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→Orthodox Criticism of Supersessionism
In the "Encyclopedia of Eastern Orthodox Christianity", Prof. Eugene Pentiuc of Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, called supersessionism a "danger" discernible in Biblical passages<ref>Cited are: Mat 21:33-46, Gal 3:24-5, Rom 10:4</ref>, adding that it was especially pronounced in writings about Old Testament [[Typology]]. He wrote that "many early Christian writings" portray the New Testament and the Church as superseding the Old Testament and what he calls the "old Israel".<ref>Prof. Eugene Pentiuc, “Judaism, Orthodoxy and”, cited in Fr. John McGuckin The Encyclopedia of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, p. 356.</ref> The entry claims that supersessionism fueled "anti-Jewish sentiment" and devalued the Old Testament, but that ''"the church as a whole has [kept] the two Testaments in a dialectical unity, in the main avoiding... supersessionism as [a] danger."''<ref>Id.</ref>
Fr. Yves Dubois of St. John Kronstadt Church pointed out that while in Luke 2:32 Simeon called Christ "the glory of thy people Israel", a hymn in the Feast of the [[Meeting of the Lord ]] Simeon call Christ "the glory of the newly-chosen Israel."<ref>Fr. Yves Dubois, "An Orthodox Perspective", cited in "Christian-Jewish Dialogue", edited by Helen Fry, 1996, p.34</ref> He wrote that this twists Scriptural texts to make ''"Judaism and the Jewish community redundant, substituting the Gentile Church for Israel."'' He defines "supersessionism" as this substitution of ''"the Gentile Christian Church for the people of Israel"'' after God had made promises to Israel. Fr. Dubois writes that it ''"is theologically untenable because it questions God's consistency."''
This hinges on the liturgy's insertion of the phrase "newly-chosen Israel". The phrase "New Israel" is common in Orthodox writing. Herman Blaydoe, the Orthodox Monachos forum moderator, comments on the term:
:The Church is the continuation of Israel. We call it the New Israel, not because it no longer includes the Jewish people, but because it now includes ALL people. It goes beyond what it was; it does not replace what was before.<ref>Orthodoxy and Supersessionism, Monachos Forum, http://www.monachos.net/conversation/topic/7236-the-orthodox-church-and-supersessionism/page-2</ref>
Thus Fr. Feodor Lyudogovsky comments about the Feast of the [[Meeting of the Lord ]] that the hymn writer's paraphrase contains the perspective revealed with ''"the Incarnation - Christ's Church, the newly chosen Israel, in which yesterday's gentiles and believing Jews became, in the Savior's words (John 10:16), one flock."''<ref>Fr. Feodor Lyudogovsky, "Сретение Господне: Ветхий днями – значит Вечный", February 14, 2013. http://www.nsad.ru/articles/sretenie-gospodne-vethij-dnyami-znachit-vechnyj</ref>
==References==
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