The Uniqueness of Christ, Post-Holocaust Theology and Jewish Mission

From 15th to 18th November 2010, 84 participants from 18 countries, including Israel, met in Krakow, Poland under the auspices of the Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism (LCJE). They gathered to exchange information and reflect on the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in relation to the evangelisation of the Jewish people in post-Holocaust Europe at a time when anti-Semitism continues to be a factor even within some churches.

It was significant that the delegates should gather in a land where, in living memory, so many Jewish people lost their lives on such a monumental scale. Papers presented covered a diverse range of subjects relating to the conference theme and it was particularly gratifying to have Polish evangelicals participating in the event. At the conclusion of the conference, the delegates issued the following statement:

We, the participants of the 9th European Conference of the Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism, as Jewish and Gentile followers of Jesus the Messiah, rejoice in

• The growing number of Jewish people coming to faith in their Messiah in places that witnessed some of the worst atrocities of the Holocaust period.

• The renewed interest of Eastern European churches in reaching Jewish people with the gospel.

• The renewed desire of the mission organisations represented at the conference to cooperate more closely to make Messiah known to Jewish people.

Furthermore, we, the participants, affirm

• The Jewishness of our Saviour, Jesus (Yeshua), the Messiah and Redeemer of Israel.

• The uniqueness of Jesus the Messiah as the only way to God for both Jews and Gentiles.

• The necessity of formulating, in the shadow of the Holocaust, a biblically authentic understanding of the Jewish people and their relationship to God.

• The obligation to oppose more firmly than ever all expressions of anti-Semitism, particularly among professing Christians.

We therefore call upon the churches of Europe not to be ashamed of the gospel of Messiah but to proclaim it boldly as “the power of God for the salvation of all who believe, to the Jew first and also to the Greek”.

Papers from the 9th LCJE conference will be posted on the LCJE website (www.lcje.net).