â??Supersedeâ? is a synonym for â??replaceâ?. Supersession is a Christian theological term referring to a specific replacementâ??namely, the replacement of Godâ??s covenant with Israel by a new covenant (new â??testamentâ?) with the Church. Put differently, the Church of Christ is the new Israel. Supersessionism is the doctrine that this replacement has in fact occurred. Theologians like long words, especially if they derive from Greek or (in this case) Latin. If you like â??supersessionismâ?, how about â??anti-supersessionismâ?? Which, logically enough, means the rejection of the replacement doctrine.
Supersession has been part of the Christian narrative of salvation for a very long time. There was some ambivalence in the Apostle Paulâ??s letters as to the continuing authority of the Jewish law for the followers of Jesus, an issue that became urgent as more Gentiles became followers. Paulâ??s sharpest formulation of his position on this was in Galatians 3:28, where he said that there was â??no longer Jew or Gentileâ? in the community of Jesus Christ. There continued some disagreement as to the obligation of Gentile converts to undergo circumcision and to observe other provisions of Jewish law. Around 50 CE the issue was finally decided by the Apostolic Council of Jerusalem, with Paul taking a strong stand in favor of exempting Gentile Christians from most of the ritual obligations of Jewish law, including circumcision, which after all had been the most intimate mark of the covenant between God and the people of Israel (and a particular embarrassment for Hellenized Gentiles who wanted to continue frequenting the gymnasium (literally, â??place of nakednessâ?), where athletes trained in a state of complete nudity. It is hard to imagine a more dramatic symbolization of the Christian claim to be under a new covenant, distinct from rabbinical Judaism. The rabbis reciprocated. The so-called Council of Yavne was probably not a single event but a developing consensus among the rabbis gathered around the religious school founded in Yavne in that location on the coastline of what is now central Israel. The school became a major rabbinical authority after the disappearance of the Jerusalem center. By 90 CE it had established the canon of the Hebrew Bible or Tanach (Torah, Prophets, Writings), thus marking the boundaries of legitimate Judaism: Gentile Christians, holding on to their New Testament and their foreskins, were definitely left on the outside!
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