Introduction
Replacement Theology "is the view that the church is the new or true Israel that has permanently replaced or superseded Israel as the people of God."[1] This Ecclesiological position is known by varying names including Supersessionism, Covenant Theology, and Restoration Theology, and is also the prevailing view of the Kingdom Now / Dominion Theology movement. This position, that the Church 'replaces' Israel while inheriting the covenant blessings of Abraham, is widespread among main-line denominational churches in America. Though the statistics are a bit dated, the following list may help to illustrate the predominance of Replacement Theology in the United States. The name of the Church / denomination is followed by the estimated number of U.S. adherents as of 2004[ii]:
The Roman Catholic Church - 66,407,105
The United Methodist Church - 8,251,042
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America - 5,038,006
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) - 3,407,329
The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod - 2,512,714
African Methodist Episcopal Church - 2,500,000
The Episcopal Church - 2,333,628
Churches of Christ, Corsicana, Texas - 1,500,000
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America - 1,500,000
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church - 1,430,795
United Church of Christ - 1,330,985
Christian Churches and Churches of Christ, Joplin, Mo. - 1,071,616
Represented in this list are nearly 100 million Americans and 12 of the largest 23 Church bodies in the United States. (My list excludes the LDS Church and the Jehovah's Witnesses, though technically they too espouse Replacement Theology.) By comparison, the list's remaining 11 Church denominations, who traditionally reject Replacement Theology, claim only 43.2 million members.[iii] Grant Jeffrey is correct when he asserts that "there is a major division growing between churches and denominations over Israel's role in God's plan today."[iv]
This essay will seek to demonstrate the following: (1) Replacement Theology is the theological rational behind two millennia of murderous anti-Semitism. (2) One's view of Replacement Theology will inevitably affect one's view of Ecclesiology (view of the Church) and Eschatology (view of the Last Things). (3) Fundamentally, to embrace Replacement Theology is to impugn God's character. (4) The fanatical anti-Semitism behind radical Islam is the logical conclusion of Islam's own brand of Replacement Theology.
From Augustine to Auschwitz
It may sound unreasonable at first, but Replacement Theology played a major part in paving the way towards Hitler's holocaust. The story begins all the way back during the days of the early Church. (What follows is admittedly greatly over-simplified.) According to Dr. Thomas Ice, around AD 160 Justin Martyr was the first to espouse the view that "the Christian church [is] 'the true spiritual Israel.'"[v] Taking the next step down the slippery slope was the hugely influential theologian and scholar Origen (185- ca.254 AD). Origen began to develop a system of allegorizing the Scriptures - rejecting the literal hermeneutics of other Church Fathers.[vi] Origen's allegorical approach, which lends itself to the Church replacing Israel, inspired Augustine (354-430 AD) - perhaps the most influential theologian in the history of the Western Church. (Augustine was a Replacement Theologian.) Add Augustine's theological backing to the powerful emerging Church-State dynamic, and the unfortunate recipe for anti-Semitic disaster was well-nigh established. (After all, the literal pre-millennial view of the Scriptures was and is inherently antithetical to a Church-State system seeking to subdue the world.)[vii] The stage was set for the Crusades and the Inquisitions. Lest the reader think the case is being overstated, listen to the venomous words of Augustine's contemporary John Crysostom (349-407 AD), widely considered to be the most prominent Preacher of his day:
"The Jews are the most worthless of all men. They are lecherous, greedy and rapacious. They are perfidious murders of Christ. They worshiped the devil; their religion is a sickness. The Jews are the odious assassins of Christ, and for killing God there is no expiation possible, no indulgence or pardon. Christians may never cease vengeance, and the Jews must live in servitude forever. God always hated the Jews. It is incumbent upon all Christians to hate the Jews."[viii]
I believe that Dr. Ice is justified in making the following statement:
"Replacement theology has been the fuel that has energized Medieval anti-Semitism, Eastern European pogroms, the Holocaust and contemporary disdain for the modern state of Israel."[ix]
Dr. Chuck Missler calls it the 'road from Augustine to Auschwitz.'[x] Dave Hunt explains:
"Hitler justified his 'final solution' by pointing out that the [Catholic] Church had oppressed and killed Jews for centuries. How amazing that those who claimed to be the followers of Christ and successors of Peter could 'persecute the race from which Peter - and Jesus - sprang'! Yet they did it in the name of Christ and felt justified thereby."[xi]
An Issue for Today
Whether they know it or not, many Evangelical and Protestant Churches in the West have inherited Augustine's view of the Church and Israel. Dr. Ice explains:
"The church often allegorizes many portions of the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, in order to teach that since the time of Christ Israel has no claim to the land of Israel."[xii]
Dr. J. Randall Price writes in an article entitled Is the Modern State of Israel Prophetically Significant?:
"There are also Catholic, Protestant, and Reformed churches in the West who, while accepting the political reality of the modern Jewish state, deny any theological importance to Jewish regathering."[xiii]
This would help to explain why it took the Vatican 46 years to recognize the existence of the modern State of Israel.[xiv] This would help to explain why the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. called for divestment from its holdings connected to Israeli interests.[xv] This would help to explain "widespread unbalanced media reporting" of events in Israel and the Middle East.[xvi] This would help to explain why, indirectly, Replacement Theology is official United States foreign policy.[xvii] This would help to explain why, as Dr. J. Randall Price reports, many Eastern Churches "view the existence of the State of Israel, and especially Judaism, as an intrusion into a religious situation dominated by their ecclesiastical bodies since the early centuries of Christianity. From their shared theological perspective of replacement theology, they are the rightful successors of the ancient church and therefore of the old Israel and consider themselves to be a part of the Land in their own right."[xviii]
Dr. Price continues: "For this reason the modern rebirth of the Jewish state is seen as of no special importance. This theological attitude is more or less held by churches in the West, who, with churches in the East must enter into conflict with the Jewish state over political and property issues or in protests of the Israeli government's treatment of the resident Christian community, the larger percentage of which is Palestinian Arab."[xix]
In an article entitled Christian Zionism Dr. Thomas Ice states, "If the Bible is to be taken literally and still applies to Israel...it should not be surprising to anyone that such a view leads one, such as myself, to Christian Zionism. Zionism is simply the desire for the Jewish people to occupy the land of Israel. Christian Zionists are Christians who advocate this belief."[xx] Dr. Ice notes that while Christian Zionism is on the rise, so too is its opposition. It appears that the issue of Israel is increasingly a watershed issue for the Church.
God's Character is on the Line
In his new book Epicenter, Joel Rosenberg chooses his side:
"Second, as an evangelical Christian, I believed what the Bible said about God giving the land of Israel to the Jewish people as an everlasting covenant, one that could not be broken, no matter what mistakes we Jews made throughout the centuries."[xxi]
Rosenberg's remarks bring us to the heart of the matter. The issue of Replacement Theology is not primarily about Ecclesiology, Eschatology, or getting back to our Jewish roots - as important as these issues are for born-again Christians. The real issue is the integrity of God's promises to Abraham and the Jewish people. Chapters 12, 15, and 17 of Genesis state plainly enough that the Abrahamic Covenants are unconditional and everlasting. And the Hebrew word used repeatedly for everlasting means, yes, everlasting! By all accounts the Mosaic Covenants were conditional or performance-based, yet Paul addresses this issue head-on in Galatians 3:17-18:
And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.
Ezekiel 36 in its proper context makes it very clear that ultimately God fulfills His promises to Abraham, not because of Israel's obedience, but for the sake of His Holy name. Verses 22 states emphatically:
Therefore say unto the house of Israel, thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.
When applied to a literal and future event, there can be no doubt as to what Ezekiel 36 is referring. Isaiah 11:11 makes it clear that Israel would be scattered among the nations twice, and Hosea 6:2 hints that the second Diaspora would last about 2000 years. Taken at face value, Daniel 9:24-27 explains this mysterious 2000 year interval 'filled in' by the Church. Romans 11 explicitly states that Israel's blindness (initiated in Luke 19) is temporary. The original Jewish branches will be grafted back in!
Galatians 6:16 is the only verse that can possibly be used to argue that the Church replaces Israel - but even that is a contrivance once the grammar is carefully analyzed, especially in light of Galatians 6:15. I know it sounds harsh, but I agree with Grant Jeffrey:
"Some Christians still reject the clear teaching of the Old and New Testaments about the role of Israel in God's plan for the redemption of the planet. The Bible declares that Israel's covenant with God is unbroken. Israel is still the key to the unfolding prophetic events leading to the second coming of Christ. Since these prophetic Scriptures are unshakable, the only way to escape their clear message is to arbitrarily change the meaning of the Bible's words (emphasis added)."[xxii]
Dr. Ice agrees, stating "Since Israel is a subject found on just about every page of the Old and New Testaments, to get that subject wrong can only lead to a mega-distortion of Scripture. This has indeed been the case throughout the history of the church."[xxiii]
In an article entitled The Kingdom of God, Dave Hunt asserts, "Thus to deny Israel that special part in prophecy, and to claim that the church is now Israel, removes foundational points of reference and opens the door to distortion and confusion both as to Israel and the church."[xxiv] In another article entitled Jews, Gentiles & the Church, Hunt states, "The preservation of the Israelis as an identifiable people, in spite of the proverbial 'wandering Jews'' 2,500-year Diaspora from the promised land, and the establishment of Israel in 1948, constitute irrefutable proof for the existence of the 'God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob' and the validity of His Holy Word. Therefore, to insist that Israel no longer has any claim to her ancient homeland, and that her return thereto is a mere coincidence, denies one of the most persuasive arguments for belief in God and the gospel."[xxv]
In his classic book The Late Great Planet Earth, Hal Lindsey says succinctly, "Some theologians of the liberal school still insist that prophecy has no literal meaning for today and that it cannot be taken seriously. It is difficult to understand this view if one carefully weighs the case of Israel's rebirth as a nation."[xxvi]
Dr. Dwight Pentecost, long-time professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, summarizes:
"Thus we conclude that the church is a part of a kingdom of the God of heaven, falling in the inter-advent period. It was an unrevealed mystery in the Old Testament, but it was necessitated by Israel's rejection of the Messiah, which caused the postponement of the promised and covenant form of the kingdom, which will be inaugurated by the appearance of the King of kings and Lord of lords at His second advent (emphasis added)." [xxvii]
Recently while reading E.W. Bullinger's The Witness of the Stars (originally published in 1893), I encountered the following:
"If we ask how long [Jerusalem] shall continue to be 'trodden down' ? how long it will be before Israel shall again possess their city and their land ? - the answer brings us at once to the heart of our subject."[xxviii]
And again, remember this was first published in 1893:
"Though Jews are returning thither in ever-increasing numbers, they are only strangers there. They have as yet no independent position, nor can they make any treaties. But when the 'times' shall end, it means that they will have a position of sufficient independence to be able to make a treaty or league with the coming Prince (Dan. ix. 27); and then the course of events will bring on another treading down of 1260 literal 'days,' which will thus have had a fore-shadowing fulfillment in years! This is written in Rev. xi. 2. And to save us from any misunderstanding, the time is given, not in days, but in ?months' (emphasis added)."[xxix]
Not that I should have been surprised, but I was delighted by the idea that Bullinger was anticipating Isaiah 66:8 (the rebirth of Israel) 55 years before the fact!
Replacement Theology and Islam
Our discussion of Replacement Theology concludes with a brief examination of Islam. Rabbi Jeff Adler of Shaarey Yeshua Messianic Congregation (Indianapolis, IN) told me flat out, "Replacement theology is the heart of Islam."[xxx] After all, Muslims teach that it was Ishmael, not Isaac, who was Abraham's 'Son of Promise' offered on Mount Moriah. Thus God's blessings allegedly came down through the Arabian offspring of Ishmael. Hal Lindsey notes in The Everlasting Hatred, the Roots of Jihad that "in their zeal to replace Israel, the Muslim's most serious charge against the Jews is that they corrupted the revelation God gave them."[xxxi] Islam teaches that the Koran abrogates the Bible of the Jews and Christians, and that it is the full and final revelation of Allah - who is supposedly the same god as the God of the Bible. In making these claims, Islam clearly attempts to usurp God's promises and covenants with the Jews.
At its core, Islam is inherently anti-Semitic. Let the Koran speak for itself:
Sura 2:89-90 And when there came to them a Book from Allah verifying that which they [Jews] have, and aforetime they used to pray for victory against those who disbelieve, but when there came to them (Prophet) that which they did not recognize, they [Jews] disbelieved in him; so Allah's curse is on the unbelievers.
Evil is that for which they have sold their souls-- that they should deny what Allah has revealed, out of envy that Allah should send down of His grace on whomsoever of His servants He pleases; so they have made themselves deserving of wrath upon wrath, and there is a disgraceful punishment for the unbelievers.
Sura 2:96 And you will most certainly find them [Jews] the greediest of men for life (greedier) than even those who are polytheists.
Sura 3:112 Abasement is made to cleave to them [Jews] wherever they are found, except under a covenant with Allah and a covenant with men, and they have become deserving of wrath from Allah, and humiliation is made to cleave to them; this is because they disbelieved in the communications of Allah and slew the prophets unjustly; this is because they disobeyed and exceeded the limits.
Sura 4:46 .but Allah has cursed them [Jews] on account of their unbelief, so they do not believe but a little.
Sura 5:51 O you who believe! do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends; they are friends of each other; and whoever amongst you takes them for a friend, then surely he is one of them; surely Allah does not guide the unjust people.
Sura 5:60 Say: Shall I inform you of (him who is) worse than this in retribution from Allah? [Worse is he (Jews)] whom Allah has cursed and brought His wrath upon, and of whom He made apes and swine, and he who served the Shaitan; these [Jews] are worse in place and more erring from the straight path.
What's more, the Islamic Hadith (traditions attributed to the prophet Mohammed) state unequivocally:
"The Resurrection of the dead will not come until the Muslims will war with the Jews and the Muslims will kill them.the trees and rocks will say, 'O Muslim, here is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.'"[xxxii]
Unbelievably, the destruction of the Jews is a pre-requisite for the Islamic version of the Last Days. No wonder the PA charter openly calls for the destruction of Israel. No wonder Saddam Hussein launched scuds at Israel in 1991. No wonder Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is openly denying the holocaust and calling for Israel to be wiped off the face of the map. No wonder Ahmadinejad believes he is on a mission from Allah to cause a global conflagration that will hasten the emergence of the 12th Imam - the Islamic leader who will lead the Last Days charge against the Jews. No wonder Islamic radicals dream of the day when they will push the Jews into the Mediterranean Sea.
One of the most powerful films I have viewed is Honest Reporting's 'Relentless.' This film documents the indoctrination of hate (against Jews) perpetrated on young children at PA funded schools. How my blood boiled when I saw a five year old holding a machine gun and telling the camera that his highest goal in life was to kill Jews. This evil is straight out of the pit of hell.
I have heard it said that Satan believes if he can annihilate every Jew on the face of the earth, he can show God to be a liar and therefore derail the Second Coming. Matthew 23:39 seems to support this idea. Jesus Himself says that He will not return until the Jews say, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. If there are no Jews to cry out, then Jesus cannot return. (At least that's the idea.)
According to the estimates, Hitler succeeded in killing at least 6 million European Jews, roughly one-third of the Jewish population world wide. Zechariah 13:8 indicates that the coming antichrist will succeed in killing two-thirds of the Jews living in his day:
And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.
Without getting into the specifics concerning the coming world leader, clearly anti-Semitism will be one of his secret doctrines, though he may arrive on the scene as a pseudo-Zionist. Prophetically, he must allow the re-building of the Jewish Temple and in so doing in may appear as though he has achieved the long-awaited peace in the Middle East. However, the coming world leader will eventually begin to exude a spirit of anti-Semitism that will dwarf past Crusades, Inquisitions, Pogroms, Holocausts, and Jihads. Whether he will be connected with Islam, apostate Christianity or both remains to be seen. But one thing is clear, the coming antichrist will hate the Jews and he will likely persuade the world to do the same by espousing some degenerate form of Replacement Theology.
Conclusion
Satan will employ every resource at his disposal towards the destruction of the Jewish people, but ultimately his efforts will not succeed. The Lord has already set aside for Himself a remnant (Zechariah 12:10, 13:9; Matthew 23:39; Romans 11:26; Revelation 7:4, etc.), and that which He has spoken shall not return unto Him void. As Christians, we are in the midst of concentrated Spiritual warfare. We are called to stand against the wiles of the Devil and not to be ignorant of his devices. Let us endeavor to expose the theologically justified anti-Semitism lurking secretly and insidiously behind the deception that is Replacement Theology. Psalm 102:16:
When the LORD shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
End Notes
[i] Dr. Thomas Ice, What is Replacement Theology? (Pre-Trib Research Center: 2003).
http://www.pre-trib....view.php/?id=249
[ii] Bill Koenig: http://www.watch.org...rtn=/index.html
[iii] Ibid[iv] Grant Jeffrey, Prince of Darkness (Toronto, Ontario: Frontier Research Publications, 1994), 127.
[v] Ice, What is Replacement Theology?, http://www.pre-trib....view.php?id=249.
[vi] Chuck Missler, How to Study the Bible (Koinonia House, 2006), MP3.
[vii] Ibid.
[viii] John Hagee, Jerusalem Countdown (Lake Mary, Florida: FrontLine, 2006), 73.
[ix] Ice, What is Replacement Theology?, http://www.pre-trib....view.php?id=249.
[x] Chuck Missler, The Prodigal Heirs (Koinonia House, 1995), 66/40 Radio Broadcast.
[xi] Dave Hunt, A Woman Rides the Beast (Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, 1994), 265.
[xii] Ice, What is Replacement Theology?, http://www.pre-trib....view.php?id=249.
[xiii] Dr. J. Randall Price, Is the Modern State of Israel Prophetically Significant?
http://www.worldofth...significant.pdf/
[xiv] Hunt, Woman Rides Beast, 292.
[xv] http://www.pcusa.org...res/ovt0432.htm
[xvi] Jeffrey, Prince of Darkness, 127.
[xvii] http://www.state.gov.../2003/20062.htm
[xviii] Dr. Price, Israel Prophetically Significant?
http://www.worldofth...significant.pdf/
[xix] Ibid.
[xx] Dr. Thomas Ice, Christian Zionism (Pre-Trib Research Center: 2003).
http://www.pre-trib....-view.php/?id=18
[xxi] Joel C. Rosenberg, Epicenter (Carol Stream, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2006), 26.
[xxii] Jeffrey, Prince of Darkness, 127.
[xxiii] Dr. Ice, What is Replacement Theology?: http://www.pre-trib....view.php?id=249
[xxiv] Dave Hunt, The Kingdom of God: http://www.theberean.../1988/sep88.php
[xxv] Dave Hunt, Jews, Gentiles & the Church: http://www.theberean.../1989/sep89.php
[xxvi] Hal Lindsey, The Late Great Planet Earth (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1970), 48-49.
[xxvii] Dr. Dwight Pentecost, The Relationship of the Church to the Kingdom of God (Pre-Trib Research Center: 2003).
http://www.pre-trib....-view.php/?id=98
[xxviii] E.W. Bullinger, The Witness of the Stars (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Kregal Publications, 1893), 184.
[xxix] Ibid., 191.
[xxx] Rabbi Jeff Adler, response to personal email.
[xxxi] Hal Lindsey, The Everlasting Hatred, the Roots of Jihad (Murrieta, California: Oracle House Publishing, 2002), 45.
[xxxii] Ibid., 125.
--------------------------
Selected Bibliography
Rabbi Jeff Adler, Shaarey Yeshua Messianic Congregation (Indianapolis, IN).
E.W. Bullinger, The Witness of the Stars (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Kregal Publications, 1893).
John Hagee, Jerusalem Countdown (Lake Mary, Florida: FrontLine, 2006).
Dave Hunt, A Woman Rides the Beast (Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, 1994)
Dave Hunt, Jews, Gentiles & the Church:
http://www.theberean.../1989/sep89.php
Dave Hunt, The Kingdom of God:
http://www.theberean.../1988/sep88.php
Dr. Thomas Ice, Christian Zionism (Pre-Trib Research Center: 2003).
http://www.pre-trib....-view.php/?id=18
Dr. Thomas Ice, What is Replacement Theology? (Pre-Trib Research Center: 2003).
http://www.pre-trib....view.php/?id=249
Grant Jeffrey, Prince of Darkness (Toronto, Ontario: Frontier Research Publications, 1994).
Bill Koenig: http://www.watch.org...rtn=/index.html
Hal Lindsey, The Everlasting Hatred, the Roots of Jihad (Murrieta, California: Oracle House Publishing, 2002).
Hal Lindsey, The Late Great Planet Earth (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1970).
Chuck Missler, How to Study the Bible (Koinonia House, 2006), MP3.
Chuck Missler, The Prodigal Heirs (Koinonia House, 1995), 66/40 Radio Broadcast.
Dr. Dwight Pentecost, The Relationship of the Church to the Kingdom of God (Pre-Trib Research Center: 2003).
http://www.pre-trib....-view.php?id=98
Dr. J. Randall Price, Is the Modern State of Israel Prophetically Significant? http://www.worldofth...significant.pdf/
Joel C. Rosenberg, Epicenter (Carol Stream, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2006).
Relentless: The Struggle for Peace in the Middle East: Updated Edition (An HonestReporting.com Film, 2003).
http://www.pcusa.org...res/ovt0432.htm
http://www.state.gov.../2003/20062.htm
Replacement Theology "is the view that the church is the new or true Israel that has permanently replaced or superseded Israel as the people of God."[1] This Ecclesiological position is known by varying names including Supersessionism, Covenant Theology, and Restoration Theology, and is also the prevailing view of the Kingdom Now / Dominion Theology movement. This position, that the Church 'replaces' Israel while inheriting the covenant blessings of Abraham, is widespread among main-line denominational churches in America. Though the statistics are a bit dated, the following list may help to illustrate the predominance of Replacement Theology in the United States. The name of the Church / denomination is followed by the estimated number of U.S. adherents as of 2004[ii]:
The Roman Catholic Church - 66,407,105
The United Methodist Church - 8,251,042
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America - 5,038,006
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) - 3,407,329
The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod - 2,512,714
African Methodist Episcopal Church - 2,500,000
The Episcopal Church - 2,333,628
Churches of Christ, Corsicana, Texas - 1,500,000
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America - 1,500,000
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church - 1,430,795
United Church of Christ - 1,330,985
Christian Churches and Churches of Christ, Joplin, Mo. - 1,071,616
Represented in this list are nearly 100 million Americans and 12 of the largest 23 Church bodies in the United States. (My list excludes the LDS Church and the Jehovah's Witnesses, though technically they too espouse Replacement Theology.) By comparison, the list's remaining 11 Church denominations, who traditionally reject Replacement Theology, claim only 43.2 million members.[iii] Grant Jeffrey is correct when he asserts that "there is a major division growing between churches and denominations over Israel's role in God's plan today."[iv]
This essay will seek to demonstrate the following: (1) Replacement Theology is the theological rational behind two millennia of murderous anti-Semitism. (2) One's view of Replacement Theology will inevitably affect one's view of Ecclesiology (view of the Church) and Eschatology (view of the Last Things). (3) Fundamentally, to embrace Replacement Theology is to impugn God's character. (4) The fanatical anti-Semitism behind radical Islam is the logical conclusion of Islam's own brand of Replacement Theology.
From Augustine to Auschwitz
It may sound unreasonable at first, but Replacement Theology played a major part in paving the way towards Hitler's holocaust. The story begins all the way back during the days of the early Church. (What follows is admittedly greatly over-simplified.) According to Dr. Thomas Ice, around AD 160 Justin Martyr was the first to espouse the view that "the Christian church [is] 'the true spiritual Israel.'"[v] Taking the next step down the slippery slope was the hugely influential theologian and scholar Origen (185- ca.254 AD). Origen began to develop a system of allegorizing the Scriptures - rejecting the literal hermeneutics of other Church Fathers.[vi] Origen's allegorical approach, which lends itself to the Church replacing Israel, inspired Augustine (354-430 AD) - perhaps the most influential theologian in the history of the Western Church. (Augustine was a Replacement Theologian.) Add Augustine's theological backing to the powerful emerging Church-State dynamic, and the unfortunate recipe for anti-Semitic disaster was well-nigh established. (After all, the literal pre-millennial view of the Scriptures was and is inherently antithetical to a Church-State system seeking to subdue the world.)[vii] The stage was set for the Crusades and the Inquisitions. Lest the reader think the case is being overstated, listen to the venomous words of Augustine's contemporary John Crysostom (349-407 AD), widely considered to be the most prominent Preacher of his day:
"The Jews are the most worthless of all men. They are lecherous, greedy and rapacious. They are perfidious murders of Christ. They worshiped the devil; their religion is a sickness. The Jews are the odious assassins of Christ, and for killing God there is no expiation possible, no indulgence or pardon. Christians may never cease vengeance, and the Jews must live in servitude forever. God always hated the Jews. It is incumbent upon all Christians to hate the Jews."[viii]
I believe that Dr. Ice is justified in making the following statement:
"Replacement theology has been the fuel that has energized Medieval anti-Semitism, Eastern European pogroms, the Holocaust and contemporary disdain for the modern state of Israel."[ix]
Dr. Chuck Missler calls it the 'road from Augustine to Auschwitz.'[x] Dave Hunt explains:
"Hitler justified his 'final solution' by pointing out that the [Catholic] Church had oppressed and killed Jews for centuries. How amazing that those who claimed to be the followers of Christ and successors of Peter could 'persecute the race from which Peter - and Jesus - sprang'! Yet they did it in the name of Christ and felt justified thereby."[xi]
An Issue for Today
Whether they know it or not, many Evangelical and Protestant Churches in the West have inherited Augustine's view of the Church and Israel. Dr. Ice explains:
"The church often allegorizes many portions of the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, in order to teach that since the time of Christ Israel has no claim to the land of Israel."[xii]
Dr. J. Randall Price writes in an article entitled Is the Modern State of Israel Prophetically Significant?:
"There are also Catholic, Protestant, and Reformed churches in the West who, while accepting the political reality of the modern Jewish state, deny any theological importance to Jewish regathering."[xiii]
This would help to explain why it took the Vatican 46 years to recognize the existence of the modern State of Israel.[xiv] This would help to explain why the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. called for divestment from its holdings connected to Israeli interests.[xv] This would help to explain "widespread unbalanced media reporting" of events in Israel and the Middle East.[xvi] This would help to explain why, indirectly, Replacement Theology is official United States foreign policy.[xvii] This would help to explain why, as Dr. J. Randall Price reports, many Eastern Churches "view the existence of the State of Israel, and especially Judaism, as an intrusion into a religious situation dominated by their ecclesiastical bodies since the early centuries of Christianity. From their shared theological perspective of replacement theology, they are the rightful successors of the ancient church and therefore of the old Israel and consider themselves to be a part of the Land in their own right."[xviii]
Dr. Price continues: "For this reason the modern rebirth of the Jewish state is seen as of no special importance. This theological attitude is more or less held by churches in the West, who, with churches in the East must enter into conflict with the Jewish state over political and property issues or in protests of the Israeli government's treatment of the resident Christian community, the larger percentage of which is Palestinian Arab."[xix]
In an article entitled Christian Zionism Dr. Thomas Ice states, "If the Bible is to be taken literally and still applies to Israel...it should not be surprising to anyone that such a view leads one, such as myself, to Christian Zionism. Zionism is simply the desire for the Jewish people to occupy the land of Israel. Christian Zionists are Christians who advocate this belief."[xx] Dr. Ice notes that while Christian Zionism is on the rise, so too is its opposition. It appears that the issue of Israel is increasingly a watershed issue for the Church.
God's Character is on the Line
In his new book Epicenter, Joel Rosenberg chooses his side:
"Second, as an evangelical Christian, I believed what the Bible said about God giving the land of Israel to the Jewish people as an everlasting covenant, one that could not be broken, no matter what mistakes we Jews made throughout the centuries."[xxi]
Rosenberg's remarks bring us to the heart of the matter. The issue of Replacement Theology is not primarily about Ecclesiology, Eschatology, or getting back to our Jewish roots - as important as these issues are for born-again Christians. The real issue is the integrity of God's promises to Abraham and the Jewish people. Chapters 12, 15, and 17 of Genesis state plainly enough that the Abrahamic Covenants are unconditional and everlasting. And the Hebrew word used repeatedly for everlasting means, yes, everlasting! By all accounts the Mosaic Covenants were conditional or performance-based, yet Paul addresses this issue head-on in Galatians 3:17-18:
And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.
Ezekiel 36 in its proper context makes it very clear that ultimately God fulfills His promises to Abraham, not because of Israel's obedience, but for the sake of His Holy name. Verses 22 states emphatically:
Therefore say unto the house of Israel, thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.
When applied to a literal and future event, there can be no doubt as to what Ezekiel 36 is referring. Isaiah 11:11 makes it clear that Israel would be scattered among the nations twice, and Hosea 6:2 hints that the second Diaspora would last about 2000 years. Taken at face value, Daniel 9:24-27 explains this mysterious 2000 year interval 'filled in' by the Church. Romans 11 explicitly states that Israel's blindness (initiated in Luke 19) is temporary. The original Jewish branches will be grafted back in!
Galatians 6:16 is the only verse that can possibly be used to argue that the Church replaces Israel - but even that is a contrivance once the grammar is carefully analyzed, especially in light of Galatians 6:15. I know it sounds harsh, but I agree with Grant Jeffrey:
"Some Christians still reject the clear teaching of the Old and New Testaments about the role of Israel in God's plan for the redemption of the planet. The Bible declares that Israel's covenant with God is unbroken. Israel is still the key to the unfolding prophetic events leading to the second coming of Christ. Since these prophetic Scriptures are unshakable, the only way to escape their clear message is to arbitrarily change the meaning of the Bible's words (emphasis added)."[xxii]
Dr. Ice agrees, stating "Since Israel is a subject found on just about every page of the Old and New Testaments, to get that subject wrong can only lead to a mega-distortion of Scripture. This has indeed been the case throughout the history of the church."[xxiii]
In an article entitled The Kingdom of God, Dave Hunt asserts, "Thus to deny Israel that special part in prophecy, and to claim that the church is now Israel, removes foundational points of reference and opens the door to distortion and confusion both as to Israel and the church."[xxiv] In another article entitled Jews, Gentiles & the Church, Hunt states, "The preservation of the Israelis as an identifiable people, in spite of the proverbial 'wandering Jews'' 2,500-year Diaspora from the promised land, and the establishment of Israel in 1948, constitute irrefutable proof for the existence of the 'God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob' and the validity of His Holy Word. Therefore, to insist that Israel no longer has any claim to her ancient homeland, and that her return thereto is a mere coincidence, denies one of the most persuasive arguments for belief in God and the gospel."[xxv]
In his classic book The Late Great Planet Earth, Hal Lindsey says succinctly, "Some theologians of the liberal school still insist that prophecy has no literal meaning for today and that it cannot be taken seriously. It is difficult to understand this view if one carefully weighs the case of Israel's rebirth as a nation."[xxvi]
Dr. Dwight Pentecost, long-time professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, summarizes:
"Thus we conclude that the church is a part of a kingdom of the God of heaven, falling in the inter-advent period. It was an unrevealed mystery in the Old Testament, but it was necessitated by Israel's rejection of the Messiah, which caused the postponement of the promised and covenant form of the kingdom, which will be inaugurated by the appearance of the King of kings and Lord of lords at His second advent (emphasis added)." [xxvii]
Recently while reading E.W. Bullinger's The Witness of the Stars (originally published in 1893), I encountered the following:
"If we ask how long [Jerusalem] shall continue to be 'trodden down' ? how long it will be before Israel shall again possess their city and their land ? - the answer brings us at once to the heart of our subject."[xxviii]
And again, remember this was first published in 1893:
"Though Jews are returning thither in ever-increasing numbers, they are only strangers there. They have as yet no independent position, nor can they make any treaties. But when the 'times' shall end, it means that they will have a position of sufficient independence to be able to make a treaty or league with the coming Prince (Dan. ix. 27); and then the course of events will bring on another treading down of 1260 literal 'days,' which will thus have had a fore-shadowing fulfillment in years! This is written in Rev. xi. 2. And to save us from any misunderstanding, the time is given, not in days, but in ?months' (emphasis added)."[xxix]
Not that I should have been surprised, but I was delighted by the idea that Bullinger was anticipating Isaiah 66:8 (the rebirth of Israel) 55 years before the fact!
Replacement Theology and Islam
Our discussion of Replacement Theology concludes with a brief examination of Islam. Rabbi Jeff Adler of Shaarey Yeshua Messianic Congregation (Indianapolis, IN) told me flat out, "Replacement theology is the heart of Islam."[xxx] After all, Muslims teach that it was Ishmael, not Isaac, who was Abraham's 'Son of Promise' offered on Mount Moriah. Thus God's blessings allegedly came down through the Arabian offspring of Ishmael. Hal Lindsey notes in The Everlasting Hatred, the Roots of Jihad that "in their zeal to replace Israel, the Muslim's most serious charge against the Jews is that they corrupted the revelation God gave them."[xxxi] Islam teaches that the Koran abrogates the Bible of the Jews and Christians, and that it is the full and final revelation of Allah - who is supposedly the same god as the God of the Bible. In making these claims, Islam clearly attempts to usurp God's promises and covenants with the Jews.
At its core, Islam is inherently anti-Semitic. Let the Koran speak for itself:
Sura 2:89-90 And when there came to them a Book from Allah verifying that which they [Jews] have, and aforetime they used to pray for victory against those who disbelieve, but when there came to them (Prophet) that which they did not recognize, they [Jews] disbelieved in him; so Allah's curse is on the unbelievers.
Evil is that for which they have sold their souls-- that they should deny what Allah has revealed, out of envy that Allah should send down of His grace on whomsoever of His servants He pleases; so they have made themselves deserving of wrath upon wrath, and there is a disgraceful punishment for the unbelievers.
Sura 2:96 And you will most certainly find them [Jews] the greediest of men for life (greedier) than even those who are polytheists.
Sura 3:112 Abasement is made to cleave to them [Jews] wherever they are found, except under a covenant with Allah and a covenant with men, and they have become deserving of wrath from Allah, and humiliation is made to cleave to them; this is because they disbelieved in the communications of Allah and slew the prophets unjustly; this is because they disobeyed and exceeded the limits.
Sura 4:46 .but Allah has cursed them [Jews] on account of their unbelief, so they do not believe but a little.
Sura 5:51 O you who believe! do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends; they are friends of each other; and whoever amongst you takes them for a friend, then surely he is one of them; surely Allah does not guide the unjust people.
Sura 5:60 Say: Shall I inform you of (him who is) worse than this in retribution from Allah? [Worse is he (Jews)] whom Allah has cursed and brought His wrath upon, and of whom He made apes and swine, and he who served the Shaitan; these [Jews] are worse in place and more erring from the straight path.
What's more, the Islamic Hadith (traditions attributed to the prophet Mohammed) state unequivocally:
"The Resurrection of the dead will not come until the Muslims will war with the Jews and the Muslims will kill them.the trees and rocks will say, 'O Muslim, here is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.'"[xxxii]
Unbelievably, the destruction of the Jews is a pre-requisite for the Islamic version of the Last Days. No wonder the PA charter openly calls for the destruction of Israel. No wonder Saddam Hussein launched scuds at Israel in 1991. No wonder Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is openly denying the holocaust and calling for Israel to be wiped off the face of the map. No wonder Ahmadinejad believes he is on a mission from Allah to cause a global conflagration that will hasten the emergence of the 12th Imam - the Islamic leader who will lead the Last Days charge against the Jews. No wonder Islamic radicals dream of the day when they will push the Jews into the Mediterranean Sea.
One of the most powerful films I have viewed is Honest Reporting's 'Relentless.' This film documents the indoctrination of hate (against Jews) perpetrated on young children at PA funded schools. How my blood boiled when I saw a five year old holding a machine gun and telling the camera that his highest goal in life was to kill Jews. This evil is straight out of the pit of hell.
I have heard it said that Satan believes if he can annihilate every Jew on the face of the earth, he can show God to be a liar and therefore derail the Second Coming. Matthew 23:39 seems to support this idea. Jesus Himself says that He will not return until the Jews say, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. If there are no Jews to cry out, then Jesus cannot return. (At least that's the idea.)
According to the estimates, Hitler succeeded in killing at least 6 million European Jews, roughly one-third of the Jewish population world wide. Zechariah 13:8 indicates that the coming antichrist will succeed in killing two-thirds of the Jews living in his day:
And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.
Without getting into the specifics concerning the coming world leader, clearly anti-Semitism will be one of his secret doctrines, though he may arrive on the scene as a pseudo-Zionist. Prophetically, he must allow the re-building of the Jewish Temple and in so doing in may appear as though he has achieved the long-awaited peace in the Middle East. However, the coming world leader will eventually begin to exude a spirit of anti-Semitism that will dwarf past Crusades, Inquisitions, Pogroms, Holocausts, and Jihads. Whether he will be connected with Islam, apostate Christianity or both remains to be seen. But one thing is clear, the coming antichrist will hate the Jews and he will likely persuade the world to do the same by espousing some degenerate form of Replacement Theology.
Conclusion
Satan will employ every resource at his disposal towards the destruction of the Jewish people, but ultimately his efforts will not succeed. The Lord has already set aside for Himself a remnant (Zechariah 12:10, 13:9; Matthew 23:39; Romans 11:26; Revelation 7:4, etc.), and that which He has spoken shall not return unto Him void. As Christians, we are in the midst of concentrated Spiritual warfare. We are called to stand against the wiles of the Devil and not to be ignorant of his devices. Let us endeavor to expose the theologically justified anti-Semitism lurking secretly and insidiously behind the deception that is Replacement Theology. Psalm 102:16:
When the LORD shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory
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End Notes
[i] Dr. Thomas Ice, What is Replacement Theology? (Pre-Trib Research Center: 2003).
http://www.pre-trib....view.php/?id=249
[ii] Bill Koenig: http://www.watch.org...rtn=/index.html
[iii] Ibid[iv] Grant Jeffrey, Prince of Darkness (Toronto, Ontario: Frontier Research Publications, 1994), 127.
[v] Ice, What is Replacement Theology?, http://www.pre-trib....view.php?id=249.
[vi] Chuck Missler, How to Study the Bible (Koinonia House, 2006), MP3.
[vii] Ibid.
[viii] John Hagee, Jerusalem Countdown (Lake Mary, Florida: FrontLine, 2006), 73.
[ix] Ice, What is Replacement Theology?, http://www.pre-trib....view.php?id=249.
[x] Chuck Missler, The Prodigal Heirs (Koinonia House, 1995), 66/40 Radio Broadcast.
[xi] Dave Hunt, A Woman Rides the Beast (Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, 1994), 265.
[xii] Ice, What is Replacement Theology?, http://www.pre-trib....view.php?id=249.
[xiii] Dr. J. Randall Price, Is the Modern State of Israel Prophetically Significant?
http://www.worldofth...significant.pdf/
[xiv] Hunt, Woman Rides Beast, 292.
[xv] http://www.pcusa.org...res/ovt0432.htm
[xvi] Jeffrey, Prince of Darkness, 127.
[xvii] http://www.state.gov.../2003/20062.htm
[xviii] Dr. Price, Israel Prophetically Significant?
http://www.worldofth...significant.pdf/
[xix] Ibid.
[xx] Dr. Thomas Ice, Christian Zionism (Pre-Trib Research Center: 2003).
http://www.pre-trib....-view.php/?id=18
[xxi] Joel C. Rosenberg, Epicenter (Carol Stream, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2006), 26.
[xxii] Jeffrey, Prince of Darkness, 127.
[xxiii] Dr. Ice, What is Replacement Theology?: http://www.pre-trib....view.php?id=249
[xxiv] Dave Hunt, The Kingdom of God: http://www.theberean.../1988/sep88.php
[xxv] Dave Hunt, Jews, Gentiles & the Church: http://www.theberean.../1989/sep89.php
[xxvi] Hal Lindsey, The Late Great Planet Earth (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1970), 48-49.
[xxvii] Dr. Dwight Pentecost, The Relationship of the Church to the Kingdom of God (Pre-Trib Research Center: 2003).
http://www.pre-trib....-view.php/?id=98
[xxviii] E.W. Bullinger, The Witness of the Stars (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Kregal Publications, 1893), 184.
[xxix] Ibid., 191.
[xxx] Rabbi Jeff Adler, response to personal email.
[xxxi] Hal Lindsey, The Everlasting Hatred, the Roots of Jihad (Murrieta, California: Oracle House Publishing, 2002), 45.
[xxxii] Ibid., 125.
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Selected Bibliography
Rabbi Jeff Adler, Shaarey Yeshua Messianic Congregation (Indianapolis, IN).
E.W. Bullinger, The Witness of the Stars (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Kregal Publications, 1893).
John Hagee, Jerusalem Countdown (Lake Mary, Florida: FrontLine, 2006).
Dave Hunt, A Woman Rides the Beast (Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, 1994)
Dave Hunt, Jews, Gentiles & the Church:
http://www.theberean.../1989/sep89.php
Dave Hunt, The Kingdom of God:
http://www.theberean.../1988/sep88.php
Dr. Thomas Ice, Christian Zionism (Pre-Trib Research Center: 2003).
http://www.pre-trib....-view.php/?id=18
Dr. Thomas Ice, What is Replacement Theology? (Pre-Trib Research Center: 2003).
http://www.pre-trib....view.php/?id=249
Grant Jeffrey, Prince of Darkness (Toronto, Ontario: Frontier Research Publications, 1994).
Bill Koenig: http://www.watch.org...rtn=/index.html
Hal Lindsey, The Everlasting Hatred, the Roots of Jihad (Murrieta, California: Oracle House Publishing, 2002).
Hal Lindsey, The Late Great Planet Earth (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1970).
Chuck Missler, How to Study the Bible (Koinonia House, 2006), MP3.
Chuck Missler, The Prodigal Heirs (Koinonia House, 1995), 66/40 Radio Broadcast.
Dr. Dwight Pentecost, The Relationship of the Church to the Kingdom of God (Pre-Trib Research Center: 2003).
http://www.pre-trib....-view.php?id=98
Dr. J. Randall Price, Is the Modern State of Israel Prophetically Significant? http://www.worldofth...significant.pdf/
Joel C. Rosenberg, Epicenter (Carol Stream, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2006).
Relentless: The Struggle for Peace in the Middle East: Updated Edition (An HonestReporting.com Film, 2003).
http://www.pcusa.org...res/ovt0432.htm
http://www.state.gov.../2003/20062.htm
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