Paul Wilkinson - Jesus in the Protestant Church?

Paul Wilkinson asserts that he does not see Jesus in the Protestant Churches today. he was speaking in the opening session of a consultation organised by the B’nai B’rith World Center in Jerusalem and the Ecumenical Theological Research Fraternity in Israel (ETRFI). This fraternity apparently was established to support Jewish Christian relations. A report can be found here
http://roshpinaproject.com/2012/11/10/i-dont-recognize-jesus-in-the-protestant-church-today/ and http://www.timesofisrael.com/at-interfaith-meet-in-jerusalem-a-grim-picture-of-jewish-protestant-relations/ He accuses Christendom of being spiritually blind for 2,000 years in its understanding of Israel and offers no hope of change because its erroneous theology is so deeply ingrained.  He says he is 'completely pessimistic in terms of believing that I, we, are going to overturn 2,000 years of erroneous theology that has manifested itself in all kinds of diatribes and anti-Semitic factions.' He writes further that there is '...absolute hatred toward Israel that exists in the heart — in the heart — of the Protestant Church.' Really? It is hard to know where to begin with this type of rhetoric.

Wilkinson's statement reminds me of the holy-huddle mentality of the Plymouth Brethren, in which I was brought up, that sometimes held that they are the only true Christians left on earth - many chapels are now closed and the Darbyite theology, of which Wilkinson is an advocate, led to increasing fragmentation and exclusivity. Not a place where God's Holy Spirit can work in building loving communities of believers, communities that should include Jews, Gentiles and Palestinians.

BBC bias - or troubled consciences?

Telegraph bloggers are out in force having another pop at the BBC - this time for biased reported against poor Israel.  See Rev Dr Peter Mullen http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/petermullen/100190323/finally-the-bbcs-pro-palestinian-propaganda-machine-has-swung-into-action/ and Dan Hodges http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danhodges/100190366/for-once-there-is-no-ambiguity-the-today-programmes-report-on-gaza-this-morning-was-totally-and-utterly-biased/

Or perhaps the issue here is not one of bias, but one of troubled consciences. Yes, Hamas is a wicked organisation, although the word organisation here is perhaps unfair. A rabble might be more accurate bearing in mind the trouble they are causing their own people, and despite the number of rockets fired into Israel they have only managed to kill a handful of Jews. Their fire power is less lethal than a summer thunderstorm in the Middle East.

On the other hand the highly efficient Israeli military has managed to kill some 100 Palestinians in just a few days with much greater fire power - the last Gaza campaign killed over 1,300, including many women and children. It is not an even-handed conflict. Israel should show more restraint in response, and Christians should remember that Palestinians, as well as Jews, are human beings of value.

Did Hurricane Sandy keep US out of war on Iran ?

This is an off-the-wall thought, but is it possible that an 'Act of God' might have put Obama back into the White House and helped to avoid US involvement in any attack on Iran's nuclear establishments? Obama has been consistently less keen to get involved, alongside Israel, in a bombing campaign against Iran than Romney and the Republicans. The work of Sandy showed Obama in a more caring light than the Republican candidate and helped get him back into power. Obama does sympathy much better. Sandy was incidentally forecast well in advance and human casualties were minimised. Furthermore, because it became classified as an extra tropical storm before it hit land, the insurance industry may have more money to pay out.

Netanyahu and Hamas on the same side

Matt Hill, writing in the Telegraph, argues that both Likud and Hamas want war and not peace, thus they are on the same side - and against the majority of Jews and Palestinians who really want peace.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/9682857/Dont-be-fooled-Netanyahu-and-Hamas-are-on-the-same-side.html Both sides are driving for conflict.

As Christians we should pray for peace and not let us be side tracked and take sides.

Messianic Jews and Palestinian Christians pray together

Mike Moore writes an interesting peice about a group of Messianic Jews and Palestinian Christians who meet to pray together Jews and Arabs pray together in Israel. This is encouraging given the war mongering taking place between Israel, Hamas in Gaza and Iran. All sides seem to be itching to start the next war, not worrying where, when or how it will end.

We should join in prayer for peace and justice across the divide without getting involved in nationalistic politics.

Healing the division between Jews and Christians - the Savile Connection

The recent scandal surrounding Jimmy Savile raises some questions about the relationship between Jews and Christians, but not in obvious ways as I shall explain. Savile was apparently an avowed Roman Catholic, but he was also a strong supporter of the State of Israel according to the Jewish Chronicle, (he didn't believe Israel should have given back land after the Six Day war), as well as a fundraiser for a number of Jewish charities, and Christian ones too - rather shockingly his intent may have been to get close to children of all colours and creeds, and this naturally raises concerns for both Jewish and Christian parents. The Catholic Church has of course had its fair share of abuse scandals, and Savile now has added to the sorrow of ordinary catholics. He received a papal knighthood for instance, although now it may be revoked. However, dig a little deeper and another aspect arises.

The Jewish Chronicle reports that a memorial to Savile has now been removed from the Leeds Jewish Welfare Board (LJWB) building.

http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/86121/jimmy-savile-plaque-removed-jewish-welfare-service This shows that he was close to the Jewish community and Savile claimed to be the 'most Jewish Catholic you will ever meet.' http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/87004/jimmy-savile-admitted-he-was-crooked-interview-his-death
This made me wonder whether there is a link between Savile's name and the city of Seville - a centre of Marano catholics and a place of persecution for Jews through the Spanish Inquisition. http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10388-marano Seville had incidentally grown wealthy through trade with the new world. These catholics were however forced converts from Judaism, some embraced the faith, others secretly kept their Jewish ways and traditions. Of course it is not necessary to refer to one's ethnic identity in this matter and even if Savile was a Marano Jew it would not be relevant to the case against him. Other Jews, such as Esther Rantzen, have also acted strongly in support of child protection. In the question of child abuse both perpetrators and victims are from all areas of society, some will be Jews, but many are Gentiles too, so ethnicity is not the issue here.

But the point I want to raise here is the tragedy of the Inquisition, that having failed to convert Jews through love and faith, the Catholic Church abused its power base by trying to force Jews to convert through fear [although according to this BBC Radio 4 programme the Spanish Christians were good at converting Jews to Christ through love prior to their forced conversion http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01nk276]. Whereas Paul wished to make Jews jealous to win them to Christ through the Christian community living out a godly, blessed life, a Church that had lost its way and faith thought it could win through force and intimidation. This is an ongoing tragedy that needs to be remembered.

Israel - a secular State that does not follow the Mosaic Law

Jacob Prasch posts a news item about a Messianic fellowship in Israel that has been found guilty in an Israeli court for failing to marry a lesbian couple. Messianic Hotel Moshav fined heavily for refusing to host lesbian marriage. A letter from the group reads as follows.

"The judge ruled against us, claiming that our refusal to allow gay marriage in the Yad Hashmona guest-house is against the law. we were fined 80,000 shekels and together with our expenses in this case, its very heavy on us.

This is a quote from the ruling:

““Every person who opens a public business in Israel should know that they must serve the whole public equally, without discrimination… which covers sexual orientation as well. As soon as the defendants opened their doors to all, they cannot close them for those who they believe do not meet the requirements found in the Bible or New Testament.”

Needless to say, we do not close our doors to anyone who comes to Yad Hashmona, on the contrary, we are a living testimony of good news of the Messiah to many Israelis that pass through us, this is what I am here for. to be a testimony. But to hold a marriage ceremony of a lesbian couple in Yad Hashmona is to violate God’s requirement over this place that we claim to be a Messianic village, and we could not do that."

This should be a wake up call to those Christian Zionists who think that the modern State of Israel is somehow fulfilling a divine calling when it so openly defies the Mosaic Law, or even a Messianic interpretation of the Law, preferring instead a state of being a law-unto-itself. Of course this should lead us to pray even more for Israel, but let us not be naive. Palestinians too have suffered as a result of the State of Israel's disregard for Mosaic requirements about treating other nationalities with respect.