For the Life of the World / Yale Center for Faith & Culture Irrevocable Covenant: Against Supersessionism / R. Kendall Soulen
“The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” Theologian R. Kendall Soulen joins Drew Collins to discuss supersessionism, the name of God (tetragrammaton), the irrevocable covenant between God and the Jews, and the enduring significance of Judaism for Christian theology.
Together they explore religious and ethnic heritage, cultural identity, community, covenant, interfaith dialogue, and the ongoing implications for Christian theology and practice.
They also reflect on how the Holocaust forced Christians to confront theological assumptions, how Vatican II and subsequent church statements reshaped doctrine, and why the gifts and calling of God remain irrevocable. Soulen challenges traditional readings of Scripture that erase Israel, insisting instead on a post-supersessionist framework where Jews and Gentiles bear distinct but inseparable witness to God’s faithfulness.
Image Credit: Marc Chagall, ”Moses with the Burning Bush”, 1966
Episode Highlights
- “The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”
- “Supersessionism is the Christian belief that the Jews are no longer God’s people.”
- “The Lord is God—those words preserve God’s identity and resist erasure.”
- “Israel sinned. They are still Israel. That identity is irrevocable.”
- “The gospel doesn’t erase the distinction between Jews and Gentiles; it reconfigures it.”
About R. Kendall Soulen
R. Kendall Soulen is Professor of Systematic Theology at Candler School of Theology, Emory University. A leading voice in post-supersessionist Christian theology, he has written extensively on the relationship between Christianity and Judaism, including The God of Israel and Christian Theology and Irrevocable: The Name of God and the Christian Bible.
Helpful Links and Resources
- R. Kendall Soulen, Irrevocable: The Name of God and the Christian Bible
- R. Kendall Soulen, The God of Israel and Christian Theology
- Vatican II, Nostra Aetate — Vatican.va
- Michael Wyschogrod, The Body of Faith: God in the People Israel
- Drew Collins, The Unique and Universal Christ
Show Notes
- R. Kendall Soulen’s formative encounters with Judaism at Yale and influence of Hans Frei and Michael Wyschogrod
- Romans 9–11 as central to understanding Christianity’s relationship with Judaism
- Supersessionism defined as denying Israel’s ongoing covenant with God
- Impact of the Holocaust and World War II on Christian theology
- Vatican II’s Nostra Aetate affirming God’s covenant with Israel remains intact
- Over a billion Christians now belong to churches rejecting supersessionism
- Soulen’s early work The God of Israel and Christian Theology diagnosing supersessionism in canonical narrative
- Discovery of the divine name’s centrality in Scripture and its neglect in Christian interpretation
- Jesus’s reverence for God’s name shaping Christian prayer and theology
- Proper names as resistance to instrumentalization and fungibility
- Jewish and Gentile identities as distinct yet united in Christ
- Dialogue with Judaism as essential for Christian self-understanding
- Post-supersessionist theology reshaping interfaith relations and Christian identity
- Implications for law observance, Christian Seders, and Jewish-Gentile church life
- Abrahamic faiths and typology: getting Christianity and Judaism right as foundation for interreligious dialogue
Production Notes
- This episode was made possible by the generous support of the Tyndale House Foundation
- This podcast featured R. Kendall Soulen
- Edited and Produced by Evan Rosa
- Hosted by Evan Rosa
- Production Assistance by Alexa Rollow and Emily Brookfield
- A Production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School https://faith.yale.edu/about
- Support For the Life of the World podcast by giving to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: https://faith.yale.edu/give