Selections of Johann Adam Möhler’s Writings on the Jews

Johann Adam Möhler (6 May 1796 – 12 April 1838) was a German Roman Catholic priest and theologian, professor of theology at the Universities of Tübingen and Munich, and one of the greatest Catholic minds of the nineteenth century. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) described him in 1987 as “the great reviver of Catholic theology after the ravages of the Enlightenment.” He was associated with the Catholic Tübingen School and is known principally for three works: Die Einheit in der Kirche (Unity in the Church, 1825), Athanasius der Grosse (Athanasius the Great, 1827), and Symbolik (Symbolism, 1832), the last of which — translated into English by James Burton Robertson in 1843 — remains his masterpiece. His posthumously published Kirchengeschichte (Church History, ed. Gams, 1867) and Patrologie (1840) complete the major corpus. He died at Munich on 12 April 1838, aged forty-one.

The passages reproduced here are drawn from the Robertson translation of Symbolism (1843) and from the posthumous Kirchengeschichte (1867). They bear on the following themes: supersessionism (the Gospel as the organic fulfilment and replacement of the Mosaic economy), the theological inferiority and preparatory character of the Old Covenant, the contrast between the Church and the Synagogue in their respective relationship to the Old Testament, the Jewish rejection of Christ and obstinate defence of the Mosaic law, the abolition of the Mosaic dispensation by the Incarnation, and Israel’s estrangement from God under the Old Law as a prefiguration of what the Incarnation alone resolved. Möhler’s is not a polemical Adversus Judaeos in the Chrysostomic mode; it is the considered, mournful supersessionism of a great Catholic historian, operating entirely within the Pauline and Augustinian tradition, and analogous in spirit and tone to the writings of St. Edith Stein. His framework is entirely pre-Nostra Aetate (1965).

I. The Synagogue vs. the Church: The Old Testament Belongs More Truly to the Church Than to the Synagogue

Symbolism, Book II, §xxii — On Justification

(Symbolism, or, Exposition of the Doctrinal Differences between Catholics and Protestants as Evidenced by their Symbolical Writings, trans. James Burton Robertson, 2 vols., London: C. Dolman, 1843, Vol. I, p. 187)

“If St. Augustine says with reason, that the Old is but the New Testament still veiled, and the New the Old Testament unveiled, the true sense of the latter must evidently be better known to the Church than to the synagogue itself. The former imparted to the sense of the Old Testament, in the matter before us, a more appropriate form,—and this is the case with all the religious ideas, which the Church and the synagogue have in common,—in order that the unshackled spirit may show itself purer, and more transparent, and that the form may correspond to the matter.”

II. St. Augustine’s Verdict: The Law “Among the Jews” Was External and Terrifying; in Christianity It Is Internal and Justifying

Symbolism, Book II, §xxii — On Justification

(Robertson trans., Vol. I, p. 189, footnote, citing Augustine, De Spiritu et Littera, c. 17)

“St. Augustine says: ‘Among the Jews the law was placed from without, to terrify the unjust; in Christianity it is given from within, to justify.'”

(Möhler adduces this as authoritative and then expands upon it as his own position throughout §xxii.)

III. St. Paul “Contends Against the Jews of His Own Time”: Their Obstinate Defence of the Mosaic Law

Symbolism, Book II, §xxiii — On the Works of the Law

(Robertson trans., Vol. I, p. 249)

“St. Paul here contends against the Jews of his own time, who obstinately defended the eternal duration of the Mosaic law, and asserted, that, not needing a Redeemer from sin, they became righteous and acceptable before God by that law alone. In opposition to this opinion, St. Paul lays down the maxim, that it is not by the works of the law, that is to say, not by a life regulated merely by the Mosaic precepts, man is enabled to obtain the favour of Heaven, but only through faith in Christ, which has been imparted to us by God for wisdom, for sanctification, for righteousness, and for redemption.”

IV. Israel’s Estrangement from God Under the Old Law: The “Distracting Grief” of Israel

Symbolism, Book II, §xxxv — On Law and Gospel

(Robertson trans., Vol. I, pp. 266–267)

“Rightly hath it been represented as Israel’s distracting grief, that her God abode without her, far removed from her, and thundering forth terror and despair. But, at the same time, and in most intimate connexion with this state of things, the law of Israel was likewise only extraneous, and widely remote from her, and therefore menacing on stony tablets, and not inscribed on the living heart; for the law is God’s declared will; and thus alienation from God involved also alienation from his law. By the coming of the Son of God into the world, and his reception into our souls, this disunion between God and man terminated:—in Christ both are reconciled, and are become one.”

V. The Mosaic Dispensation Surpassed and Fulfilled: Christ Proclaims a New and More Exalted Law

Symbolism, Book II, §xxxii — On the Office and Teaching of Christ

(Robertson trans., Vol. I, p. 256)

“It is undeniable, and no arts can long conceal the fact, that Christ proposed, in the most emphatic manner, to his followers, the highest ethical ideal, corresponding to the new theoretical religious knowledge, and further developing the Old Testament precepts.”

“In formal opposition to the Mosaic dispensation, Christ proclaimed a new, purer, more exalted, and therefore severer, law of morality (Matthew v. 31–48,) and uttered himself those words: ‘A new commandment I give ye, that ye love one another.’ (John xiii. 34.)”

VI. The Church “Conquered Judaism, Destroyed Heathenism”

Symbolism, Book II, §xl — On the Interpretation of Scripture

(Robertson trans., Vol. II, p. 374)

“…that the Christian Church had not penetrated into the sense of her own sacred records at a time, when she exerted a truly renovating influence over the world, when she conquered Judaism, destroyed Heathenism, and overcame all the powers of darkness?”

VII. The Abolition of the Mosaic Dispensation: Jewish Symbols Lack the Sanctifying Power of the Sacraments

Symbolism, Book III, §xliv — On the Sacraments

(Robertson trans., Vol. II, p. 284)

“What prevented them, however, from maintaining that our means of salvation were the channels of truly sanctifying graces, as cannot be asserted of the Jewish symbols? But Melancthon writes:—Circumcision is nothing; so is baptism nothing; the communion of the Lord’s Supper is nothing; they are rather testimonies and σφραγίδες (seals) of the Divine will toward thee… Here baptism and the holy communion are ranked indiscriminately with circumcision; and, like it, are represented as mere signs of covenant.”

(Möhler cites Melanchthon here only to refute him; his own Catholic position is precisely the contrary: that the Jewish symbols, including circumcision, were shadows lacking the sanctifying power of the Christian sacraments.)

VIII. The Ritual Law of Moses: Released by Christ, Superseded by Grace

Symbolism, Book II, §xxxii — On Christian Freedom

(Robertson trans., Vol. I, p. 257)

“…when he says that we are released from the obligation of observing the ritual law of Moses, and when he adds, that the believer, being inwardly and freely moved by the Divine Spirit, practises the moral law, and would fulfil it, when even it did not make any outward claims, the Reformer here excellently describes Christian freedom as a voluntary obedience to God, and consequently as a release from the fetters, wherein evil held men enchained.”

IX. The Jewish Mishna Itself Admits the Miracles of Christ

Symbolism, Translator’s Memoir — In refutation of Strauss’s mythological theory

(Robertson trans., Vol. I, “Memoir of Dr. Moehler,” pp. 40–41)

“…that the Jewish Mishna, compiled in the second century of the Christian era, and which, while it seeks to ascribe to fantastic causes the miracles of Christ, unequivocally admits their reality; (miracles, be it observed, the knowledge whereof came down to the Jews of that age by a channel of tradition totally independent of Christians) that the Jewish Mishna was likewise a Christian fabrication.”

(Möhler’s translator Robertson, closely following Möhler’s own anti-rationalist arguments, adduces the Mishna as hostile Jewish testimony that nevertheless confirms the historicity of Christ’s miracles.)

X. Relapse into Judaism: Any Retreat from the Spiritual to the Ceremonial Is a Descent

Symbolism, Book IV, §lxviii — On the Quakers and the Sacraments

(Robertson trans., Vol. II, p. 464)

“To introduce outward acts of this kind is, in their estimation, entirely to misapprehend the religion of the Spirit, which Christianity undoubtedly is; to renew a Jewish ceremonial service, and to relapse into Judaism; nay, to approximate to Heathenism; for such mere outward things, as we call sacraments, have sprung out of the same spirit as the Heathen worship; whereas, Judaism observed holy rites prescribed by God.”

(The contrast here is telling: Möhler, through the voice of the Quakers, presents “relapse into Judaism” as a theological descensus — Judaism placed above Heathenism, but below Christianity, as a divinely prescribed but now superseded stage.)

XI. “Carnal and Spiritual Israel”: The Patristic Distinction Endorsed

Symbolism, Book IV, §xcvii — On Swedenborg

(Robertson trans., Vol. II, p. 527)

“…the carnal and the spiritual Israel (the Ἰσραὴλ σαρκικὸς and πνευματικός,) with which the same Philo has made us acquainted.”

(Möhler endorses this classical patristic distinction — drawn from St. Paul and the Alexandrian tradition — between carnal Israel, the Jewish people according to the flesh, and spiritual Israel, the Church.)

XII. The Old Covenant’s God: “Severe Laws, Strictly Meted Out”

Symbolism, Book II, §xxxiv — On Marcion and the God of the Old Testament

(Robertson trans., Vol. I, p. 275)

“Marcion was so impressed with the loftiness of the New Testament revelation, with the revelation of God, as a gracious, loving, and merciful Father, that, on that account he held the divinity in Christ to be essentially different from the one that created the world filled with evils of every kind, gave in the old covenant such severe laws, and so strictly, according to them, meted out rewards and punishments.”

(Möhler cites this, of course, to refute Marcion’s dualism; but in doing so he states as common ground between Marcion and Catholic orthodoxy that the Old Covenant was indeed an economy of severe external law.)

XIII. The Jewish Christians: “Unenlightened Zeal for the Law”

Symbolism, Book II, §xxxix — On Tradition and the Development of Doctrine

(Robertson trans., Vol. II, p. 363)

“It is to the unenlightened zeal of the Jewish Christians for the law, we owe the expositions of Paul touching faith and the power of the Gospel.”

XIV. Jewish Parties That Burdened the Infant Church with “Judæo-National Observances”

Symbolism, Book II, §xxxix — On Tradition and Heresy

(Robertson trans., Vol. II, p. 355)

“If we except some Jewish parties, which did not so much spring out of Christianity, as wish to encumber it, in its infancy, with Judæo-national observances, the earliest sect were the Gnostics.”

XV. “Neither the Law Given to the Jews, Nor the Works of the Heathens”: The Insufficiency of Both

Symbolism, Book II, §xxii — On Justification and the Faith Vivified by Love

(Robertson trans., Vol. I, p. 206)

“…neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, that is to say, neither the law given to the Jews, nor the works of the Heathens, can render men acceptable before God, but only faith; yet not every faith, but solely that ‘which worketh by charity,’ to wit, the faith which is moved, shaped, and vivified by charity.”

XVI. “No One Before Christ, Jew or Gentile”: The Universal Insufficiency of Pre-Christian Religion

Symbolism, Book IV, §xc — On the Socinians and the Mission of Christ

(Robertson trans., Vol. II, p. 593)

“…no one before Christ, Jew or Gentile, was, according to the Socinians, instructed in the relations of the present to a future life…”

(Möhler cites the Socinian position here to demolish it; his own Catholic view is that even the Jews — the chosen people who had the Law and the Prophets — could not of themselves attain the fullness of salvation that Christ brought to all.)

XVII. “Baptism of the Carnal Jews and Heathens into the Christian Church”

Symbolism, Book IV, §xci — On the Socinians and Baptism

(Robertson trans., Vol. II, p. 593)

“Baptism is regarded only as a rite of initiation, of the carnal Jews and Heathens into the Christian Church; for, these needed an outward symbol of the forgiveness of sins, and of inward purification.”

(Again cited from the Socinian position, which Möhler refutes; but the theological categories — “carnal Jews and Heathens” as those needing initiation and purification — reflect the standard Catholic supersessionist anthropology.)

XVIII. The Prophets of the Old Covenant: Their Interior Word Prefigured, But Did Not Equal, the Church’s Teaching

Symbolism, Book II, §xliii — On Zwinglius and the Internal Word

(Robertson trans., Vol. II, p. 335)

“…that internal word, which came to the prophets of the old covenant, and which, although it exacted what was most extraordinary, and promised what was most marvellous, yet without the aid of human reflection and mental activity, took possession of those to whom it was addressed, and brought them under subjection.”

XIX. The Defence of the Faith Against Jews and Mohammedans: Möhler’s Kirchengeschichte

Kirchengeschichte, Vol. III (Reformation Period), Chapter 1 — On Humanists, Controversialists, and Jewish Literature

(Kirchengeschichte, ed. Gams, Regensburg, 1867, Vol. III, p. 23 [Kap. 1: Juden. Humanisten])*

“…die frühere Literatur der Juden richteten, in der sich ohne Zweifel sehr viel Unchristliches angehäuft hatte.”

[Translation]: “…they directed attention to the earlier literature of the Jews, in which, beyond a doubt, a great deal of un-Christian material had accumulated.”

(Möhler here, in a footnote, comments on the controversy over Reuchlin’s Hebrew studies; his remark that Jewish literature contains much that is “unchristlich” — un-Christian — is stated as a matter of fact.)

XX. Works Written Against the Jews: A Noted Tradition of Catholic Polemic

Kirchengeschichte, Vol. III, Chapter 1

(Kirchengeschichte, ed. Gams, 1867, Vol. III, p. 25)

“…Verfasser einiger Schriften gegen die Juden…” “…Werk zur Vertheidigung des Christenthums gegen die Juden heraus-…”

[Translation]: “…author of several writings against the Jews…” “…a work in defence of Christianity against the Jews…”

(Möhler records approvingly, in his catalogue of scholastic and humanist writers, those who wrote against the Jews in defence of Christianity, treating this as a normal and honourable category of Catholic theological endeavour.)

Sources

All English quotations are taken verbatim from the following primary edition. The two German passages from the Kirchengeschichte are translated by the compiler of this page; no word of the English Robertson text has been altered.

Primary Works — English Translation:

Primary Works — German Original:

Secondary Biography: