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Supersessionism

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Supersessionism refers to the concept that the [[New Testament]] supersedes the [[Old Testament]]. But it can also refer to vaguely related ideas that the [[Church]] supersedes ancient Israel, that the Church fulfills the missions Israel held, or simply that Christianity brings something new.
The term developed in Protestant scholarship in the 1970's-1980's1970s and 1980s, and is uncommon in Orthodox literature. Its normal use is to portray traditional Church teachings on these questions, often in a negative light.
== "Supersession" as a simple concept ==
In the "Encyclopedia of Eastern Orthodox Christianity", Prof. Eugene Pentiuc of Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, called supersessionism a "danger" discernible in Biblical passages<ref>Cited are: Mat 21:33-46, Gal 3:24-5, Rom 10:4</ref>, adding that it was especially pronounced in writings about Old Testament [[Typology]]. He wrote that "many early Christian writings" portray the New Testament and the Church as superseding the Old Testament and what he calls the "old Israel".<ref>Prof. Eugene Pentiuc, “Judaism, Orthodoxy and”, cited in Fr. John McGuckin The Encyclopedia of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, p. 356.</ref> The entry claims that supersessionism fueled "anti-Jewish sentiment" and devalued the Old Testament, but that ''"the church as a whole has [kept] the two Testaments in a dialectical unity, in the main avoiding... supersessionism as [a] danger."''<ref>Id.</ref>
Fr. Yves Dubois of St. John Kronstadt Church pointed out that while in Luke 2:32 Simeon called Christ "the glory of thy people Israel", a hymn in the Feast of the [[Meeting of the Lord]] has Simeon call Christ "the glory of the newly-chosen Israel."<ref>Fr. Yves Dubois, "An Orthodox Perspective", cited in "Christian-Jewish Dialogue", edited by Helen Fry, 1996, p.34</ref> He wrote that this twists Scriptural texts to make ''"Judaism and the Jewish community redundant, substituting the Gentile Church for Israel."'' He defines "supersessionism" as this substitution of ''"the Gentile Christian Church for the people of Israel"'' after God had made promises to Israel. Fr. Dubois writes that it ''"is theologically untenable because it questions God's consistency."''
This hinges on the liturgy's insertion of the phrase "newly-chosen Israel". The phrase "New Israel" is common in Orthodox writing. Herman Blaydoe, the Orthodox Monachos forum moderator, comments on the term:
*[[Israel]]
*[[Dispensationalism]]
 
==External link==
*[http://www.newenglishreview.org/custpage.cfm/frm/142205/sec_id/142205 Is the Orthodox Church “Supersessionist”?] by Hal Smith of the Orthodox Church in America
[[Category:Ecclesiology]]
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