About Post-Supersessionist Interpretation

New Testament scholarship is revisiting its understanding of how the writers of the New Testament understood Jews and Judaism. Since the patristic period, supersessionist interpretation of the New Testament has been widely accepted. Layers of scholarship have been constructed around the premise that a "parting of the ways" between Judaism and Christianity took place during the apostolic era, and that the New Testament's authors viewed the Church as having replaced or superseded the Jewish people as the people of God.

Twentieth-century scholars began to question these historical and theological assumptions. Major studies appeared in the last quarter of the century that challenged supersessionism. Nodal points were pressed. Standard canonical narratives were called into question. The result: today we are seeing a new school of thought emerging within the field of New Testament studies which some refer to as post-supersessionist interpretation.

There are various kinds of post-supersessionist interpretation. Messianic Jewish (MJ) post-supersessionist interpretation maintains that the New Testament writers affirmed (1) God’s covenant fidelity to the Jewish people, (2) that Jesus was Israel’s Messiah and participated in the unique identity of the God of Israel, (3) that the besorah (gospel) was for Jews and Gentiles, (4) that Jesus-believing Gentiles were full members of God’s people without becoming Jews, and (5) that Jesus-believing Jews should continue to live as Jews in keeping with Israel’s calling to be a distinct and enduring nation.

For more information on supersessonism and post-supersessionism, see the Church and the Jewish People section of this site.