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Christian Theology Regarding Jews

Commentary by Dr. Gerhard Falk

     

Replacement Theology - Two Covenant Theology

Episcopalians 

The Episcopal church in the U.S. has about 2.4 million members. It is the American branch of the Anglican church, which has 26 million members in England and more in other English speaking countries.

On February 19, 2002, the New York Episcopal Diocese sponsored a seminar entitled “Waging Reconciliation in the Holy Land.” Unfortunately this conference had nothing to do with reconciliation. Instead it was a “hate the Jews” fest based on “replacement theology”, which continues to be the view of the Anglican church to this day.

Technically, the Queen of England is the head of the church founded by Henry VIII (1491-1547) in 1534. The American branch is called Episcopalian so as to avoid any charge of dual loyalty to the Queen of England on the part of Americans (“Epi - over and scope - to see).

Replacement theology was, before 1960, the position of Christians concerning Jews for nearly 2000 years. That theology led directly to all the murder and killings of Jews for two millennia and is responsible for the slaughter of 6 million Jews in the European gas ovens between 1933 and 1945.

Replacement theology teaches that Jews have no right to live. This view is supported by the argument that Christianity has replaced Judaism, so that all promises made by Hashem to the Jewish people are really promises made to Christians. Accordingly, after the founding of the Christian church, Jews were replaced by Christians to the exclusion of all Jews. Replacement theology teaches that:

The Jewish people are no longer “the chosen people” because Christians are now “the chosen”.

Jews have no future, no hope and no place in the plans of God.

The term “Israel”, as found in the Bible, refers to the Christian church.

All promises and blessings bestowed on Israel in the Torah really refer to the Christian church, which is Israel.

Anglicans agree that “Jews are a perverse people accursed by God forever”, as pronounced by Hilary of Poitiers and numerous other early Christians.

Therefore modern Israel has no right to exist. Only Christians and Moslems have a right to the Holy Land.

Consequently a campaign against the Jews of Great Britain is haranguing the British population daily, as clergy and the media rant against the Jews like thousands of Joseph Goebbels (Hilter’s propaganda minister).

 

Roman Catholics

There are about 1 billion Catholics in the world. This constitutes about 53% of all Christians, who make up about 2 billion people. In the United States there are 60 million Catholics. The R.C. church teaches its numerous followers the “two covenant” theology. Accordingly, the covenant between God and Abraham cannot be broken. It is eternal. Therefore the Church has recognized Israel and its right to the land.

On August 12, 2002 the Roman Catholic Bishops meeting in New York issued a paper entitled “Reflections on Covenant and Mission”. This statement holds that “conversion of the Jews is no longer theologically acceptable in the Catholic Church.”

Accordingly the bishops wrote that “God does not take back the gifts he bestowed or the choice he made.” Therefore the promises made to Abraham concerning the Land of Israel are valid now. Pope John II wrote: “Christians must strive to learn what essential traits Jews define themselves in the light of their own religious experience.”

There are numerous references to the right of Jews to live as Jews and to the mistake of attempting to convert Jews to Christianity. Catholic teaching is that “Jews believe in the One and true God” and therefore need not be converted.

Accordingly both the Church and the Jewish people “abide in covenant with God.”

These pronouncements have also led to the most recent statement by the R.C. bishops meeting in Argentina that anti-Israel propaganda is anti-Judaism and is to be condemned and that Israel has every right to exist.

It may be that there will never come a day when all Christians will follow the example of our Catholic brethren. Nevertheless we hope so for their sake. Surely those who hate Israel and the Jewish people will never succeed in eliminating all Jews from the face of the earth, as the supporters of the Moslem haters hope.

We Jews believe therefore that the world can yet be perfected, if not now, then in the days to come. Bimhayro v’yomaynoo

Shalom u’vracha.

Dr. Gerhard Falk is the author of numerous publications, including Man's Ascent to Reason (2003) & the forthcoming Football & American Identity.

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