Christian Evangelicals more supportive of Israel than Jews?
Former Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has told the Christian Broadcast Network that he believes that Christians are more supportive of Israel than are American Jews. While American Jews are divided on the level of support for Israel in terms of its borders, the politician-turned-political commentator said in general he doesn’t see that “dichotomy” among the evangelical community. He says that “it’s pretty adamant” among evangelicals that “there ought to be one city (Jerusalem). There ought to be a Jewish state and it ought to be secured.”But not all Evangelicals agree with Huckabee, at least when it comes to the 'Palestinians.'
“One of the things I find most interesting is, generally, evangelicals are so much more supportive of Israel than the American Jewish community,” Huckabee said.
A group of 34 prominent evangelical leaders published a letter in the New York Times voicing support of a two-state solution. In the 2007 letter ad, they stated that both Israel and Palestinians have “legitimate rights” to the land.At the outset, let me say that so long as they're not trying to convert us (and every Evangelical I have ever spoken with has insisted that is not the case), I am pleased that we have support from Christian Evangelicals. They give Israel support in districts and States where there are few Jews and where members of Congress might not otherwise have an incentive to support Israel.
They also said they wanted to rectify the “serious misconception” that all American evangelicals are against a two-state solution that creates a new Palestinian state.
“Nothing could be further from the truth,” they stated. “We, who sign this letter, represent large numbers of evangelicals throughout the U.S. who support justice for both Israelis and Palestinians.”
Signers included Richard Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary; David Neff, editor of Christianity Today; Richard Stearns, president of World Vision; Stephen Hayner, former president InterVarsity Christian Fellowship; and Joel Hunter, senior pastor of Northland Church in Longwood, Fla., and member of the executive committee of the National Association of Evangelicals.
Whether the Evangelicals are 'more supportive' than are American Jews depends upon which Jews (and probably which Christians) we have in mind. My sense is that those Jews who are more committed to their faith place a higher priority on Israel when casting their votes than do the less committed. My sense is that for most Evangelicals, commitment to Israel falls somewhere between those two levels. Unfortunately, the vast majority of American Jews are in the 'less committed' category, which is why there is a perception out there that Evangelicals are more committed to Israel than are American Jews.
If you think I'm mistaken, look at which American Jews accompanied Governor Huckabee on his trip here and which American Jews have been supporting his (potential) candidacy. Yes, there are also other issues on which committed American Jews tend to have views that intersect with the Evangelicals, but Israel is a big part of it.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:29 AM
4 Comments:
(and every Evangelical I have ever spoken with has insisted that is not the case)
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Wake up!
carl, you are naive
not only do christians want to convert jews...but they hate us
the only reason they support israel is because of their armageddon dogma
and that inludes the huckster
Of Christendom, most are *not* evangelicals. Of evangelicals, most are *not* dispensationalists (the group that's the overwhelming vast majority of pro-Israel evangelicals). But of the dispensational evangelical group, I'd say 99% are not just pro-Israel, but the commitment to Israel & priority of Israel policy when voting is paramount, not a minor or even secondary issue. Huckabee uses language of a dispensationalist, but when it comes to him I'm a bit concerned about his past association with Rick Warren -- I'd want to know if he has or will totally disavow that anti-Israel interfaither apostate.
bacci40:
Armageddon dogma? We support Israel because the Hebrew Scriptures says Israel is the apple (or pupil) of God's eye. Our whole faith comes from the Jewish people and The Messiah Yeshua is Jewish. We also support Israel according to the Covenant God made with Abraham, an unconditional eternal Covenant. Part of that Covenant is found in B'resheet (Genesis) 12:3 : And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
The Abrahamic Covenant is made in official and unconditional in B'resheet (Genesis) Chapter 15.
Basically what I'm saying is, I don't hate the Jews or Israel because to do so would be the opposite of what my faith teaches! Does that mean there are no Anti-Semites? Of course not, there are 'Christian' Anti-Semites but I question the validity of their faith.
@Orde: Right on, brother. Yea, Rick Warren is not theologically sound. He's probably a closet 'universalist'.
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