Is the Orthodox Church “Supersessionist”?
by Hal Smith (October 2013)
To give an example of the use of the word by an Orthodox writer, Fr. Anatoliy Bandura of Holy Cross St Nektarios Greek Orthodox Church comments that according to almost all Eastern Church Fathers, by descending into Sheol (place of the dead) after the Crucifixion, Christ offered salvation to all there,
Orthodoxy as outside the debate on Supersession
the flower that fell from the hope of the glory on the top of the high mountain shall be like the forerunner of the fig. He who sees it wishes to swallow it before he gets it in his hand. In that day, the Lord of hosts shall be the crown of hope, woven of glory, to the remnant of My people. They shall be left in a spirit of judgment upon judgment and for the strength of those who prevent slaying.
The Orthodox Study Bible relates this supersession to the Temple sacrificial system and the Eucharist:
As has been traditionally understood, Pentecost was the day on which the Law was given at Mount Sinai. In the Church, Pentecost is known for the descent of the Holy Spirit onto the earliest Christians, as described in the Book of Acts. In the hymnography of the Eastern Church, this dual import of the day is not lost: the latter is seen as superior to the former meaning.40
Edgecomb cites the Canon in Ode Eight from the Matins of Pentecost Sunday, which describes the Fiery Bush on Sinai speaking to Moses, zeal for God protecting the three singing Youths from the fiery furnace, and the Holy Spirit resounding on the apostles in the form of fiery tongues. The hymn concludes:
Ye that ascend not that untouchable mountain, nor fear the awesome fire,
Let us stand on Mount Sion, in the city of the living God,
And now form one choir with the Spirit-bearing disciples.41
Despite the descriptions above of the New Testament superseding the Old Testament or its elements, some Orthodox writers, focusing on the continuity between Christianity and Judaism, deny that supersession occurs or do not identify with the title Supersessionism. Herman Blaydoe explains:
In other words, the problem for Blaydoe is not that supersession occurs in some way, but that he, like Alex, sees Supersessionism as replacing one community (Israel) with another separate, noncontinuous one (the Church), or as one ethnic group replacing another.
Israel was the firstfruit of the Old Covenant, now the new Israel50
Is anti-Semitism part of Supersessionism?
According to the journalist Robert Harris:
Just this July, the Eighth Academic Consultation Between Judaism and Orthodoxy was held in Thessaloniki, Greece. There:
Conclusion: Orthodoxy as a Supersessionism that rejects anti-Semitism
While western scholars have the right intention of addressing cultural anti-Semitism and improving interfaith relations, there is the inadvertent risk of portraying the beliefs of Israeli and Palestinian Christians as anti-Semitic. For Orthodox Christians who focus on maintaining their core theology, this approach impedes the societal reconciliation that is desired.
http://www.jpost.com/Magazine/Features/A-different-sort-of-orthodoxy
[6] Dr. Michael Vlach, 12 Reasons Why Supersessionism / Replacement Theology Is Not a Biblical Doctrine, http://theologicalstudies.org/resource-library/supersessionism/327-12-reasons-why-supersessionism-replacement-theology-is-not-a-biblical-doctrine
[7] Dr. Michael Vlach, Various Forms of Replacement Theology, http://www.tms.edu/tmsj/tmsj20d.pdf
[8] Dr. Michael Vlach, Definiting Supersessionism, http://theologicalstudies.org/resource-library/supersessionism/324-defining-supersessionism
[9] Supersessionism, Theopedia. http://www.theopedia.com/Supersessionism (last accessed September 25, 2013)
http://www.newenglishreview.org/Dexter_Van_Zile/The_Mis-Education_of_a_Young_Evangelical
[12] Thomas A. Idinopulos, Betrayal of Spirit: Jew-hatred, the Holocaust, and Christianity (Davies Group, 2007) p. 43.
[13] Id.
[15] St. John Chrysostom, Homily 19 on Romans, http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/210219.htm
[16] Online Etymology Dictionary, http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=supers.
[17] Id.
[18] Id.
[20] A Comprehensive Dictionary of the World, vol. 2, part 2, (Mittal Publications, 1992) p. 581.
https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/34905/1/Bandura_Anatoliy_201211_ThM_thesis.pdf
[22] Emphasis in the original. Alice Calaprice, The Ultimate Quotable Einstein (Princeton University Press, 2010) p. xx.
http://silouanthompson.net/2011/09/did-the-church-replace-israel) This refers to the idea that despite hardships, a righteous remnant of Israel would remain. In this thinking, while naturally there would be other people descended from Israel like the Lost Tribes, the remnant would be the continued spiritual community. In other words, it distinguishes a national or earthly Israel from Israel as a spiritual community, bringing to mind St. Paul’s words: “they are not all Israel, which are of Israel” (Rom 9:6).
[26] Michael Vlach, Defining Supersessionism, http://www.theologicalstudies.org/resource-library/supersessionism/324-defining-supersessionism
https://sites.google.com/site/sungenisandthejews/critique-of-all-in-the-family
http://www.orthodoxy.faithweb.com/evanpros.htm
[28] Supersessionism, Factual World, http://www.factualworld.com/article/Supersessionism
[31] Orthodox Study Bible, (Chesterton, IN: Conciliar Press, 2008) p. 1078.
[32] Orthodox Study Bible, (Chesterton, IN: Conciliar Press, 2008) p. 140.
[34] Id.
[37] Council in Trullo, New Advent, http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3814.htm
[38] In ancient Hebrew, the name Jesus is written the same as Joshua, and Lactantius saw this as a prophetic link.
https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/34905/1/Bandura_Anatoliy_201211_ThM_thesis.pdf
Fr. Bandura cites for support: The Orthodox Study Bible, St. Athanasius Academy. Thomas Nelson. Nashville, TN2008.pp.1042-1043.
[40] Kevin Edgecomb, The Law and the King, http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=1680
[41] Id.
[43] Robert Arakaki, The Biblical Basis for Icons, http://orthodoxbridge.com/is-there-a-biblical-basis-for-icons
The Orthodox Church and Supersessionism, http://www.monachos.net/conversation/topic/7236-the-orthodox-church-and-supersessionism
[46] Orthodoxy and Supersessionism, Monachos Forum, http://www.monachos.net/conversation/topic/7236-the-orthodox-church-and-supersessionism/page-2
http://www.ocf.org/OrthodoxPage/reading/jewish_3.html
[48] Alex, Response to Neither Jew nor Greek, http://byzantinejewess.wordpress.com/2011/11/11/neither-jew-nor-greek-a-failure
[49] Fr. Thomas Hopko, The Names of Jesus: Jesus- The Firstborn, http://ancientfaith.com/podcasts/namesofjesus/jesus_-_the_firstborn/print
[50] Fr. Hopko, The Names of Jesus: Jesus- the Firstfruit http://ancientfaith.com/podcasts/namesofjesus/jesus_-_the_firstfruit/print
[51] Fr. Hopko, The One True Church, http://ancientfaith.com/podcasts/hopko/the_one_true_church
http://www.newenglishreview.org/print.cfm?pg=custpage&frm=100533&sec_id=124327
[57] Mary C. Boys, Has God Only One Blessing?: Judaism as a Source of Christian Self-understanding, (Paulist Press, 2000) p. 8.
[58] Stephen Methodius Hayes, Antisemitism and Orthodoxy, http://www.orthodoxy.faithweb.com/antisem.htm
[59] Western Christianity developed the view that guilt was inherited, particularly that of Original Sin.
[60] Gregory Benevitch, The Jewish Question in the Orthodo Church, Chp. 1, http://www.ocf.org/OrthodoxPage/reading/jewish_1.html
[61] Id.
[62] Id. at Chp. 2, http://www.ocf.org/OrthodoxPage/reading/jewish_2.html
[63] Id. at Chp. 1.
[65] Id.
http://www.orthodoxresearchinstitute.org/articles/misc/kallistos_ware_rejected_his_people.htm
[67] Id.
[68] Id.
[70] Pat. Bartholemew, 2012 Patriarchal Christmas Encyclical, http://www.patriarchate.org/documents/2012-patriarchal-christmas-encyclical
[71] Id.
http://www.incommunion.org/2011/02/20/alexander-schmorell-a-witness-in-dark-times
Hal Smith belongs to the Orthodox Church in America and has enjoyed visiting Orthodox monasteries in Russia, Ukraine, and Greece. He belongs to the Orthodox Peace Fellowship, which is dedicated in part to improving interfaith relations, and his articles have been printed in the Antiochian Orthodox journal The Word (http://www.antiochian.org/sites/default/files/september_2011_word.pdf) and the Russian journal Voda Zhivaya (Living Water).
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