Dual-covenant or two-covenant theology is a school of thought in Christian theology regarding the relevance of the Hebrew Bible, which Christians call the Old Testament.

Some Christians hold that the Old Testament has been superseded by the New Covenant;Summa Theologica, I-II, q. 100 a minority hold that the Mosaic covenant has been abrogated.

Dual-covenant theology instead holds that the Mosaic covenant remains valid for Jews while only the New Covenant applies to non-Jews or gentiles.

Background Judaism maintains that in the post-flood era there is a universally binding covenant between God and man in the form of the Seven Laws of NoahBT Sanhedrin 57aMishneh Torah, Hilkhot M'lakhim 8:14Encyclopedia Talmudit (Hebrew edition, Israel, 5741/1981, entry Ben Noah, end of article); note the variant reading of Maimonides and the references in the footnote and that there is additionally a unique Sinaitic covenant that was made between God and the Hebrews at biblical Mount Sinai. However Judaism has not historically maintained that there is a separate covenant for gentiles wherein they should convert to Christianity. Indeed from the Maimonidean perspective, belief in the divinity of Jesus would be a breach of Noahide Law.Maimonides, Peirush HaMishnha on Avodah Zarah 1.3, and his rulings in Hilchos Avoda Zarah 9:4, Hilchos Ma'achalos Asuros 11:7 & Hilchos Melachim 11:4

The 18th-century rabbinic thinker Yaakov Emden has even opined:

Later, in the 20th century, the unorthodox Jewish theologian Franz Rosenzweig, consequent to his flirtations with Christianity, advanced the idea in his work the Star of Redemption that "Christianity acknowledges the God of the Jews, not as God but as 'the Father of Jesus Christ.' Christianity itself cleaves to the 'Lord' because it knows that the Father can be reached only through him ... We are all wholly agreed as to what Christ and his church mean to the world: no one can reach the Father save through him. No one can reach the Father! But the situation is quite different for one who does not have to reach the Father because he is already with him. And this is true of the people of Israel."Nahum N. Glatzer, 1961, Franz Rosenzweig: His Life and Thought, New York: Schocken Books, p. 341.

Daniel Goldhagen, former Associate Professor of Political Science at Harvard University, also suggested in his book A Moral Reckoning that the Roman Catholic Church should change its doctrine and the Biblical canon to excise statements he labels as antisemitic, to indicate that "The Jews' way to God is as legitimate as the Christian way".

Messianic Judaism

David H. Stern, a Messianic Jewish theologian, wrote that dual-covenant theology is said to originate with Maimonides. It was proffered in the 20th century by the Jewish philosopher Franz Rosenzweig, and was elaborated upon by such theologians as Reinhold Niebuhr and James Parkes.

These founders believe that Jesus' message is not for Jews but for Gentiles and, that is to be understood thusly: "I am the way, the truth and the life; and no Gentile comes to the father except through me."David H. Stern, "Jewish New Testament Commentary", page 196, Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc., 1992. Stern asserts that the problem of dual-covenant theology is that "replacing Yeshua's 'No one comes to the Father except through me' with 'No Gentile comes...' does unacceptable violence to the plain sense of the text and to the whole New Testament."

Apostolic Decree

The Apostolic Decree in the Book of Acts () has been commonly interpreted as a parallel to Noahide Law.The Acts of the Apostles (The Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries), Yale University Press (December 2, 1998), , chapter V.

Although the Apostolic Decree is no longer observed by many Christian denominations today, it is still observed in full by the Greek Orthodox.Karl Josef von Hefele's commentary on canon II of Gangra, CCEL notes: "We further see that, at the time of the Synod of Gangra, the rule of the Apostolic Synod with regard to blood and things strangled was still in force. With the Greeks, indeed, it continued always in force as their Euchologies still show. Balsamon also, the well-known commentator on the canons of the Middle Ages, in his commentary on the sixty-third Apostolic Canon, expressly blames the Latins because they had ceased to observe this command. What the Latin Church, however, thought on this subject about the year 400, is shown by St. Augustine in his work Contra Faustum, where he states that the Apostles had given this command in order to unite the heathens and Jews in the one ark of Noah; but that then, when the barrier between Jewish and heathen converts had fallen, this command concerning things strangled and blood had lost its meaning, and was only observed by few. But still, as late as the eighth century, Pope Gregory the Third (731) forbade the eating of blood or things strangled under threat of a penance of forty days. No one will pretend that the disciplinary enactments of any council, even though it be one of the undisputed Ecumenical Synods, can be of greater and more unchanging force than the decree of that first council, held by the Holy Apostles at Jerusalem, and the fact that its decree has been obsolete for centuries in the West is proof that even Ecumenical canons may be of only temporary utility and may be repealed by disuse, like other laws."

Catholic Church

Traditional supersessionist theology, as exemplified in Pope Eugene IV's papal bull, which he published at the Council of Florence in 1442 (1441 according to the contemporary Florentine calendar):

John Paul II supported greater dialogue between Catholics and Jews, but did not support dual-covenant theology. On November 17, 1980, John Paul II delivered a speech to the Jews of Berlin in which he discussed his views of Catholic–Jewish relations. During the speech, John Paul II cited Nostra Aetate, claiming that Catholics "will endeavor to understand better all that in the Old Testament maintains its own enduring value ..., since this value has not been obliterated by the further interpretation of the New Testament, which on the contrary gave the Older its most complete meaning, so that the New one receives from the Old light and explanation."

Criticism Catholic Cardinal Avery Dulles was critical of dual-covenant theology, especially as understood in the USCCB's document Reflections on Covenant and Mission.Covenant and Mission, America magazine, In the article All in the Family: Christians, Jews and God, evidence has also been compiled from Scripture, the Church Fathers and official Church documents that the Catholic Church does not support dual covenant theology.

Though it is to be removed from the next edition (at order of the Vatican, as misrepresenting the editio typica) the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults (2006) states:United States Catholic Catechism for Adults, Washington, DC: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2006.

In June 2008 the bishops decided by a vote of 231–14 to remove this from the next printing of the Catechism, because it could be construed to mean that Jews have their own path to salvation and do not need Christ or the Church. In August 2009, the Vatican approved the change, and the revised text states (in conformity with the editio typica):

Protestant In 2006, Evangelical Protestant Jerry Falwell denied a report in The Jerusalem Post that he supported dual-covenant theology:Hagee, Falwell deny endorsing 'dual covenant', Jerusalem Post, 2006-03-02, . Retrieved 2009-10-21.

See also Christian views on the Old Covenant Christian Zionism Christian–Jewish reconciliation Circumcision controversy in early Christianity Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus Gamaliel John Hagee Hebrew Catholics Hebrew Roots Jewish Christian Noahidism Solus Christus Two House theology

References

External links All in the Family: Christians, Jews and God

Journal of Lutheran Ethics: Jewish-Christian Difficulties in Challenging Christian Zionism by Robert O. Smith: "...sometimes referred to as "dual covenant" theology. Any other understanding of the relationship, Christian Zionists argue, is a variation of supersessionism." Ignatius Insight interview of Roy H. Schoeman : "This "dual covenant" theology seems to have been adopted to avoid the intrinsic, basic conflict at the heart of the Jewish-Catholic dialog. That is that either the Catholic Church is itself the continuation of Judaism after the coming of the Jewish Messiah – i.e., the Church is post-Messianic Judaism – or it is nothing at all." : An article by 'Catholics for Israel' opposing dual-covenant theology and comparing it to supersessionism and to the Catholic position. THE PONTIFICAL BIBLICAL COMMISSION: THE JEWISH PEOPLE AND THEIR SACRED SCRIPTURES IN THE CHRISTIAN BIBLE Jewish Tribune: 23 September 2009: A precarious moment in Catholic-Jewish relations