Justice, Jesus, and the Jews: A Proposal for Jewish-Christian Relations, Michael L. Cook sj. Michael Glazier Book published by The Liturgical Press, Minnesota, 2003. isbn 0 8146 5148 8
The relations between Jews and Christians have been notoriously strained. Justice, Jesus, and the Jews is a well-documented attempt to find common ground for contemporary Judaism and Christianity in the Biblical tradition out of which they both came. Cook argues that when Jesus spoke of the kingdom of God, he drew upon the central notion of justice that taught that God alone was king in Israel, that Israel was called to be a society in which there was neither poverty nor oppression, and that the reign of God had to take some social form. Jesus criticised the religious practices and institutions of his own day at the points where they neglected these principles.
To share common ground is not to agree. Both Judaism and Christianity have moved beyond the conditions of 1st-century Palestine, and beyond the emphases of Jesus in addressing that situation. Indeed, Cook’s presentation of a Jesus who has a sharp interest in the shape that kingdoms take in this world will challenge many Christians. His understanding that God alone is king, that kingdoms are not to be trusted when they appeal to God, and that the test of any Christian politic is the priority it gives to overcoming poverty and oppression will challenge Jews and Christians alike, particularly these days.
Andrew Hamilton sj
The Land is a Map: Placenames of Indigenous Origin in Australia, Luise Hercus, Flavia Hodges & Jane Simpson(eds). Pandanus Books in association with Pacific Linguistics, 2002.
isbn 1 74076 020 4, rrp $38.50
When Australian Indigenous history hits the newspapers, the cause and focus of discussion are usually disedifying. It is a relief to turn to such a handsome and painstaking work as The Land is a Map. It provides detailed and astringent reading. It is also a humane work, for it values the cultures which it studies for the sake of the people who formed these cultures, and not simply for their place in the
commentator’s view of the world.
The book contributes to the broader enterprise of recording Indigenous placenames in northern Australia. These names have often been superseded by the names given by settlers. Even amateur readers can recognise the book’s contribution to mapping not simply the geography of the land, but also the geography of the spirit.