Tuesday, September 5, 2006
I just had an email exchange with a reader that was started when they read this article: Christian Zionists angry over slur
The bitter inter-Christian tiff followed an August 22 "Jerusalem Declaration on Christian Zionism" signed by the outgoing Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah, Archbishop Swerios Malki Mourad of the Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate, Bishop Riah Abu El-Assal of the Episcopal Church and Bishop Munib Younan of the Lutheran Church, was indicative of the deep discord and resentment within the Christian Church over the Evangelicals' support for Israel.
The declaration lambasted Christian Zionism as a "false teaching" that "condemn[s] the world to the doom of Armageddon."
"It is with concern that we note the negative opinions about Christian Zionism voiced by certain church clerics in Jerusalem... using inflammatory language they have expressed views that are far from the truth," read a joint response by the heads of the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem, Bridges for Peace and Christian Friends of Israel.
"We find the paper unbalanced and notably one-sided. It totally ignores the jihadist goals of the Hamas Government and turns a blind eye to terrorism perpetrated by this regime," the statement read.
The unusually-harsh statement by the Latin Patriarch, who is a Palestinian, comes at a time of burgeoning ties between Israel and the Christian Evangelical community around the world...
Let's thank God for those ties. I see nothing wrong with them. The Christian leaders who signed the anti-Christian Zionist statement are lead far more by their Palestinian Nationalism than any theological issues. I have written about Abu El-Assal, for instance, a number of times, most recently: Anglican Bishop Abu El-Assal on the Stump for Hamas and Hizballah. Of course they don't like the Christian Zionists. The CZ's stand between them and their dream of dismantling the Jewish State.
My reader was lead to this old article in the Christian Science Monitor: Mixing prophecy and politics
This is a slightly edited version of my reaction: I have quite a few problems with that article. First, they gloss over the word “premillenial” in the term “premillenial dispensationalist.” The Christian Zionists in fact don’t believe they can hasten the second coming, quite the opposite. They believe no man (nor angel in heaven) can possibly know or have any affect at all on God’s timetable ("But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only."). Christ himself will return to usher in the millennium (thus, PREmillenial), as opposed to POSTmillenialists who do believe that it’s man’s job to bring about the conditions for the second coming, and these guys (the Christian Zionists) don’t believe in that.
There’s a great book called Standing With Israel by David Brog that goes into all this.
So the article has as its bad guys the CZ’s, and who are its good guys? Well, Naim Ateek and his group Sabeel is one…I’ve written about him many a time. He’s a guy that does not think Israel should exist at all. He travels the world pushing, along with his group, for sanctions, divestment and boycotts of Israel, and far from working “to counter extremism on both sides of the conflict” as the article states, let’s just say he doesn’t spend a lot of time criticizing Hamas.
Likewise Jeff Halper, the Israeli academic quoted in the article, has his own NGO, and also travels the world demonizing Israel and making excuses for suicide bombing (really).
It’s not surprising that Lefties like Halper and Middle East Christians who Vatican 2 left behind (the ME churches were central in lobbying the Catholic Church NOT to repudiate the accusation of deicide against the Jews) don’t like the CZ’s – they don’t like Israel. Meanwhile, the CZ’s might have their opinions about what decisions Israelis should make (they may not like it when Israel makes land concessions), but they’ve all said (as far as I’ve ever heard) that they accept whatever decisions the government of Israel does make. They also don’t kill anyone when they don’t get just exactly their way.
Note that the article uses as an example the support Israel got from the CZ’s when they took out Rantisi. GOOD!
Israel needs all the friends it can get. I’m not too worried about people who think some odd things about the Jews when the last days come – I’ll take my chances on that -- not being a Christian, I don't believe in it, so I don't worry about it. Meanwhile, let’s compare body counts – Evangelical Christians versus Islamists and Palestinian Nationalists. I know which side my money is on. I'm happy to be dealing with some folks who may have some off ideas about the end of days as long as they treat me well here in these days and on this earth. The Christian Zionists do that. The religious leaders who signed that statement don't.
"I’m not too worried about people who think some odd things about the Jews when the last days come – I’ll take my chances on that -- not being a Christian, I don't believe in it, so I don't worry about it."
My thoughts exactly, Solomon.
Prior to 2004 Michal Sabbah, Riad Abu El-Assal, Mitri Raheb, Naim Ateek, and Younan would make riduculous anti-Israel pronouncements that would not attract the attention of the evangelical christians or the western media.
When the Presbyterian Church USA voted to divest from Israel and based the decision on the teachings of Sabbah, El-Assal, Raheb, Ateek and Younan, the evangelical christian and Jewish groups became much more interested in what these palestinian zionists were saying and propagandizing.
In June 2006 the Presbyterian Church USA was forced to reverse its anti-Israel agenda.
It is good to see that Sabbah, El-Assal, Raheb, Ateek and Younan are now being watched very closely and exposed whenever they rant with their anti-Israel propaganda.
Sol;
I define myself as a Catholic Zionist for reasons that I have written about in prior posts which you have generously shared. My reasons have nothing to do with any 'end of times' philosophy, but are based on reality, justice, fairness, history, and above all, a committment to democracy. America has only one true friend in the Middle East, and I will continue to debate anyone who thinks America should not be Israel's best friend.