Theodore of Mopsuestia on Jews and Judaism: Mitigat ed Supersessionism in Christological and Hermeneutical Context

In Theodore of Mopsuestia's elaboration on cognitive development concerning christological truths, he outlines the special place of the Jewish matrix of nascent Christianity. This stance, reflected especially in his Commentary on John, is the focus of the present study. As opposed to the traditional Christian paradigm of the gradual religious decline of the Jews, Theodore's positive appraisal of biblical Israel as cognizant of divine truths stands out as devoid of this motif. This informs Theodore's perception of the revelatory continuum and cognitive development, from the biblical past to Christ. Moreover, according to Theodore, the deficient character of the biblical Jews' theological cognition is derived not from their unsatisfactory religious stance but rather from the objectively veiled nature of the revelation given to them - The attitude we brand as mitigated supersessionism. Jesus' Jewish contemporaries represent here the pre-incarnation stage of praeparatio evangelica common to Jews in general and Jesus' disciples. The overlap between the disciples' pre-Easter epistemic limitations and that of contemporary Jews underscores Theodore's mitigated supersessionism and understanding of the Jews' immanent inability to grasp the Messiah's nature.