During the year 2001 BRI was asked by Elder Cyril Miller, then in charge of the NAD Global Mission program, to study the question of the relationship between the church and the Jews. This was motivated by the desire to contribute to a more effective mission to the Jewish people. As a result BRI asked a number of scholars to write papers on the subject for discussion at BRICOM (the papers are not available for distribution). We invited several influential Adventists of Jewish heritage to participate in the discussion. The following consensus statement was approved by BRICOM as reflecting the areas in which the members of the committee felt there was agreement. It was circulated among a good number of Adventist Jews for reactions and the responses were supportive. The replacement theory (supercessionism) was not fully discussed and consequently it is not addressed in this document. We share with you this consensus statement for your information, to stimulate further study, hoping that it could be useful in our mission to the Jewish people.

Statement:

Motivated by a sincere concern for the mission to the Jewish people we [members of BRICOM] have, during the last two years (2001-2002), studied and analyzed some aspects of the complex topic of the proper relation between Jews and Christians. The anti-Semitism that has characterized the history of Christianity and that resulted in the replacement of the Sabbath by Sunday, the law by grace, and that contributed in a direct way to the holocaust has challenged us as Seventh-day Adventists to examine the Jewish roots of our faith. We affirm that,

1. In contradistinction to most Christian communities the SDA Church brings together in its theology and mission the law and the gospel and becomes the proper place for the reconciliation of Jews and Christians. The SDA Church, having been called by the Lord to restore the truths that were “cast to the ground,” sees this as part of its mission.

2. The mission entrusted by Jesus to the apostles consisted in the fulfillment of the promise God made to Abram–“In you all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Gen 12:3). Through their ministry the faith of Israel, fulfilled in the person and ministry of Christ/the Messiah, was universalized.

3. Although the Jewish socio-political theocratic system came to an end, God did not reject the Jews (Rom 11:1; AA 375). This is evidenced by several biblical and historical facts:

First, Jesus selected as his disciples a group of Jews who recognized him as the promised Messiah;

Second, God has seen the suffering the Jews have experienced throughout their history and has comforted their hearts in their affliction and beheld with pity their terrible situation (AA 380);

Third, God has continued to work with the Jews in an attempt to lead them to a right understanding of His word and to see in Jesus the true Messiah of Israel;

Fourth, God has used the Jews throughout Christian history in the preservation of the Hebrew text of the Old Testament and as witnesses to the perpetuity of God’s unaltered law;

Fifth, God has called the SDA Church to work in a very special way for the Jewish people as we approach the end of the cosmic conflict. He has promised that “as His servants labor in faith for those who have long been neglected and despised, His salvation will be revealed” (AA 381).

4. The dispensational interpretation of the role of Israel in prophecy is a distortion of the biblical message and demeaning to the identity of the Jewish people.

5. The church’s concern for the mission to the Jews requires that further study be made on the biblical theology of Israel in an effort to eliminate barriers that could hinder the effectiveness of our mission.