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CHRISTIAN PASTOR: THE CHURCH IS HOPELESSLY ANTI-SEMITIC
Israel Today ^ | Nov 9th, 2012

Posted on 11/11/2012 3:12:55 PM PST by TaraP

At an interfaith conference bringing together Jewish leaders and Protestant Christian pastors outside Jerusalem this week, several of the Christian representatives painted a very worrying picture about the future of relations between Israel and the mainstream Church.

While an estimated tens of millions of individual Christians around the world love and support the Jewish state, many of the mainline Protestant churches have been actively boycotting Israel, encouraging pro-Palestinian activism and demanding that Western governments stop sending aid to Jerusalem.

One of the main Christian representatives at the conference was Rev. Paul Wilkinson, associate minister at Hazel Grove Full Gospel Church in Stockport, England. Over the past few years, Wilkinson has studied up close the phenomenon of what he calls "Christian Palestinianism," a politicized movement that seeks to eliminate Christian support for Israel and transfer it to Palestinian nationalists.

Wilkinson said he is "completely pessimistic in terms of believing that I, we, are going to overturn 2,000 years of erroneous theology that has manifested itself in all kinds of diatribes and anti-Semitic factions" within the Church.

Wilkinson said that what stands behind Christian Palestinianism is classic Replacement Theology, which he called a "Goliath of theology in the church."

Rev. Andrew Love of the United Church of Canada agreed with Wilkinson that exaggerated humanitarian concern for the Palestinian Christians is being as the "rationalization for ultimately what I believe to be anti-Semitic ideas and anti-Semitic policies."

Wilkinson lamented that this hatred for Israel, which harks back to millennia of hatred for the Jews, is rooted "deep in the heart of the Protestant Church," and is unlikely to be uprooted.

The Times of Israel provided a full report of the event, as well as interviews with several of the speakers. Their article on the conference is worth a thorough read.


TOPICS: Religion & Culture; Religion & Politics; Theology
KEYWORDS: antisemitism; christians; churchantisemitic; evangelicals; liberalchurch; religiousleft; replacementtheology
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1 posted on 11/11/2012 3:13:03 PM PST by TaraP
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To: All

The only Church to be found worthy in the eyes of Christ was: The Church at Philadelphia...

The Key of David (Revelation 3:7-13)
The church that kept the faith

The letter to the church in Philadelphia begins with Christ identifying himself as “holy and true” (3:7). The Holy One is a common Old Testament title for God (Isaiah 40:25; 43:15). He is also true in the sense that he is faithful and trustworthy. God can always be counted on to keep his promises (Titus 1:2)


2 posted on 11/11/2012 3:15:12 PM PST by TaraP (On Christ the Solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.)
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To: TaraP
"Wilkinson said that what stands behind Christian Palestinianism is classic Replacement Theology,"

That is nonsense. Plenty of reformed protestants (which would exlude all the largest mainline confessional denominations) believe in covenant theology without supporting the Palestinian political cause vis-a-via Israel.

3 posted on 11/11/2012 3:16:37 PM PST by circlecity
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To: TaraP
"The only Church to be found worthy in the eyes of Christ was: The Church at Philadelphia..."

Not true. The letter to the Church at Smyrna had nothing bad to say either. Smyrna, the persecuted Church, was quite worthy in the eyes of Christ. Rev. 2:8-11

4 posted on 11/11/2012 3:19:14 PM PST by circlecity
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To: circlecity

I believe the author makes the same distinction....


5 posted on 11/11/2012 3:20:13 PM PST by moonhawk (Free Republic: Show prep for Rush Limbaugh.)
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To: circlecity

I believe the author makes the same distinction....


6 posted on 11/11/2012 3:20:19 PM PST by moonhawk (Free Republic: Show prep for Rush Limbaugh.)
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To: circlecity

It seems the Protestant Church is in a mess..

At the Lutheran church in Madison, Pastor Schneider directly tackled the issue of the biblical prohibitions on homosexuality in her sermon.

Her church is a part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, a mainline Protestant denomination that voted three years ago to allow openly gay clergy members to serve.


7 posted on 11/11/2012 3:20:27 PM PST by TaraP (On Christ the Solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.)
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To: TaraP

Good grief, *semites* are anti-semitic. Look at the recent election.


8 posted on 11/11/2012 3:21:29 PM PST by Mamzelle
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To: TaraP
Wilkinson is politicizing.

And yet, he has room to judge?

9 posted on 11/11/2012 3:24:03 PM PST by KittenClaws (You may have to fight a battle more than once in order to win it." - Margaret Thatcher)
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To: TaraP

The only people who call them selves Christians and are anti-israel are the Liberal Presbyterians. But then again, they believe Calvin more than the bible, so there you go.

True Bible believers realize the place of the older brother in the family of God, and that they are only adopted younger sons.


10 posted on 11/11/2012 3:24:29 PM PST by BereanBrain
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To: TaraP
Wilkinson is politisizing.

And yet, he has room to judge?

11 posted on 11/11/2012 3:25:32 PM PST by KittenClaws (You may have to fight a battle more than once in order to win it." - Margaret Thatcher)
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To: TaraP
These people will find out the hard way that they should never have arrogantly denied and discarded the Scripture. Of course, when you have a collection of people who call themselves "Christians" who could not be more deluded about their spiritual blindness, who re-write the Bible to their own liking, this is not a surprise.

So, not only will these people come under the Genesis 12:3 curse, they will answer to God for their hatred and contempt for His chosen people, their attempt to harm His people and rob the Jews of their covenant land and give the land to Arab squatters.

This is what the Jewish people think of when they hear the word "Christian". This is the face of Christianity to the Jews - hatred, contempt, and aiding Israel's enemies in harming the Jews. These people will have all eternity separated from God to contemplate the choices they made.

12 posted on 11/11/2012 3:25:48 PM PST by GiovannaNicoletta (In the last days, mockers will come with their mocking... (2 Peter 3:3))
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To: TaraP

The anti-Israel movement in the mainline Protestant denominations has nothing to do with so-called “Replacement Theology”. It comes from Marxism.


13 posted on 11/11/2012 3:26:45 PM PST by wideawake
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To: TaraP
what stands behind Christian Palestinianism is classic Replacement Theology, which he called a "Goliath of theology in the church."

Unless I'm quite mistaken, "Replacement Theology" was the standard Christian doctrine for most of church history, with little evidence of the alternative, dual-covenant theology, prior to recent decades, and even then it has been limited primarily to American evangelical groups.

In particular, AFAIK there is no DCT in Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Knox, etc.

I have no beef with those who choose to disbelieve in RT, but it really shouldn't be passed off as some sort of recent heresy, which I have seen done.

14 posted on 11/11/2012 3:27:05 PM PST by Sherman Logan
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To: GiovannaNicoletta

Amen Giovanna!

Spot on post!


15 posted on 11/11/2012 3:28:01 PM PST by TaraP (On Christ the Solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.)
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To: TaraP
Thanks, TaraP.

I was going to say that this is replacement theology on steroids, but actually it is the logical conclusion to the demonic, un-Biblical doctrine that the church has replaced Israel in the plan of God.

16 posted on 11/11/2012 3:31:32 PM PST by GiovannaNicoletta (In the last days, mockers will come with their mocking... (2 Peter 3:3))
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To: GiovannaNicoletta

Exactly!

1 Timothy 4:1
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.


17 posted on 11/11/2012 3:35:50 PM PST by TaraP (On Christ the Solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.)
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To: TaraP
many of the mainline Protestant churches

Most of the mainline Protestant churches are neither Protestant nor churches.

18 posted on 11/11/2012 3:41:47 PM PST by Thane_Banquo ( Walker 2016)
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To: TaraP

“many of the mainline Protestant churches have been actively boycotting Israel, encouraging pro-Palestinian activism and demanding that Western governments stop sending aid to Jerusalem. “

In other words, the hip “churches” that promote homosexual pastors and marriage/women clergy/abortion rights/social justice, etc.


19 posted on 11/11/2012 3:44:46 PM PST by Reddy (B.O. stinks)
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To: TaraP

Brilliant......their Messiah is a Jew and they can’t stand Jews!........go figure.


20 posted on 11/11/2012 3:47:26 PM PST by wesagain (The God (Elohim) of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the One True GOD.)
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