I Can Hardly Believe These Attacks on Israel by Professing Christians
I can hardly believe the demonic attacks against Christian Zionists and Israel that are being launched by professing Christians. It makes me understand as Chairman of the Board of the Corrie ten Boom Holocaust Center what Corrie and her family endured…and why my mother was so angry at professing Christians in Germany who would not lift a finger to help her loved ones who were branded like cattle and gassed in Hitler's death camps.
In just the last few days, a conference of Catholic bishops meeting in Rome issued a statement blaming the ongoing dispute between Israel and the Palestinians squarely and solely on Israel. They demanded that Israel withdraw from all "Arab lands conquered in 1967" to allow the Palestinians to "live with dignity." They specifically rejected the Bible promises regarded the Holy Land as applying to the modern nation of Israel. I am appalled!
Then Stephen Sizer, a well-known Anglican replacement theologian made news promoting his film "With God on Our Side" and his book "Zion's Christian Soldiers." Echoing former President Carter, Sizer called Israel an "apartheid state" and decried the support Israel receives from Christians around the world.
Finally, the Israel/Palestinian Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church voted to "engage in divestment and in an economic and commercial boycott of everything produced by the [Israeli military] occupation." The group called on Christians around the world to stand in solidarity with the Palestinians to "put an end to the existing evil."
I am writing you today because I believe you disagree with these false teachings against the Jewish people…and because I need your help to show the people of Israel that their true Christian friends will stand with them in their time of distress and danger.
OK, Mike would not exactly see this 'urgent prayer letter' as a commendation of With God on our Side, but given his rather eccentric theology (see below), I certainly do. And just to correct Mike on one minor point, it is not my film. The producer is actually my good friend Porter Speakman Jr. I feel honoured to be associated with him and also to be sandwiched between a criticism of the Roman Catholic Church and the Presbyterian Church. On one issue I do however agree with Mike. Aquiescence by Christians at the suffering of the Jewish people is reprehensible, as is holocaust denial and anti-semitism.Thankfully it is a crime in many European countries to deny the Holocaust. It is just a shame that it is not yet a crime to deny the Palestinian Nakba.
Mike Evans is no stranger to controversy himself having written, The Final Move, Beyond Iraq, Atomic Iran, Countdown to Armageddon and The American Prophecies: Is America in prophecy? Yes it is, Evans insists,
"As a Middle East analyst and minister who has worked closely with leaders in that region for decades, I tended to be sceptical of attempts to come up with schemes to plug America into prophetic interpretations. I have often referred to such teachers as "Pop Prophecy Peddlers." But, after thousands of hours of research, I am totally convinced that America is found in prophecy, and I believe you will, too, after reading [my] book."
Even the reviewer for Amazon observes that actual quotes from Scripture are rather sparse.
Although actual quotes from scripture are rather sparse throughout the book, he concludes with a five-page index of "Ancient Prophecies" that indirectly support his theory. One caveat--Evans (Beyond Iraq) does not hide his vehement anti-Muslim leanings. This book will probably be offensive to Christians who practice religious tolerance and lean toward a more-inclusive solution to American diplomacy in the Middle East. --Gail Hudson
Controversially, Evans goes on to claim:
"September 11 would never have happened if America had fought the same bigotry in the 1990’s rather than trying to appease it. Millions of Jews would be living today if anti-Semitism had not been ignored in the 1920s and 1930s. The Great Depression, as well as other American tragedies, happened because of America’s pride and challenge to God Almighty’s plan."
Yes, well.....
See Globalizing Hatred: The New Antisemitism and Building Community to Defeat Extremism
