Jeremiah’s Dilemma: A Response to Hillel Halkin (original) (raw)

Christian Zionism: A Missiological Emergency

Journal of the Evangelical Missiological Society, 2023

Zionism historically refers to the international movement to establish a Jewish homeland, a hope that was fulfilled by the present state of Israel. Christian Zionists were instrumental in facilitating the establishment of the modern state. Their continuing support for Israeli political interests, territorial expansion and security has been at the expense of pursuing peace-making, justice, and human rights for Palestinians. The result has been to create a missiological emergency with serious harm to the Church in the Middle East and its mission in the Muslim world. Personally observing the adverse consequences on Arab Christians and Muslims forced the author to reflect upon and discern flaws in his dispensational theology – a theology that is widely held by Christian Zionists. The article proposes a corrective that is (a) true to Scripture, (b) truly dispensational, and (c) compassionate and just toward the Palestinian Christians and Muslims, as well as Israelis, by addressing seven arguments of Christian Zionists. Focusing on misinterpretations or misapplications of scripture relating to the modern state of Israel, this study demonstrates that theological and political support for modern Israel does not logically follow from a dispensational interpretative framework. Nevertheless, future fulfillment of biblical promises to national Israel can still be expected. This theological corrective that can serve to advance the mission of God in the Middle East.

Theo‐Politics in the Holy Land: Christian Zionism and Jewish Religious Zionism

Religion Compass, 2011

This article focuses on the ‘theo-political’ core of US Christian Zionism and Jewish Religious Zionism. The political militancy characterizing two Millenarian/Messianic movements such as Christian Zionism and Jewish Religious Zionism constitutes a still under-researched and under-theorized aspect that, at present, is paramount to address for its immediate and long terms implications in the highly sensitive and volatile Israeli-Palestinian issue, in the US and Israeli domestic domain, and in the wider international community. Although processes of the ‘sacralisation of politics’ and ‘politicisation of religions’ have already manifested themselves in countless forms over past centuries, Christian Zionism and Jewish Religious Zionism are unprecedented phenomena given their unique hybridized nature, political prominence and outreach, mobilizing appeal amongst believers, organizational-communicational skills and degree of institutionalization. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1749-8171.2011.00267.x/abstract

20190406 Anthropology Netanyahu-Judaism's Curse?; the Reason for Anti-Semitism ?; Self Inflicted? Israel Election 2019

First, Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Zionist Israel’s Capital without Congressional Approval and United Nations/International opposition. Next, Donald Trump recognized the Golan Heights as Israel’s Sovereign Territory without Congressional Approval and United Nations/International Opposition Benjamin Netanyahu’s extreme views (Lies) on Iran backed by Trump’s extreme Right Wing Evangelical Support were instrumental in getting Donald Trump’s approval. Add to this is the evil Senate and House Lobby(s) presence and Donald Trump’s Corruption, Nepotism, Chronyism, Greed and Avarice Now, Benjamin Netanyahu has made an Election Announcement - the West Bank and all Illegal Settlements are Zionist Israel’s Sovereign’s Territories... The Reality is that Palestinian Jews, Christians, Muslims, Druze and others lived in peace for centuries before the Zionist Extremists arrived less than a hundred years ago. And the Reality today is that Netanyahu a Zionist Extremist cannot, must not and dare not forget that there are real Jews, Palestinian Jews, Christians , Muslims, Druze and others including peaceful Zionists who exist today. And a solution must be found for all of them in the land of Greater Palestine (Abraham's Land) under a Secular Constitution, a Charter of Rights for all with the laws applied equally and fairly to all the peoples of Greater Palestine. Abraham's Land (Greater Palestine which includes Israel) has no place for violent Extremists be they Zionists like Netanyahu, Christians , Muslims like some Hamas, Druze and others. The violent Extremists must be re educated if they wish to stay in Abraham's Land

FROM SAFE HAVEN TO MESSIANIC REDEMPTION: THE ASCENDANCE OF RELIGIOUS-ZIONISM

Poliics and Religion JOurnal, 2022

On June 13, 2021, Naftali Bennet was sworn in as Israel’s first ever Religious-Zi-onist Prime Minister. Although Bennet’s political party, Yamina (Rightward), had only seven seats in the Knesset (out of 120), and his coalition government lasted only one year, his election as Prime Minister symbolizes the progress made by Reli-gious-Zionism towards achieving a hegemonic position in Israeli society. Historical-ly, Religious-Zionism had been a junior partner in the historic bloc which sustained the hegemony of the Labor Zionist movement over the Zionist settlement project. However, the Arab-Israeli wars of 1967 and 1973 gave the younger generation of Religious-Zionism the opportunity to take over their own movement and aim, as they put it, to move from the back seat to the driver’s seat of Israeli society. Labor Zionism’s loss of the political initiative regarding the territories occupied in 1967 pro-vided the opening for that move. Religious-Zionism encompasses a whole range of religious and nationalist outlooks, but its most influential and dynamic element is the activist-Messianic tendency associated with Gush Emunim. The core interest and value of this dominant tendency is the permanent incorporation of the West Bank under Israeli sovereignty.