Historical and Political Reflections on the Jewish-Christian Dialogue

The Jewish-Christian dialogue has a dynamic, ongoing character, which impacts greatly not only on the relations between the two faith communities, but also on the self-reflection of each community itself (Kampling). Considered from a political point of view, moreover, the Jewish-Christian dialogue is characterised by a structural asymmetry, which has at least three underlying reasons: (1) the numerical imbalance between Christian and Jewish communities; (2) the different ways Christianity and Judaism perceive each other; and (3) the different roles assumed by Christianity and Judaism throughout history (Ben Johanan).