Posted on 12/03/2021 9:37:08 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Some 51% of Evangelical Protestants in the United States say they believe Jews are God’s chosen people, according to a recently released survey.
Titled “The Jewish Connection: Evangelicals and Israel,” the findings were announced this week by Infinity Concepts, a faith-based communications agency that co-produced the report with Grey Matter Research.
Drawing from a survey of approximately 1,000 Evangelical Protestant Americans, the report found that 51% of respondents believed that Jews were still God’s chosen people.
By contrast, 19% said they were unsure, 17% said they believe Christians have replaced Jews as the chosen people, 10% said they believe Jews were never God’s chosen people, and 2% held an “other” view.
There was a generational difference in this sentiment, with 59% of respondents who were 70 or older saying they believe Jews were still the chosen people, while only 44% of those aged 40 and below agreed.
The report measured priority status for Israel and the Jews, using a scale of 1 to 5, in which 1 meant not important while 5 meant very important.
This part of the survey found that 48% of respondents believe that “supporting Israel and the Jewish people to be important in their own charitable behavior,” ranking the issue as a 4 or 5.
The report also found that 20% of Evangelical respondents were “Israel loyalists,” which meant they not only believed Jews were the chosen people, but also placed “a very high priority on supporting them.”
“From the Jewish and Israeli perspective, the Evangelical community is often viewed as a monolithic group that is both pro-Israel and pro-Jewish,” said Mark Dreistadt, CEO of Infinity Concepts, in comments to The Christian Post on Wednesday.
“We knew this was not true, but felt it was important to quantify the diversity as best we could. By looking at theological viewpoints, charitable giving, and support priorities we were able to see the mosaic of diversity emerge.”
Dreistadt also told CP that he found the “number of people that do not have a specific perspective” on the issue to be interesting, adding that he believed it “represents important growth opportunities for increased awareness, education and engagement with regard to Jewish-Christian relations and cooperation.”
“My perception is that Protestant Evangelicals are embracing the Jewish community — and the Jewish community is embracing the Evangelical community — more than ever before,” he continued.
“This is a trend that I personally hope will continue as the two communities learn to understand, trust and value one another. Because of the benchmarks established in this survey, we will be able to objectively measure progress in the years ahead.”
The group Christians United for Israel had some issues with the report, emailing a statement to CP on Wednesday in which they said the findings were “somewhat sensationalized.”
“A majority of Evangelicals believe the Jews are God’s chosen people. In stark contrast, just 17% support replacement theology,” CUFI stated. “Imagine a politician with a 51% approval and 17% disapproval rating — would they be worried?”
Respondents who put interest in Israel and the Jews high on the 5-point scale were asked to rank multiple issues on their priority. These included: “Supporting Holocaust survivors,” “Helping needy individuals and families in Israel,” “Supporting pro-Israel politicians or political positions in the U.S.,” “Helping Jews outside of Israel return to their homeland of Israel,” “Helping people learn about the Jewish roots of Christianity,” “Supporting medical services and first responders in Israel,” “Helping preserve or excavate biblical sites,” and “Supporting Messianic believers and businesses in Israel.”
Of the respondents, “helping needy individuals and families in Israel” ranked the highest with 27% putting that as top priority, while 16% placed “helping people learn about the Jewish roots of Christianity” as a top priority, with the remaining options ranging from 7% to 11% of respondents.
Ron Sellers, president of Grey Matter Research, told CP that he felt the survey showed that many Evangelicals in the United States prefer to help Israel and the Jewish people in non-political ways.
“So much coverage of anything having to do with Israel is from a political viewpoint that it’s easy to start viewing the topic primarily through a political lens,” Sellers said.
“But the vast majority of American Evangelical Protestants have higher priorities for helping Israel and the Jewish people than supporting pro-Israel politicians or political positions in the U.S. It’s a great reminder that no matter what may be going on politically, to Evangelicals, Israel is far more than a political topic.”
CUFI also took issue with how the “pollsters demanded respondents choose one top priority in the context of support for Israel,” believing that it “does not provide a great deal of insight.”
“Just because one chooses one item as a top priority, does not mean they ignore all other ways of supporting Israel,” the organization added.
“If one wanted to assess, for example, the impact of Evangelical support for ‘pro-Israel politicians,’ one should’ve asked a question about whether the respondent is more or less likely to support a politician with whom they agreed/disagreed on issues relevant to Israel.”
“If they were God’s chosen people they’d be Christian.“
Abram was not a Christian.
Neither was Moses.
Neither was David.
and?
And your statement was wrong. Even John The Baptist was not a Christian in the sense of ‘Christian’ started with Peter’s preaching on Pentecost and the Holy Sp[irit coming into the born again spirits of those who believed that day.
Agreed. We’re grafted in.
Only those that follow Jesus are saved. There isn’t a second way.
Or were they? They all believed in the Messiah to come.
It’s the main reason the Left hates Israel, they don’t think of it as a Jewish State, but a concoction of Evangelical Christians.
Why is it this way? Well, because The Word of God separates the spirit and soul, so that He abides in the newborn spirit, forever. That cleansing separation happens, from our temporal perspective, in the instant we believe in Whom God has sent for our deliverance from the sin nature inherited from Adam.
God has Promised in His Word to give ALL believers in whom the Holy Spirit has sealed His Presence that He, God, will give them a new body and soul (behavior mechanism of mind, emotions, and will) when He comes to snatch us out, away from the coming wrath He will pour out on the unbelieving world
God told us, through the letters from Paul inspired by the Holy Spirit in Paul's human spirit, that the One Who is presently restraining the lawless one from taking rule on Earth, that Restrainer will be taken out of the way so the man of sin can be revealed. Since EVERY member of the Body of Christ Believers has the Holy Spirit restrainer working in them, they must be taken out of the way in order to stop/remove the restraining power of The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit LIFE is abiding IN the newborn forever, so it is never removed from the Believers.
The Holy Spirit will still have a ministry on Earth during the tribulation wrath, to remove all who call upon the Lord, taking them to Heaven, but we who have been born again and have the Holy Spirit abiding in our spirit will be removed in the twinkling of an eye, to return to The Father's House where Jesus has prepared a place for our temporary residence before returning to the Earth at the end of the Tribulation as Christ sets up His millennial reign. ['To return to the Father's House refers to returning to where Jesus is now and where the spirits of all those who have died in the Body of Believers are now, with Him; God will bring with Jesus all those who are in spirit with Him, so they can receive their new glorified bodies, real physical bodies, albeit they will be like Jesus, not like their bodies were before they died.]
Galatians 3:26 For through faith you are all children of God[q] in Christ Jesus. 27 [r]For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.[s] 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendant, heirs according to the promise
What was Abraham chosen for? To give rise to a chosen nation.
What was the chosen nation of Israel FOR?
Salvation comes from the Jews. The extended Israel is the followers of Jesus
That's not how it all got started. Almighty God called out a man named Abram who came from Ur of the Chaldees, the birthplace of the Israelite and Ishmaelite patriarch Abraham. He was seeking the truth of the one true God. God made an everlasting covenant with Abram, who He now called Abraham, which means “father of many”. God told him that He would make of him a great nation and through him all the nations of the earth will be blessed:
Abraham and Sarah his wife had a son named Isaac. Isaac had a son named Jacob. God called Jacob, "Israel" which means "one who struggles with God". Jacob had 12 sons and it is from these twelve tribes/sons that the Nation of Israel descend. The land of Israel today is only a part of the total promised land God gave to Abraham:
Shouldn’t any person who follows his teachings be one of the chosen people?
The nation of Israel is named after Israel the patriarch. Unfortunately, the people of Israel seemed to also be in a constant struggle with God. Although He graciously took them unto Himself as His chosen people, they repeatedly turned their backs on Him. As a result, in Jeremiah 31:33–34, God promised a new covenant with Israel that would guarantee their obedience:
Israelites who come to God through faith in Christ enter the New Covenant and no longer have to struggle with God. By the grace of God, Gentiles who receive the Messiah of Israel are also included in the New Covenant. In Christ, Jews and Gentiles no longer have to struggle with God or with each other.
In Christ, the struggle is solved, and we have peace, as explained in Ephesians 2:11–22:
“For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” (From What does Israel mean in the Bible?)
That promise God made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their descendants? It has never been rescinded. They will one day inherit the land God promised.
Great post. Thanks!
As Galatians 3 tells us, anyone who follows Christ is s descendent of Abraham. The Jews were the chosen nation. But we Christian’s are the expanded Israel, Israel who gave birth to the Christ, the saviour of the world.
The book of Jonah indicates such a view; that God wanted to use his chosen people to reach those who were in danger of his judgment to give them a chance to repent.
Go graft a vine and then write back.
You’re missing some basic facts.
Jews ARE God’s holy and chosen people. He loves them even though they have rejected him. He’s going to open their eyes someday and they will have the chance to “Look on him whom they have pierced” and turn to him. The Christian church is the ‘bride’ of Christ. We are already adopted into the family, but the Jews are the purebloods of God’s heritage. How I wish I had Jewish lineage in me. It would be such an honor to be a “Jewish Christian” it would be the best of all worlds.
Jews ARE God’s holy and chosen people. He loves them even though they have rejected him. He’s going to open their eyes someday and they will have the chance to “Look on him whom they have pierced” and turn to him. The Christian church is the ‘bride’ of Christ. We are already adopted into the family, but the Jews are the purebloods of God’s heritage. How I wish I had Jewish lineage in me. It would be such an honor to be a “Jewish Christian” it would be the best of all worlds.
Gods not done with them yet. And God does the choosing not man.
Really. please explain to me when the Jews possessed all the earthly territory God promised? All Gods promises to the Jews are NOT fulfilled yet. But they will be. To the last dot. God is not a liar
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