This is the 3rd Print. It was necessary because so many people were interested in the book and we ran out of copies quicker than we had planned.
This 3rd Print also became necessary because the more books were distributed the more questions and comments came about certain passages. I saw that a clearer wording had to be found for some of these passages. For this I was undergoing a work of correction and rewriting which produced the current text which should be the basis for any further printing and translation.
I am writing as a Catholic Christian. That's why you find a lot of indications pointing to developments between the Catholic Church and the Jewish People including the Messianic Jews. Even as a Christian totally dedicated to ecumenism and the unity of the one Church of Jesus, I see things with "Catholic" eyes. I hope this will not be an obstacle for Christians from other church backgrounds or denominations to get the best out of my book.
This book is not written primarily for the academic world. It is written as a narrative, a simplifying explanation of quite a complex historical and theological subject. The book is written in "prophetic" language, giving a more spiritual overview over the diverse historical developments around the rise and destruction of Messianic Judaism in ancient times as well as in recent decades. This prophetic perspective is also the "tone" to describe the task before us, as the appropriate answer to the fact that these "dead bones" have been given life again by the power of the Holy Spirit, as the Prophet Ezekiel prophesied in chapter 37. As a member for the last 20 years of the dialogue between Catholic and Messianic Jewish theologians, under the auspices of high authorities in the Vatican, I learned what it means to face the fact that a miracle is being presented to us before our very eyes. And at the same I have learned how great a challenge it is to bring together these two quite different "worlds" of belief in the same Messiah and Christ, Yeshua of Nazareth. The journey towards each other and together into a common future has only just begun.
I have to thank my wife and my children. In their company I have learned to love, to ask forgiveness and to reconcile. Their generosity gave me the freedom to work for this greater reconciliation project. I have to thank my secretary Fritzi Turecek for many years of faithful support. I have to thank my brothers in the International Leadership Council of TJCII who challenged me to become the man I am today. Most of all I give thanks to Fr. Peter Hocken (+) who became my fatherly friend and mentor. I also have to thank my many other Messianic Jewish and Gentile friends, most of all Dr. Mark Kinzer, who taught me to understand more deeply the "Mystery of the Olive Tree". I have to thank the ecumenical community "Umkehr zum Herrn" in Vienna where my wife and I have found our spiritual home. Our communitarian journey taught me so much about friendship but also about forgiveness and reconciliation. Lastly and truly not least I have to thank my Archbishop Christoph Cardinal Schönborn who was my spiritual head and covering over all the last 25+ years.
