This article argues that Christianity and Judaism, as they have developed historically, express complementary but opposing exceptionalist perspectives. The article defines “exceptionalism” in terms of the singular mission that Jews and Christians each claim for themselves and the varied Jewish and Christian conceptions of how their missions relate to non-Jews and non-Christians respectively. While Jewish exceptionalism consists in the demand to be left alone to live its God-given mission with not much concern for what God expects from the other nations save that it is different from what God expects from the Jews, Christian exceptionalism demands that all peoples follow its singular vision of redemption through Christ. This article develops these arguments by way of considering competing readings of the Book of Ruth, continuing debates about the Apostle Paul in recent historical scholarship, as well as history’s role in theological reflection. The article argues that Christians and Jews need to reckon with their respective exceptionalisms on their own decidedly singular terms, and not on the terms of each other, since to do otherwise would be to renounce their respective exceptionalisms and to lose the theological singularity that defines each faith tradition. Nevertheless, the article concludes by calling for more intellectual honesty from Christians and Jews regarding what their exceptionalisms do and do not entail as well as for the enduring importance of bringing historical research to bear on theology.

中文翻译：

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重新思考基督教和犹太例外论☆

本文认为，基督教和犹太教在历史上发展起来，表达了互补但相反的例外论观点。这篇文章根据犹太人和基督徒各自为自己声称的单一使命以及他们的使命如何分别与非犹太人和非基督徒相关的不同的犹太人和基督徒概念来定义“例外主义”。虽然犹太人例外论要求独自完成上帝赋予的使命，但不太关心上帝对其他国家的期望，除非它与上帝对犹太人的期望不同，但基督教例外论要求所有民族都跟随其独特的通过基督救赎的异象。本文通过考虑对《路得记》的相互竞争的解读来发展这些论点，在最近的历史学术研究中，关于使徒保罗的持续辩论，以及历史在神学反思中的作用。这篇文章认为，基督徒和犹太人需要根据他们各自的例外论，而不是根据彼此的条款来考虑他们各自的例外论，因为否则将放弃他们各自的例外论，并失去定义每个例外论的神学独特性。信仰传统。尽管如此，文章最后还是呼吁基督徒和犹太人对他们的例外论能做什么和不能做什么，以及让历史研究对神学产生持久的重要性，保持更多的理智诚实。这篇文章认为，基督徒和犹太人需要根据他们各自的例外论，而不是根据彼此的条款来考虑他们各自的例外论，因为否则将放弃他们各自的例外论，并失去定义每个例外论的神学独特性。信仰传统。尽管如此，文章最后还是呼吁基督徒和犹太人对他们的例外论能做什么和不能做什么，以及让历史研究对神学产生持久的重要性，保持更多的理智诚实。这篇文章认为，基督徒和犹太人需要根据他们各自的例外论，而不是根据彼此的条款来考虑他们各自的例外论，因为否则将放弃他们各自的例外论，并失去定义每个例外论的神学独特性。信仰传统。尽管如此，文章最后还是呼吁基督徒和犹太人对他们的例外论能做什么和不能做什么，以及让历史研究对神学产生持久的重要性，保持更多的理智诚实。