Christoph Dohmen – författare

What is the significance of Jesus' genealogy in the Gospel of Matthew? Why do we put and ox and ass at our creches? Why did angels appear to the shepherds? In No Trace of Christmas? Christoph Dohmen explains why the answers to these and other questions regarding our understanding of Christmas are to be found not in the New but in the Old Testament.For the most part Christians regard the Old (or First) Testament as pre-history, a preparation for, or a promise of the New Testament and its proclamation of Christ. This is especially true during Advent, when the Christian liturgy directs our attention to the promise and its fulfillment. Yet Advent's status as the beginning of the Church year - as a turning point - calls us to look back in order to move forward. We read intensively from Old Testament prophecy texts with a special view toward their future meaning. Hence, Advent is the time of the year when Christians are reminded that they have one sacred Scripture in two parts, one Bible composed of the Old and New Testaments.Since it was with the aid of the Old Testament that the early Church interpreted the event at Bethlehem, many of the images and biblical texts associated with Christmas can only be understood by following their Old Testament roots. Like the Magi who followed the star, we can, with Dohmen's help, follow in the liturgy of Advent and Christmas the traces that lead us into the Old Testament. Following those traces, we can arrive at a Christmas that appears to us in a new light, that of the Old Testament.Chapters are In Search of Traces," "It All Began Before Christmas," "Addressed and Claimed," "A Gift from Heaven," "When Shepherds Become Prophets, "You Shall Make No Crib for Yourself!" "Joseph, What Are You Dreaming?" "A New Age Is Beginning," "In Order That Might Be Fulfilled . . . ," "In Our Midst," "Yad Vashem," "You, Bethlehem . . . ," and "Following the Trace."

The closest connection between Jews and Christians probably lies in the fact that they share a common scriptural basis. All of the books of the Hebrew Scriptures (Tanach) are included in the ?Old Testament= of the Christian Bible. However, the history of Judaism and Christianity shows that the same books are understood and interpreted quite differently in each of the separate contexts. The new edition of this book emphasizes common ground and differences in understanding and interpretation and takes up the intensive hermeneutic debate that has been taking place over the last 20 years. This includes new findings on interrelationships between Judaism and Christianity in the first few centuries after Christ, as well as advances in Christian&Jewish dialogue. Special attention is given to the reorientation of the relationship with Judaism based on the Second Vatican Council, which led to a new understanding of the Old Testament in Catholic theology.

The closest connection between Jews and Christians probably lies in the fact that they share a common scriptural basis. All of the books of the Hebrew Scriptures (Tanach) are included in the ?Old Testament= of the Christian Bible. However, the history of Judaism and Christianity shows that the same books are understood and interpreted quite differently in each of the separate contexts. The new edition of this book emphasizes common ground and differences in understanding and interpretation and takes up the intensive hermeneutic debate that has been taking place over the last 20 years. This includes new findings on interrelationships between Judaism and Christianity in the first few centuries after Christ, as well as advances in Christian&Jewish dialogue. Special attention is given to the reorientation of the relationship with Judaism based on the Second Vatican Council, which led to a new understanding of the Old Testament in Catholic theology.

Die Gestalt des Mose ist eng mit dem Glauben an den einen und einzigen Gott verbunden, weshalb ihm eine besondere Stellung in Judentum, Christentum und Islam zukommt. Was wir von dieser großen Gestalt wissen, deren Bedeutung nicht auf die Religion beschränkt bleibt, sondern auch für Recht und Ethik kaum zu überschätzen ist, wissen wir aber nur aus den Büchern der Bibel, die von ihm handeln und ihm zugeschrieben werden. Diese "Mose-Bücher" geben sich selbst als Mitteilung Gottes zu verstehen, die Mose empfangen und weitergegeben hat. Was sich schon in den Texten der Bibel zeigt, wird von den Spuren, die Mose in der abendländischen Kultur hinterlassen hat, bestätigt: Das Besondere der göttlichen Offenbarung ist am Offenbarungsmittler "abzulesen". In ihm begegnet uns nicht eine Person ferner Vergangenheit, sondern das bleibende Wort Heiliger Schrift, und Mose ist in einzigartiger Weise zu diesem Wort geworden.

Die Gestalt des Mose ist eng mit dem Glauben an den einen und einzigen Gott verbunden, weshalb ihm eine besondere Stellung in Judentum, Christentum und Islam zukommt. Was wir von dieser großen Gestalt wissen, deren Bedeutung nicht auf die Religion beschränkt bleibt, sondern auch für Recht und Ethik kaum zu überschätzen ist, wissen wir aber nur aus den Büchern der Bibel, die von ihm handeln und ihm zugeschrieben werden. Diese "Mose-Bücher" geben sich selbst als Mitteilung Gottes zu verstehen, die Mose empfangen und weitergegeben hat. Was sich schon in den Texten der Bibel zeigt, wird von den Spuren, die Mose in der abendländischen Kultur hinterlassen hat, bestätigt: Das Besondere der göttlichen Offenbarung ist am Offenbarungsmittler "abzulesen". In ihm begegnet uns nicht eine Person ferner Vergangenheit, sondern das bleibende Wort Heiliger Schrift, und Mose ist in einzigartiger Weise zu diesem Wort geworden.