Pastor, Can You Spare Us? (Mike Huckabee/John Hagee)

National Review Online ^ | Deember 21, 2007 | Kathryn Jean Lopez

[SeaHawkFan]

I’m not a fan of Hagee and would not attend his church. That said, he does have a lot of followers and it certainly will not hurt Huckabee to speak at his church. I doubt that Huckabee agrees with much of Hagee’s theology, and I would not hold it against Huckabee if he speaks there.

Huckabee is about my 3-4 choice, but no one can question his ability to bring out the evangelical vote in numbers far surpassing any previous election.

[incindiary]

I should have said, “was not”, not “is not.” I don’t think he’s claiming that Jesus IS not the messiah. But I’d still like some clarification on what he believes.

[fkabuckeyesrule]

Here is a page on Hagee from a group called the Christian Research Institute

http://www.equip.org/site/c.muI1LaMNJrE/b.2871113/k.B45A/DH005.htm

[GOPPachyderm]

Following excerpt from: http://www.olivetreeviews.org/articles/Jans_eUpdates.shtml#newsitemEEAZAkpllutLuNjchI

But in Hagee’s new book he almost goes beyond all of that. In the book he states, (1) The Jewish people as a whole did not reject Jesus as Messiah; (2) Jesus did not come to earth to be the Messiah; (3) Jesus refused by word and deed to claim to be the Messiah; (4) How can the Jews be blamed for rejecting what was never offered them? He further states there was a “Calvary conspiracy” between Rome, the High Priest, and Herod. The conspiracy was to execute Jesus as an insurrectionist who was too dangerous to be allowed to live.

[gpapa]

I am not hiding my head in the sand, and you can criticize the Catholic Church all you wish. My statement stands about Hagee. If you wish some proof go here (there’s more): http://www.catholicleague.org/chatterbox.php

Catholic Californian

[fish hawk]

I see you still don’t want to talk about Catholic mistake , instead you want to talk about Hagee. You are making my point.

[tang-soo]

Hagee might be a great preacher, ...

Sadly, I used to think so. However ...

See it with your own eyes.

Is There Serious Error in the New Book, "In Defense of Israel?"

by Dr. Michael Brown

Pastor John Hagee’s new book, In Defense of Israel: The Bible’s Mandate for Supporting the Jewish State (Lake Mary, Florida: Front Line, 2007), was publicized by announcements stating that the book would “shake Christian theology.” The following positions are explicitly laid out in the book:

The Jewish people, as a whole, did not reject Jesus as Messiah.

Jesus did not come to earth to be the Messiah.

Jesus refused by word and deed to be the Messiah.

The Jews cannot be blamed for not accepting what was never offered. Statements like this must be evaluated in light of 1 John 2:22: “Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ [i.e., Messiah]. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son.” As commentator Stephen S. Smalley explained, “The true believer is the one who accepts the Christhood of Jesus, whereas those who deny his messianic identity declare themselves to be on the side of the antichrist” (Word Biblical Commentary).

What could possibly be the motivation for teaching such error? First, In Defense of Israel desires to dispel once and for all the notion that all Jews are Christ-killers, a terrible lie that has fueled anti-Semitism in the Church for more than 1,500 years. Second, the book wants to refute the false teaching of replacement theology, explaining that, “Replacement theologians have said that ‘the covenant with Israel was broken because she would not accept Jesus Christ whom God sent.’” (See p. 132 of In Defense of Israel.) Tragically, in the attempt to fight against these serious errors, a more serious error has now been introduced. Yet some believers and even leaders! are buying into this error hook, line, and sinker, and some have begun to teach and preach it as well. Since the publication of the book, Pastor Hagee issued some clarifying remarks, but the clarifications only complicate the issues and fail to renounce and remove the error.

Here are three fundamental statements that all believers should be able to affirm without hesitation:

1) Jesus came to be the Messiah. This is the fundamental message of the New Testament, which is why we call him “Christ” (meaning, “Messiah”). And it is a fundamental message of the Scriptures that the Messiah had to suffer and die if He was one day to rule and reign (see, e.g., Luke 24:25-27, 44-47), a biblical truth that most of the Jewish people of Yeshua’s day missed, a biblical truth that most Jews through the ages have continued to miss, and a biblical truth that In Defense of Israel has now fed into as well.

In the clarifying statements that were made since the publication of his book, it was explained that Jesus came to be the suffering Messiah but not the reigning Messiah something, of course, that we all knew, and something that would hardly “shake Christian theology” but these statements have simply introduced another nuance to the error, since nowhere in the New Testament is such a distinction made.

In other words, God did not say to Israel, “It’s fine that you rejected Jesus as Messiah because He did not come in the political way you expected. He had to die in order to be the Savior of the world, so you are not guilty.” There is not a hint of such a message in the Scriptures, which simply proclaim him as the Messiah, period.

That’s why Jesus explicitly identified Himself as the Messiah in the Gospels (see, e.g., Matt 16:16-17; Mark 14:61-62; Luke 7:20-23; John 4:25-26; 5:39, 45-47; 10:24-25) not as the suffering Messiah, whom his people were supposed to reject so that He could die, as opposed to the reigning Messiah, whom they would one day receive, but simply as the Messiah and that’s why the Gospel authors frequently announced Him as the Messiah (in Greek, the Christ; see, e.g., Luke 2:11, 26; John 1:41; 3:28; 11:27; 20:31). And that’s why the apostles proclaimed Him as the Messiah in Acts (see, e.g., Acts 2:31, 36; 3:18, 20; 4:26; 5:42; 8:5; 9:22; 17:2-3; 18:5, 28; 26:23).

I would encourage you to look up every reference cited here. It is all quite simple, forthright, and easy to understand, and nowhere is any distinction made between the suffering and reigning Messiah. To repeat: Jesus is proclaimed as the Messiah of Israel, period, and because He is the Messiah of Israel, He is the Savior of the world.

2) The Jewish people rejected their Messiah. Although all Jews are not Christ-killers (God forbid!), and although the entire Jewish nation did not play a role in the crucifixion of Jesus, God held the Jewish people in Jesus’ day responsible for His death and, more significantly, He held them responsible for rejecting Jesus the Messiah after His resurrection. The New Testament witness is explicit and consistent on this.

That’s why the apostles preached to “the people of Israel” that they were guilty of rejecting the Messiah (Acts 2:22-23, 36; 3:13-15, 17, 19; 4:10-11; 5:30; 7:52; 13:27-28; see also John 1:12), and that’s why Paul spoke of Israel’s hardening, breaking off, stumbling, transgression, and rejection (see Rom 9:31; 10:3; 11:7, 11-12, 15, 20 although with the full expectation of Israel’s future redemption; see Rom 11:11-15, 25-26). Again, I encourage you to take a moment to look up these passages. They are striking in their force and consistency.

Because of this rejection, severe judgment came on the Jewish people in the first century, as prophesied by Yeshua with tears (see Luke 19:41-44; see also Matt 23:29-37) and as taught in his parables (see, e.g., Matt 21:33-46; 22:1-14).

As painful as this witness is, it cannot be rewritten, nor can anyone lessen Israel’s guilt because it was God’s will that Jesus died on the cross. To the contrary, just as it was God’s will that Joseph be sold into Egyptian slavery and yet at the same time his brothers were guilty of sinning against him (Gen 44:16-45:5; 50:14-20), so also it was God’s will that Yeshua die for our sins while at the same time the Jewish people, along with Herod and Pilate and the Romans, were guilty of having Him crucified (see Acts 2:22-24; 4:27-28).

It is scripturally impossible to claim that “the Jews cannot be blamed for not accepting what was never offered.” A glorious offer was made and refused, and that’s why Paul’s heart was broken (see Rom 9:1-5).

3) Jesus remains the Jewish Messiah, and there is no salvation for the Jewish people outside of faith in Him. Although Pastor Hagee has consistently stated that he does not teach “dual covenant” theology, referring to the false concept that Jews can be saved outside of faith in Jesus, his new teaching certainly aids and abets that error. After all, if “The Jews Did Not Reject Jesus as Messiah” (as stated in bold print in his book), and if “Jesus refused by word and deed to be the Messiah” (be it the “reigning Messiah” or not), then, not only can it be said that “the Jews [in Jesus’ day] cannot be blamed for not accepting what was never offered” but that the Jews in any day cannot be blamed for not accepting Yeshua.

This again is a fundamental denial of the Word of God, and although In Defense of Israel claims that the “message of the gospel was from Israel, not to Israel,” Jesus, Peter, and Paul declared that the message of the gospel was to Israel first, and then from Israel to the nations (see Luke 24:47; Acts 1:8; 3:26; 13:32-39; Rom 1:16; in Paul’s words to the Jewish leaders in Rome, it was “for the sake of the hope of Israel” that he was bound in chains; Acts 28:20).

To be sure, there are a number of other errors found in the critical section of In Defense of Israel (including the myth that there was a so-called cup of the Messiah, the alleged fourth cup of the Passover meal that Yeshua supposedly refused to drink), but this is not the place to address those concerns, and to focus on the smaller problems would detract from the larger picture.

If you are not currently on our e-list, I would encourage you to sign up (http://www.revolutionnow.org/) today. And let’s continue to make the truth known: Yeshua is the Messiah of Israel, the King of the Jews, the Savior of the World!

In Him,

Michael L. Brown, Ph.D.

[gpapa]

What mistakes are you talking about?

[incindiary]

Thanks for the link. Wow...that kind of blows me away. He may be sincere in his (mis)interpretation, but what he is saying goes against the scriptures and is dangerously misleading.

Stuff like this, and Pat Robertson endorsing Giuliani makes me wonder if we're getting closer to the end. The bible talks about people straying from sound doctrine and being deceived. Unless he has some valid explanation, it sounds like that may be the case here.

[Running On Empty]

The thread is about Hagee (and Huckabee), isn’t it? And if Hagee is considered an anti-Catholic, that’s going to concern Catholics. And it will be a consideration regarding Huckabee’s campaign.

This thread isn’t really about “Catholic mistakes”.

BTW, all denominations of Christian churches have and do make mistakes.

All of this should be easy enough to understand.

[Tolkien]

Hagee does not believe that Jesus is the Messiah so lets cut the cr*p.

Huckster will never receive my vote!!

[GOPPachyderm]

Pastor Hagee believes in a dual covenant, one for Jews and one for non-Jews. I don’t see where scripture says there is any other way to saved other than the one Jesus provided. I love Jews and Israel, but not telling the truth about salvation has eternal consequences.

[Rightwing Conspiratr1]

I’m with you — Hagee is a straight shooter and spot-on when speaking about cultural issues. He’s also one of the very few in his position who speaks the truth about Islam without fear. ...and as you mentioned, without remorse.

Unlike some of the fakirs and fleecers, Hagee takes a 35K salary a year.

[wardaddy]

when he lets loose on infanticide, I’m like “yeah baby”....something like....”one day those in our congress will answer to a higher authority for this abomination”....jowls trembling.....lol.....he’s old school

and he minces no words about Islam...thinks it the arm of the dark prince

and is a huge....maybe the most vocal Israel supporter btw

i am really ignorant of the issues Catholics have with him to be honest...

[wardaddy]

it’s Catholic backlash...and anti-fundamentalism here on FR

Hagee is a fundamentalist....and conservative culturally.....all evengelicals are not .........a nuance lost on many here

I AM NOT A HUCKSTER SUPPORTER

[wardaddy]

they have their own agenda...as u already know

[Gurn]

John Hagee hasn’t said anything about the Catholic Church that isn’t true. Kathy Lopez can whine about “tone” all she wants, but anyone who reads objective history on the subject knows that Hitler’s blueprint came from the Papists.

[jan in Colorado]

Thank you for exposing Hagee’s errors!

[incindiary]

What do you think about him saying that Jesus didn't claim to be the Messiah in word or deed? And that he apparently believes in a dual covenant, as GOPPachyderm mentioned?

Btw, I always thought he was a good preacher (from what I've seen of him, which I admit isn't a lot) and I especially like that he has been a strong vocal supporter of Israel. But if he does believe those things and is teaching that, it's very misleading and has eternal consequences.

[FFranco]

Thanks. Interesting information on Hagee in that link.