Abstract
Although the Council‘s declaration Nostra aetate has been absorbed by the
magisterium, there are new challenges suggesting its acknowledgement and further
development. The document’s significance resides in its foundation on Romans 9-11
and in the fact that it has been promulgated at all, in spite of enormous resistance
in the years ahead. No. 528 from the Catechism of the Catholic Church rises up
out of various official statements with respect to this topic: The three wise men
from Jesus’ Epiphany are typical representatives of the pagan religions who have
to turn to the Jews in order to receive “from them the messianic promise”. This
insight corrects a romanticizing pluralism of religions as it becomes manifest in the
terminology of the three “Abrahamic religions”. A further development of Nostra
aetate should include two aspects: Overcoming the narrowing down of Judaism
and Christianity as a “religion” without refeRence to realities like “the land”, and,
secondly, deepening the theological understanding of the referral of Christianity
towards Judaism, particularly in connection with the term “People of God”.
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