What Bible is he reading?
Megachurch pastor, author and Christian Zionist leader John Hagee marketed his latest book as one that would “shake Christian theology” when it was released three months ago. What he didn’t expect with publication of “In Defense of Israel” was outrage from some members of his own evangelical community nationwide. A key chapter, they say, borders on heresy because it argues that Jesus didn’t present himself as the Messiah to the Jewish people, so they cannot be held responsible for rejecting him. Christian orthodox beliefs hold in general that Jesus is the Messiah — or savior — for all people, and those who don’t accept him put their souls at risk of eternal damnation.
The book’s criticism has prompted Hagee to revise the chapter, although the exact wording is still a “work in progress,” he said. The book’s publisher, Front Line, urged him to make revisions, he said, and is expected to release a second printing in about a month.
“I’m not retracting anything in my rewrite,” Hagee said in a written statement. “I’m simply clarifying what some have misunderstood. Jesus was the Messiah, but He came as the Suffering Messiah while the Jews were looking for a Reigning Messiah.”
As to whether Jews who don’t believe in Jesus put their souls at risk, Hagee points to Bible passages that promise that the Jewish people will receive Christian salvation later in God’s timeframe.
Read about it here.
[From me]
I’m all for supporting Israel. But isn’t Hagee’s teaching giving false hope? The Bible says that “JESUS” is the only way to heaven. What Hagee and other Christian Zionists teach is not in the Bible.
What do you think?
Methinks rewriting that chapter is a way of saying “whoops” without saying “whoops”.
So the Jews were looking for the wrong kind of Messiah. That has nothing to do with how Jesus presented Himself to the world.
Like I said. Whoops.
I think that Hagee and other Christian Zionists ought to be a bit more thoughtful in their defense of Israel. Learning under the tutelage of Jerry Falwell (who was also a very strong Zionist), I myself developed some similar tendencies. The danger however in this view is manifested in a blind support of Israel (i.e., writing them a moral “blank check”) and a very wrong notion that God has a different means of salvation for the Jews. As Christians, we must recognize that Jesus is still the only means of eternal salvation for everyone, even if they’re from Israel.
hagee has been saying this for years. it wasnt a slip in his book. he is just now being called on it by those who are his friends…finally!
David is right! He has been teaching that for years… he is just now being held accountable for it…
Ok, I just don’t understand this love affair with the modern Nation-state of Israel that conservative Christians (esp. Christian Zionists) have.
It seems to me that if modern Jews want to make a Scripturally based claim to the land, then they should be expected to follow the requirements that God put on them in the first place, in the Hebrew Scriptures. God owns all the earth, and the land of Israel. The inhabitants of Israel are only “aliens and tenants” (Lev. 25:23), and God has CLEARLY warned if they do not conform to the social teachings as laid out by Him, they would be expelled! (Lev. 18:24-30; 20:22-26; Deut. 4:25-27, 40; Deut. 8 and 9)
Also, they seem to forget that those very same Hebrew Scriptures insisted that non Israelites that lived among them, are not to be abused or oppressed. Over and over the Word requires that Israel treats the “aliens” as they do their own citizens, because they were also aliens in Egypt. (Ex. 22:21, Lev. 19:34). Special attention was given for the care for aliens along with orphans and widows. (Lev. 19:10; 23:27; Deut. 24:19–21, Deut. 14:29; 26:12, Lev. 25:47-50).
I just don’t see much of an actual Scriptural basis for an uncritical support of the modern Nation-state of Israel, not without applying a LOT of what isn’t being done.
Oh, and YES - Jesus is the way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father but by Him. How wide that door is, is up to Him, not me, but it seems the Rev Hagee has moved far beyond what the Church as always understood Jesus’ role as Messiah to be.
very well put MIT
nicely done MIT.
I think that some people are super-scared in the support for Israel based on what God promises to Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3). I have heard it argued that all of the United States isn’t dealt with harshly by God (despite the multitudes of sin that we Americans engage in on a daily basis) just because of our leaders’ support for Israel.
Common sense is common sense and justice is justice. No nation on this earth, not even Israel, can just go about doing whatever they please (I think the United States is doing that job well, thank you very much) and expect us or the world to look the other way.
Whatever might be true will work itself out. All I can do is sit back and watch it unfold.
What I am concern for is not the state of Israel but rather just the Jews themselves (Romans 1:16, Romans 2:10). I live in a Jewish community so this tugs on my heart strings every time I leave or go home. All I can do is wave hellos when they walk to and fro to services on Sunday nights or strike up a chat at the local Starbucks where all the kids hangout at on the weekends. I just wish I could help out the community a bit more and become more connected with my neighbors just to show them the love that Christ has for me.
I’ve visited Hagee’s church more than once–back in the early-mid 1990s (I was actually dating an Air Force pilot, and she was stationed in San Antonio)…
He’s quirky…and no longer part of the Assemblies of God….
I cannot recall the chapter or verse, but Jesus did say that he had not come to preach to the gentiles, but only to reach out to the lost children of Israel. I wonder- did that specifically exclude Judah? Just a thought.
Welcome back, Fran!
Are you thinking of Mat 10:5,6
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