I am a Christian. here I stand, I can do none other

I Am A Christian, Here I Stand, I Can Do None Other

I acknowledge a thing to be true. In both cases my not being able to give a sufficient reason is not a matter of a defectiveness in my ability to think, but of a real peculiarity in my relationship to the one whom I trust or to that which I acknowledge to be true. It is a relationship which by its nature does not rest upon ’reasons', just as it does not grow from such; reasons of course can be urged for it, but they are never sufficient to account for my faith.[1]

When Buber writes of his own belief in trusting God, he states his position that this is where he stands. This was also the case for Martin Luther. He had declared his faith in Jesus the Christ for salvation, did not rely on works or religious duties. Salvation came from God through Jesus by faith and faith alone. His statement ‘Here I stand, I can do none other’, was a statement that made clear he had arrived at a point in his life’s journey, where he was confident of his position in terms of his belief that God’s word was clear. That is what he would now follow and the world and the church could do what they wished. He could do none other than take his stand. I find my self in that same place. I have arrived at my own firm belief that God’s word is the final authority and that is where I stand. I cannot do any other thing than that.

When I read Sander’s work on Jesus and Judaism, 

But, since I have criticized so many for having their history and ‘exegesis' dictated by theology, the reader may wonder how well ‘my' Jesus squares with my theological heritage. I can explain simply: I am a liberal, modern, secularized Protestant, brought up in a church dominated by low Christology and the social gospel. I am proud of the things that that religious tradition stands for. I am not bold enough however, to suppose that Jesus came to establish it…[2]

Whilst disagreeing with that conclusion, I was impressed that he had made clear his own religious background. His own conclusion on Such knowledge helped to place his writings in that context. I too do not wish the reader to be unaware of my own journey that at seventy-four years of age has led to this work. Unlike Sander, I do believe that Jesus came to establish a called out community, that became known as ‘church’.

            Buber’s quote above, appears in a book that was published in the year of my birth. It took me many decades to arrive at the point where I could embrace the opinion fully. A religious struggle through life, trying to reach conclusions that were ‘reasonable’, ever ended in disappointment. Faith is beyond reason, although the individual’s conclusions on it, are not born out of ignorance – it is only arrived at through struggles for a shalom - a fully rounded peace that is undergird(ed) by a trust in One who is beyond than the power of the human mind to understand. Quoting, Dr Jonathan Magonet, Bowden who notes, ‘There are no collective solutions, only people tested in the fire of their painful search for truth, co-operating in the light of their experience of it. Out of this alone can grow a new experience of community’[3]. In an earlier work, Levine commented, “And yet some Jews do convert to Christianity, and some Christians convert to Judaism. Again, conversion is not a matter of whose teaching is "better" or "'true" in any sort of objective sense; it is prompted by the teaching that provides the best personal sense of truth and fulfilment to the individual. Where we can agree, however, is in Jesus's own connection to Judaism’[4]. 

Whilst Levine at times focuses more on what separates rather than what unites, there is a truth that can be embraced. That is, that the spiritual journey is one of conviction reached by faith. However, such conviction does not rule out respect and even love for those whose journey have caused them to arrive at a different conclusion. For me, particularly, His finding me and saving me, a Gentile, I find in Jesus, as a Jew, has brought me to love him and his people.

            Born into an Irish Roman Catholic family and brought up in the strictness of this faith by Christian Brothers, ‘the love of God’ was literally beaten into me and then out of me. A short spell in a monastery confirmed I was not destined to wear the garb of a priest. A period of agnosticism and a search for truth brought me back to Roman Catholicism. Exposed to the writings of Hans Kung, Thomas Merton, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and others, along with being more equipped in developing a knowledge of the Scriptures, I began the journey of wrestling with the theology of Bishops and priests. Experiencing the ‘Charismatic Movement’ which was where I found truth in a small group.

During a study on repentance, my sin overwhelmed me. Brought to my knees in repentance, stunned by the Father’s love and embraced by Him, His Holy Spirit revealed my future. That was to turn the hearts of the children to the Father, and the Father’s heart to them. That is to teach the Word. I was convinced thereafter, that I could not hold to the doctrines of that church. Conflict with Catholic authorities led to my being told to leave. A Movement into Pentecostalism and Evangelicalism was also problematic due to the extremes I experienced. Degrees in Psychology and Theology made me even more aware of the problems of religion and a growing awareness of anti-Semitism, overt and covert disturbed me.

            In my childhood I had contact with two Jewish men, who have never left my memory or heart. Despite my family’s Roman Catholicism and these two men’s practise of Judaism (One had survived the Shoah), they showed a great love and care emotionally and practically towards us. The attitudes towards the Jewish people I was experiencing in my adulthood did not sit easy with that experience. Studying for an MA at CJCR, Cambridge and attending services at a synagogue as a guest made me more convinced that the Christian/Jewish dialogue was a necessity and I believe that it needs to progress at a greater speed and intensity. Much work has been done in the area and progress has been made. However, at this time (2026) there is a growing increase in hostility towards the Jewish people, across the world. This demands a show of solidarity between Christians and Jews that goes beyond words. Kaminsky wrote, ‘Jews and Christians, while sharing much continue to disagree with each other theologically. Judaism and Christianity each emphasise certain aspects of the Hebrew Bible's election theology while de-emphasizing others. Recognition of this fact should lead both communities toward a greater clarity of their own tradition's theological development as well as toward a deeper understanding of the other tradition. This is not to imply that the two traditions now can be reconciled theologically…However, this does not mean that Jewish/Christian dialogue is ultimately an exercise in futility. Jews and Christians can learn a great deal about their respective traditions by understanding the unique ways each tradition has appropriated the Hebrew Bible. Sometimes an insight from the other tradition may lead to a rethinking of one's own theology or to a recovery of an idea that was present but muted. In any case, such honest and critical dialogue helps each tradition's adherents clarify their own distinctive theological claims while at the same time leading to greater understanding of the other tradition's unique but analogous claim’[5].

            I am a follower of Jesus the Jew, accepting him as Lord and Saviour on my journey and this sits quite happily with me accepting that I have joined the Jewish people who are also on the journey. According to Paul, as I have written above, the journey will end with the complete revelation. Only then will we all know, what God’s final and complete plan was.

            In conclusion then, this is what I understand:

1. 1.       The Jewish people were the original chosen people of God.
2. 2.       They have an irrevocable Covenant with God.
3. 3.       The Christian Church has not replaced Israel, the people of God.
4. 4.       There is ultimately only one Covenant that holds God’s plans for humankind.
5. 5.       The Jewish people, not Gentiles, were promised a Messiah.
6. 6.       The Gentiles, who have turned to Jesus for redemption, have been ‘grafted in’ to the Jewish olive tree and are adopted into the God of Israel’s family.
7. 7.       Both Jews and followers of Jesus have a legitimacy to share with each other in debate and dialogue, without any compromise of the other’s faith and views.

8.       In this sharing, there must be complete honesty and with integrity, that allows an equality of partnership that accepts neither is superior.

9.       A recognition that there is a need in a secular society for a common united witness to the God of Israel as Sovereign in the affairs of men.

In these understandings I now have a determination

10.   That anti-Semitism is not just an attack on the people of Judaism but an assault on all the family of God – that is Jewish followers of Jesus as well as traditional Jews.

It is to be acknowledged that there is much work going on across the world in the development of the relationship between Jews and Christians. There is much to be encouraged about. However, there are at the same time, dark clouds of extremism on both sides that cannot be ignored. My concern is simply for a very public debate and determination to show the world that Jews are being saved and Israel, as a nation, will be saved. As Paul taught, Jews and Christians are destined to be one family in eternity. There is a commonality of looking to the same Father who will not abandon his chosen children. Paul wrote, “There cannot be Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is no male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28) In this then, there is a ‘household of God’, to which belong, those faithful men and women who lived before Jesus came, as does those Gentiles who recognise the Jew Jesus as saviour. Into this body of people, there are also many Jewish men and women, who have accepted Jesus as their Messiah. They are doubly blessed in having a great heritage and now the joy of belonging to the Body of the Messiah’.

            I am very much aware that these statements are a matter of great debate and argument. Within Judaism and within Christianity, I have encountered, on both sides, a refusal to act in love and to consider the heritage of Israel and the belief of those who have accepted Jesus as the Messiah – Jews and Gentiles. The point of making these statements, which I hold to, is to continue a discussion within both traditions, that will bring about dramatic change. I would urge a consideration of the notion, that there may be a concern for the religion of the parties rather than a higher focus – God himself. His purposes are what needs to be considered. His plan is the salvation of the people of the world, our plan should be to do all that supports his plan rather than act to frustrate it, if that were possible. A unity of purpose should unite us.

Martin Buber again:

 ‘The men who suffer distress in the realisation that institutions yield no public life have hit upon an expedient: institutions must be loosened, or dissolved, or burst asunder, by the feelings themselves; they must be given new life from the feelings, by the introduction into them of the "freedom of feeling." If the mechanical State, say, links together Citizens alien to one another in their very being, without establishing, or promoting, a being together, let the State, these men say, be replaced by the Community of love; and this Community will arise when people, out of free, abundant feeling, approach and wish to live with one another. But it is not so. The true Community does not arise through peoples having feelings for one another (though indeed not without it), but through, first, their taking their stand in living mutual relation with a living Centre, and, second, their being in living mutual relation with one another. [DC1] The second has its source in the first, but is not given when the first alone is given. Living mutual relation includes feelings, but does not originate with them. The Community is built up out of living mutual relation, but the builder is the living effective Centre’.[6]

My own clarification of what Buber writes, is that the community, as I experience it, has to be those who are gathered into the called-out community, the Church. That community is built on the Jew Jesus and He is also the centre that binds the community together. His call was to love the Lord God with all that we are and to love our neighbour as ourself. This love is not a feeling but an active volitional decision, a conscious, personal choice, to allow His love to permeate our existence in this life and to enjoy mutual relations within the community and with those who remain outside.