Christian Zionism

Following on from my posts about the differences between spiritual Israel and literal Israel and the confusion many denominations have (see both HERE and HERE), Ethics Daily has a short article about Christian Zionism where he derides the idea, especially John Hagee's recent expeditions into literal fulfillments of Old Testament prophecies:

In the meantime, anyone with half-an-ounce of Bible knowledge is aware that none of the Old Testament prophecies regarding Israel are related to the modern nation and politics of Israel.

In relation to America's support of Jewish Zionism, he also mentions that Christians should be led by peace, not war:

I have read Bible translations in more than six languages and all of them stress peace over war. Call wars just, preventive or necessary, they are still hell on earth for all sides. Peace is the hallmark of Christ's message, even if some of his disciples still do not get it. Both their Christian faith and patriotism are misplaced.

I cannot agree with these two comments more.

Karaites

The Jewish Daily Forward has an article on Karaite Jews, which includes an interview with Joe Pessah, an "acting rav" (rabbi/techer, but with no official training).

For those who do not know much about the Karaites (which is likely as they only number 30,000 and most of them live in Israel) I have described them in the past as "Old Testament-only Jehovah's Witnesses" as they differ from other Jews in that they do not accept the divine origin of the Mishnah, Oral Law and Talmud and base their teachings solely on a plain reading of the Old Testament scriptures, in the same way Jehovah's Witnesses do not accept any Church creeds or extra-biblical theology and base their teachings solely on a plain reading of the Bible.

Are JWs the last people to believe in replacement theology?

After years of Protestant churchianity teaching that Jews are still God's chosen people, Zionism, or even that God has "dual covenants" by which people can be saved (the Jewish and the Christian), it appears that now even that stronghold of replacement theology, the Roman Catholic Church, believes that Jews can be saved by their Old Testament covenant with God.

"Campaigns that target Jews for conversion are no longer theologically acceptable," said the now-retired cardinal, 83, who was president of the Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews and the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity.
The Catholic Church taught that salvation is found only in Christ through the church, but Cardinal Cassidy said it now accepted that the Jews were saved by their (Old Testament) covenant with God.

It seems these days that Jehovah's Witnesses are the only religion left that teaches that salvation is only by having faith in Jesus Christ and his atoning sacrifice, and that the Israel of God is not literal Jews but Jesus' spiritual brothers.

Read more on the Catholic's change of heart at The Religious Write.

The Third Temple

The Jerusalem Post has a very interesting Op-Ed on Roman Emperor Julian the Apostate's attempt to build a third temple in Jerusalem for the Jews.

Julian, who was Emperor from 361 to 363 CE, had been raised a Christian, but rejected the faith and begun worshipping Greek and Roman pagan gods, arguing that Christianity would weaken the Roman Empire. He wanted to help the Jews build a temple to weaken Christianity's claim to have "replaced" the Jews as God's chosen people.

Strangely enough when the foundations were laid for the new temple, it was reported that a fire burst forth from the ground and consumed them. Christians claimed it was proof of God's disapproval, and Jews suspected Christian arsonists!

Israel moves towards religious freedom

The Attorney-General of Israel has ruled that the Haifa Convention Center in Haifa, Israel, must not continue to discriminate against Jehovah's Witnesses, who wished to rent out space at the centre, but were turned down due to pressure from religious authorities and the town's mayor. Click here to read the story as reported in the Jerusalem Post. Here is an excerpt:

Atai Tsimhoni, the attorney that represented Jehovah's Witnesses, said that "the court and the attorney-general reached the right conclusion. A minority group of haredim cannot force their will on a business that provides services to the public."