “The book represents an important contribution to the recent scholarship on Nostra Aetate and the development of Catholic teaching on Judaism. … Tobias’ book also gives an inside account of the pre-history and history of Nostra Aetate thanks to his interviews with Gregory Baum and Thomas Stransky.” (Massimo Faggioli, Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations, Vol. 13 (1), 2018) Review “Brilliantly brings to a contemporary readership the life and work of the French-Jewish historian, Jules Isaac who, perhaps more than anyone else, was the chief influence on the radically revised stance of the Catholic Church on Jews and Judaism in the 1960's. This book causes us to seriously remember a great man who would otherwise (and unjustly) be largely forgotten.” (David Novak, F.R.S.C., J. Richard and Dorothy Shiff Chair of Jewish Studies as Professor of the Study of Religion and Professor of Philosophy, University of Toronto, Canada) “No one knows more about Jules Isaac than Norman Tobias, and he brings this fascinating and crucial figure to life in a book that is indispensable and elegantly crafted.” (John Connelly, Professor of History, University of California at Berkeley, USA) “In this compelling biography, Norman Tobias illumines how Isaac’s painstaking scholarship and passion contributed to the complex process by which the Church confronted its ‘teaching of contempt’ for Judaism and sought instead to develop a ‘teaching of respect.’ It is an extraordinary testimony to the impact one person can have on global and historic movements.” (Mary Boys, Dean of Academic Affairs, Skinner and McAlpin Professor of Practical Theology, Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York, USA) From the Back Cover This book presents the backstory of how the Catholic Church came to clarify and embrace the role of Israel in salvation history, at the behest of an unlikely personality: Jules Isaac. This embrace put to an end the tradition, more than fifteen centuries old, of anti-Jewish rhetoric that had served as taproot to racial varieties of anti-Semitism.  Prior to Isaac’s thought and activism, this contemptuous tradition had never been denounced in so compelling a manner that the Church was forced to address it. It is a story of loss and triumph, and ultimately, unlikely partnership.  Isaac devoted his years after World War II to a crusade for scriptural truth and rectification of Christian teaching regarding Jews and Judaism. Isaac’s crusade culminated in an unpublicized audience with Pope John XXIII―a meeting that moved the pope to make a last-minute addition to the Second Vatican Council agenda and set in motion the events leading to a revolution in Catholic teaching about Jews. About the Author Norman C. Tobias, who holds a PhD in religious studies from the University of Toronto, Canada, is a practicing tax lawyer and former adjunct professor of law, Queen’s University, Canada.