Conflict & Connection

Israeli diplomat Aumann sees restructuring of Christian theology related to the Jewish people and Christian recognition of "the reborn nation of Israel as the realization of biblical prophecy" as possible foundations for the "fundamental and historic resolution of the centuries-old conflict" between the two religions. After sketching a portrait of historical encounters, he reviews theological change towards Judaism among the various Christian denominations. Largely approving of the this change, he is perplexed by why the change is not immediately applied to the nation of Israel, conceived by him to be the embodiment of the Jewish people. Seeing the problem in the misconception of the Arab-Israeli conflict, he sets forth an unsurprisingly one-sided portrayal of the conflict that, at base, asserts a Jewish right to all of current Israel and the illegally occupied territories. Annotation (c) Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)