ABSTRACT
One of the most basic assumptions of the Jewish-Christian encounter is that Christians do theology; Jews study texts. The study of sacred texts, taken almost exclusively from the Jewish Tanach/Christian Old Testament, has thus come to occupy center stage in the dialogue between Jews and Christians because biblical texts are thought to provide a neutral ground upon which both Jews and Christians can safely stand. Perhaps the most important skill both Jews and Christians need to acquire is the ability to speak theologically together. The primary focus of theology is the religious dimension of human experience in our everyday lives. In most parts of the world outside Israel, Jewish communities are shrinking because of low birth rates, assimilation, and interfaith marriages. Revelation precedes, sustains, and evokes faith just as faith precedes, sustains, and evokes theology. Revelation is the starting point of faith just as faith is the starting point of theology.
