I appreciate this balanced article highlighting key points and scripture references. I’m sure you could have written far more about the issue. Yes, Paul grieved deeply. The distinction between religiously observant Jews and atheist Jews is important. Your warning against antisemitism and call to pray is important.
"On the one side, a generation of evangelical Christians have been taught that the Bible requires them to give unqualified support for the nation of Israel, politically, financially, and militarily. They do this because they believe Israel is God’s chosen people. In order to stand with God, you must also stand with Israel. Period. Any criticism of Israel is the same as antisemitism. This view has been so thoroughly absorbed into American evangelical culture that many Christians can’t even tell you where it came from. It’s a theological reflex that they can’t explain or defend biblically, apart from perhaps a couple of proof texts."
I fear this greatly oversimplifies the Christian Zionist position at its strongest and at its best.
It is true of, course, that there are ignorance and oversimplifications in the Evangelical churches (and and not only when it comes to Christian Zionism!). There is a great deal of intellectual oversimplification in our culture as a whole and the church unfortunately reflects that.
But to deal with a position it must be responded to at its best, and at its best, Christian Zionism is considerable more substantive than the brief description above indicates.
First of all, many Christian Zionists do not give unqualified support to any and all Israeli policies, and freely admit that the Israeli government is run by fallible human beings whose policies are not always correct.
Secondly, it is not merely a question of reasoning "Israel is God's chosen people, so we must support them." There are also the many prophecies which talk about the Jews being restored to the land. Luke 21:24 which states directly that the Jews will regain control of Jerusalem when the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
Thirdly, there is the question of God's sovereignty over human affairs. Did God really have nothing to do with the survival of the Jews, their return to the land, and the titanic events of 1947-49, 1967, and 1973? To answer this in the negative seems to me to be a form of atheism, or at least belief in a God who saves individuals but does not truly govern the world.
Moreover, the antisemitism that many are concerned about is not merely criticism of Israel. It is the thirst for the extinction of Israel and the overt acts of violence being advocated and carried out. And the most virulent hostility comes from the forces of Islam, and the radical left - two forces which are also hostile to biblical Christianity.
Many Christians who support Israel's right to exist and do not want to see the Jewish state destroyed by the forces of Mohammed and radical secular leftism have much more than a "theological reflex" and "a couple of proof texts" to support their position.
Well done!
I appreciate this balanced article highlighting key points and scripture references. I’m sure you could have written far more about the issue. Yes, Paul grieved deeply. The distinction between religiously observant Jews and atheist Jews is important. Your warning against antisemitism and call to pray is important.
"On the one side, a generation of evangelical Christians have been taught that the Bible requires them to give unqualified support for the nation of Israel, politically, financially, and militarily. They do this because they believe Israel is God’s chosen people. In order to stand with God, you must also stand with Israel. Period. Any criticism of Israel is the same as antisemitism. This view has been so thoroughly absorbed into American evangelical culture that many Christians can’t even tell you where it came from. It’s a theological reflex that they can’t explain or defend biblically, apart from perhaps a couple of proof texts."
I fear this greatly oversimplifies the Christian Zionist position at its strongest and at its best.
It is true of, course, that there are ignorance and oversimplifications in the Evangelical churches (and and not only when it comes to Christian Zionism!). There is a great deal of intellectual oversimplification in our culture as a whole and the church unfortunately reflects that.
But to deal with a position it must be responded to at its best, and at its best, Christian Zionism is considerable more substantive than the brief description above indicates.
First of all, many Christian Zionists do not give unqualified support to any and all Israeli policies, and freely admit that the Israeli government is run by fallible human beings whose policies are not always correct.
Secondly, it is not merely a question of reasoning "Israel is God's chosen people, so we must support them." There are also the many prophecies which talk about the Jews being restored to the land. Luke 21:24 which states directly that the Jews will regain control of Jerusalem when the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
Thirdly, there is the question of God's sovereignty over human affairs. Did God really have nothing to do with the survival of the Jews, their return to the land, and the titanic events of 1947-49, 1967, and 1973? To answer this in the negative seems to me to be a form of atheism, or at least belief in a God who saves individuals but does not truly govern the world.
Moreover, the antisemitism that many are concerned about is not merely criticism of Israel. It is the thirst for the extinction of Israel and the overt acts of violence being advocated and carried out. And the most virulent hostility comes from the forces of Islam, and the radical left - two forces which are also hostile to biblical Christianity.
Many Christians who support Israel's right to exist and do not want to see the Jewish state destroyed by the forces of Mohammed and radical secular leftism have much more than a "theological reflex" and "a couple of proof texts" to support their position.