What is Dual-Covenant Theology?

Ariel ben Ami

Ed. The “mystery of Israel” has become a subject of research, meditation, and dialogue since World War II and, in particular, since the publication of the Vatican II document, Nostra Aetate.

Prior to the war, Replacement Theology represented a persistent error concerning the status of the People Israel. Since Nostra Aetate, another error has appeared, known as Dual covenant theology. In this issue, we present an article by Ariel ben Ami dealing with this second error. Like the last article, this one was taken from the Catholics for Israel website and is reprinted with permission.

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In another article we looked at the theological error of replacement theology, which claims that God has rejected the Jews as His chosen people and replaced Israel by the Church. We saw that this theory cannot be reconciled with the New Testament and with the teachings of the Church, which state that God’s election of Israel and His covenant with the Jewish people are irrevocable and permanent.

Today, another theological error is causing much confusion in the Church, because it is held by not a few influential people. This error is called “dualcovenant theology.” Dual-covenant theology teaches that since God’s covenant with the Jews is still valid for them, they don’t need the New Covenant to be saved. Jews could go to Heaven simply by keeping the Law of Moses, because of the “everlasting covenant” between Abraham and God (Gen 17:13), whereas Gentiles (those who are not Jews) must convert to Christianity to be saved. In other words, Jews have their own way to God, the Old Covenant, and the Christians theirs, theNewCovenant. Dual-covenant theology is thus the opposite error of replacement theology. Whereas replacement theology claims that God’s election, covenant and promises to Israel are superceded and abolished, and the only role left for Jews is to convert to Christianity and enter the Church, dual-covenant theology claims on the contrary that since God’s covenant with the Jews is still valid, it is totally sufficient for them, and therefore they don’t need Jesus or the Church at all to be saved.

This idea is very attractive to Jews who don’t believe in Jesus (and, tragically, even to many Catholics) because it does away with Jesus’ commandment to his disciples that they should share the Gospel with everyone, Jews and Gentiles. But the problem with dual-covenant theology is that it completely contradicts the writings of the New Testament and teachings of the Church.

Quite obviously, the New Testament claims that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah of Israel that God promised to the Jewish people through Moses and the prophets (see Messianic Prophecies, The Messiah in the Tanakh and Who Do You Say I Am?):

• Jesus’ own mission was directed exclusively to the Jews. He said “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (Mt 15:24)
• The proclamation of the early Church was also exclusively directed to the Jews. (cf. Acts 2-4; 7)
• The apostle Paul wrote: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Rom 1:16)

Since God’s covenant with Israel is still valid, could Jews then be saved by simply observing the Mosaic Law the Torah? The New Testament and the Catholic Church answer a categoric “no” to this question. Although the Torah is God-given and good, and it can certainly be meritorious for Jews to observe its commandments in a spirit of devotion to God, Divine Revelation tells us that Torah observance alone is not sufficient for salvation:

• “Nor is there salvation in any other [than Christ], for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
• “A man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ… for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.” (Gal 2:16)
• “I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.” (Gal 2:21)
• “Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.” (1 Jn 2:23)
• “The Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door.” (CCC 846)
• “Jesus affirms that ‘there shall be one flock and one shepherd.’ Church and Judaism cannot then be seen as two parallel ways of salvation and the Church must witness to Christ as the Redeemer for all.” (Notes on the Correct Way to Present the Jews and Judaism in Preaching and Catechesis in the Roman Catholic Church I. 7, Vatican Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, 1985)
• Even the declaration Nostra Aetate in its section on the Jewish people, where it affirms the permanence of God’s covenant with Israel, still states that it is “the burden of the Church’s preaching to proclaim the cross of Christ as the sign of God’s all-embracing love and as the fountain from which every grace flows” (NA 4)

The fact that Judaism as it is practised today is insufficient for salvation should be evident to anyone who reads the Scriptures. In the Old Testament, forgiveness was attained through the offering of animal sacrifices and the shedding of their blood in atonement for sins (cf. Lev 17:11). In the New Testament, Jesus’ Paschal Sacrifice and the shedding of His blood universally atoned for the sins of all mankind. Through baptism, we take part in the Messiah’s death and resurrection, our sins are washed away, and we receive the gift of God’s supernatural, divine life.

The Messiah continues to impart to us this supernatural life through the other sacraments that He instituted, and most especially in the Eucharist where we partake of His Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity. For sure, the observance of the mitzvoth (the commandments) – as meritorious as it may be – can only fall way short of this great gift of supernatural grace, and even more so because Judaism has been deprived of a Temple and sacrifices since shortly after the coming of the Messiah.

In summary, though God’s election of Israel is indeed irrevocable and permanent, Jews cannot be considered “saved” or justified before God through the Mosaic covenant. The NT and teachings of the Church make it clear that salvation can only be found in Yeshua the Messiah of Israel. This does not mean, however, that Jews are automatically condemned to hell if they do not explicitly and consciously accept Christ, for the Church also teaches that those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and his Church but seek God with a sincere heart and try to do His will to the best of their ability can be saved. Nonetheless, the fullness of the means of salvation can be found only in Jesus the Messiah and in the Church He founded (CCC 846-47).

A comparison of the different positions we have seen would thus appear in their simplest form as follows:

Replacement Theology: Error	Catholic Faith: Kosher	Dual-Covenant Theology: Error
God’s covenant with Israel has been abolished. The only role left for the Jews is to accept Christ, convert, be baptized, and be joined to the Church. The evangelization of Jews is necessary, and they should just become Catholics like any other Catholic.	God’s covenant with Israel is irrevocable and permanent. This covenant is not salvific. God is still calling the Jewish people to recognize Jesus as Messiah, be baptized, and be joined to the Church. The evangelization of Jews is necessary, but it should be done in a way that affirms and strengthens their Jewish identity.	God’s covenant with Israel is irrevocable and permanent. Since this covenant is still valid, it is also salvific for them. It is not necessary that Jews believe in Jesus, be baptized, or join the Church. Jews can be saved by observing the Mosaic Law. The evangelization of Jews is unnecessary and is better avoided.

Let us close with the words of a Catholic Jew, Roy Schoeman, on the subject of Jews, Jesus, and the Catholic evangelization of Jews: