Pinchas Lapide

Pinchas Lapide (November 28, 1922 – October 23, 1997) was a Jewish theologian and Israeli historian. He was an Israeli diplomat from 1951 to 1969, among other position acting as Israeli Consul to Milan, and was instrumental in gaining recognition for the young state of Israel. He wrote more than 35 books during his lifetime. Pinchas Lapide was married to Ruth Lapide with whom he shared his interests and endeavors.

In 1967 Pinchas Lapide published his book "Three Popes and the Jews" which set out to answer the charges raised in Rolf Hochhuth's play The Deputy which contained criticisms of World War II Pope Pius XII and his response to the unfolding Holocaust. After analyzing the available information he concludes:

Lapide quoted approvingly Samuel Taylor Coleridge observation that "He who begins by loving Christianity better than truth will proceed by loving his own sect or church better than Christianity, and end by loving himself better than all."

In his dialogue with German reformed theologian Jürgen Moltmann, Lapide says:

"On page 139 of his book The Church in the Power of the Spirit (New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1977) it says: Through his crucifixion Christ has become the Saviour of the Gentiles. But in his parousia he will also manifest himself as Israel's Messiah.

I find this sentence an acceptable formula of reconciliation."

Moltmann's compelling response:

"Christendom can gain salvation only together with Israel. The Christians will one day be asked, Where are your Jewish brothers and sisters? The church will one day be asked, Where have you left Israel? For the sake of the Jew Jesus there is no ultimate separation between church and Israel. For the sake of the gospel there is provisionally, before the eschatological future, also no fusion. But there is the communal way of the hoping ones."

In their common declaration, Lapide and Moltmann acknowledge that the diverging paths of Christianity and Judaism may only be as consequential as the man-made barriers that hinder rapprochement. Both agree that Christianity and Judaism are pilgrim's paths to the same God.

In another debate on the messianic connotations of Isaiah 53 with Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Lapide posits that the people of Israel collectively are the expiatory lamb of mankind; God visits the sin of Israel with the full impact in order to let guilty mankind survive, a position that Kaiser thought could be interpreted as being close to the traditional evangelical Christian interpretation of Isaiah 53. The interpretation of Israel as a guilt offering is less clear in the mind of Kaiser, when comparing Isaiah 29:13 with Isaiah 53:9:

He was assigned a grave with the wicked,

and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth

(Isaiah 53:9 NIV)

“These people come near to me with their mouth

and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.

(Isaiah 29:13 NIV)

In responding, Lapide sees the selfless sacrifice of the Jewish prophets as synonymous with Israel becoming acceptable through the imputed righteousness of God. Likewise, he understands Jesus' suffering in the context of Isaiah 53 as a microcosm of the suffering of Israel as a people.

To conclude, Lapide accepts Jesus as the Messiah of the Gentiles, a position he substantiates more clearly in his book The Resurrection of Jesus: A Jewish Perspective. Furthermore, he suggests that the return of Jesus in the parousia will show him to be Israel's Messiah. Just as his interfaith agenda prescribed his presentation of Jesus, the same can be said of his unfamiliar and relatively non-threatening portrayal of Paul.

• Der Prophet von San Nicandro. Vogt, Berlin 1963, Matthias-Grünewald-Verlag, Mainz 1986. ISBN 3-7867-1249-2
• Rom und die Juden. Gerhard Hess, Ulm 1967, 1997, 2005 (3.verb.Aufl.). ISBN 3-87336-241-4
  • Three Popes and the Jews. 1967.
• Nach der Gottesfinsternis. Schriftenmissions-Verl., Gladbeck 1970.
• Auferstehung. Calwer, Stuttgart 1977, 1991 (6.Aufl.). ISBN 3-7668-0545-2
• Die Verwendung des Hebräischen in den christlichen Religionsgemeinschaften mit besonderer Berücksichtigung des Landes Israel. Diss. Kleikamp, Köln 1971.
• Er predigte in ihren Synagogen. Mohn, Gütersloh 1980, 2004 (8.Aufl.). ISBN 3-579-01400-5
• Am Scheitern hoffen lernen. Mohn, Gütersloh 1985, 1988. ISBN 3-579-01413-7
• Wer war schuld an Jesu Tod? Mohn, Gütersloh 1987, 1989, 2000 (4.Aufl.). ISBN 3-579-01419-6
• Ist das nicht Josephs Sohn? Jesus im heutigen Judentum. Mohn, Gütersloh 1988 . ISBN 3-579-01408-0
• Ist die Bibel richtig übersetzt?" 2 Bd. Mohn, Gütersloh 2004. ISBN 3-579-05460-0
• Der Jude Jesus. Patmos, Düsseldorf 1979, 2003 (3.Aufl.). ISBN 3-491-69405-1
• Paulus zwischen Damaskus und Qumran. Mohn, Gütersloh 1993, 1995, 2001. ISBN 3-579-01425-0
• The Resurrection of Jesus: A Jewish Perspective [Paperback] Pinchas Lapide, Wipf & Stock Pub, 2002. ISBN 978-1579109080
• Jewish monotheism and Christian trinitarian doctrine: A dialogue [Paperback] Pinchas Lapide, Fortress Press (1981), ISBN 978-0800614058