El pueblo de Dios según Romanos 9-11: Un acercamiento cristiano oriental a la identidad del olivo amado de Dios

Abstract

Being a Christian in the Middle East today is a hard task. The dramatic political changes over the past century have torn Christianity in parties that confuse religious and political causes. My contribution will investigate one of the most sensitive issues that touch the coexistence of religions in the Middle East: the idea of choice and the status of the Jewish people in Christian theology. This serious issue appeared in the beginnings of Christianity and belongs to the very core message of the New Testament. The most important texts about the continuity and discontinuity of the election of the Jews by God are certainly in Romans 9-11. From the infamous Holocaust and the proclamation of the modern state of Israel, there has been a lively discussion among scholars of the Bible in the West about Rom 9-11, about how to define the role of "Israel" in Christianity. In the context of Rom 9-11, there is a special paragraph about the choice of the people of God that has deeply marked Christianity: the image of the olive tree (Rom 11,16b-24). Here the Apostle illustrates his vision of God's people referring to this as an olive tree. This article will attempt to interpret this explanation of Paul, because it is the clearest and most didactic.