A Jew defends evangelical Christians

Evangelical Christians believe that it is necessary for a person to believe in the Christian savior in order to be saved.

According to every liberal I know -- Christian, Jew, or other -- Jews are supposed to find this theology offensive and frightening. According to liberals, the evangelicals' doctrine that no non-Christians can be saved is so awful that all other evangelical views must be held suspect -- even their unique support for Jews and Israel.

I would therefore like to announce, as a practicing, believing Jew, that I am in no way offended, let alone frightened, by evangelical Christians who believe that it is necessary to have faith in Jesus in order to be saved.

First, since all non-Christians are unsaved, this doctrine is in no way anti-Jewish.

It is pro-salvation, not anti-anybody. The evangelical view of who is not saved is applicable, by definition, to all non-Christians. There is, therefore, no reason whatsoever for a Jew to be personally offended. It is no more applicable to Jews than to Hindus. When most evangelicals single out Jews, it is only to support them and Israel, and to reaffirm Jewish chosenness. It takes paranoia, ignorance and ingratitude for a Jew to join the anti-evangelical critics.

Second, exclusive views of salvation are hardly unique to evangelical Christians. Liberals, of all people, should honor such exclusive views. Don't most liberals think that liberalism is the only way to save America (and don't most conservatives think that of conservatism)? If Christians are intolerant and offensive because they believe they have the only way to salvation in the next life, why aren't liberals intolerant and offensive because they believe they have the only way to salvation in this life? And if Christians must declare that all religions are equally valid paths to salvation, shouldn't liberals have to declare that all political and social doctrines are equally valid paths to America's salvation?

Third, all those who condemn evangelicals for their belief in the necessity of affirming Christ for salvation are doing exactly what they accuse these Christians of doing -- judging and condemning people solely for their beliefs. Here is the liberals' rule: Christians may not judge others by their religious beliefs, but liberals may judge Christians by their religious beliefs.

Fourth, one of Judaism's core teachings is that G-d judges all people by their behavior rather than by their faith alone, and that we are to judge people in the same way. I apply this teaching to evangelicals. I judge them not by their theology but by their behavior. I find that behavior often exemplary, and I regard them as America's best hope to stem the country's cultural and moral decline.

Fifth, insofar as offensiveness and tolerance are concerned, who do you think has it tougher -- a Jew living and working among evangelical Christians or a conservative living and working among strongly committed liberals? As one who is in the former situation, I can tell you that I receive only respect and tolerance. On the other hand, ask conservatives, not to mention evangelical Christians, in Hollywood how they feel. Most keep their views to themselves, so fearful are they of repercussions from the liberal majority.

Let's also compare the evangelicals to the "open" and "tolerant" Protestant Christian denominations as represented by the National Council of Churches. We find moral confusion, anti-Americanism and support for those who wish another Jewish genocide. True, just about everyone in the NCC believes that it is not necessary for anyone to affirm faith in Christ to be saved and that I as a Jew can therefore attain salvation. But so what? Their doctrines that pertain to me, here and now, on earth, not in the hereafter, are the doctrines that frighten me.

Evangelical Christians, almost alone, affirm that America has a divine mission, that this country has better values than Europe, that the United Nations is a moral wasteland, that G-d's law is higher than international laws devised in New York or The Hague, that secularism is wonderful for government but fatal for society, that Israel must be protected against those who wish to exterminate it, that the Jews have a divinely chosen role in history, and that America must remain a Judeo-Christian country. .

If the only way a Christian can hold these precious beliefs is to maintain that faith in Jesus is the only way to salvation, here is one Jew who says: More power to you. Keep your faith strong. .

While a tiny percentage of Israelites did become known as Jews, the overwhelming majority did not. But they still retained all the promises given to ALL Israelites. So to say "Jews are Gods Chosen People" misrepresents Gods promises.

This brief history should help with the "who and when":

HISTORY OF THE ISRAELITES

Four Thousand years ago, Abraham (a great-great grandson of Shem, a son of Noah) and a small group of Hebrews (of which there were & are many varieties) migrated from southern Iraq to Canaan (~Palestine). Several generations later, around 1853 BC, his Grandson Jacob (who was renamed Israel) and his 12 Sons and families moved to Egypt. As offspring of Shem, they were called "Shemites" or "Semites", as were his many other offspring.

~1453 BC, now as the 12 Tribes of the 12 Sons of Israel, and over 3 Million strong, these Semites bailed out of Egypt in the well-documented overland EXODUS and fled back to ~Palestine. But the Tribes "couldn't all get along" there, so ~922 BC these 5 Million Israelites split into the Northern and Southern Kingdoms.

(In actual numbers, 5 Million people is about the same size as Ireland, Norway, Denmark or Israel today, and was 10% of the estimated 50 Million world population at that time. The world population is now ONE HUNDRED TIMES as large. Compared to todays 6 Billion people, the Israelites relative population would have been over twice as large as the United States of America!)

The very large Northern Kingdom of Israel was made up of 10 of the Tribes. Inheriting the Kingly names which applied to all 12 Tribes before the split, the Northern Kingdom (alone) becomes known as the Kingdom of Israel or House of Israel, (also House of Joseph, House of Ephriam, House of Isaac, and House of Omri), and is led by the northern Tribe of Ephraim.

Two hundred years later these Northern Israelites were taken into captivity by the Assyrians (~722 BC) and relocated to the northern Fertile Crescent area of Iraq/Iran. They were not diligent in updating their eMail addresses, thus were called, by some, the "Lost Tribes", or "Lost Sheep" or "Lost Children" of the Kingdom or House of Israel. (However at ~1/12 or more of the worlds population it seems unlikely they would actually disappear, or get "lost". The global population now ~75 Million.)

A hundred years later, this "lost" Northern Kingdom of Israel with now over 6 Million Israelites helped the Medes and Persians overthrow the Assyrians, then escaped north through the Caucasus Mountains and around the Black and Caspian Seas, to explode into history ~610 BC as The Celts. These Celts mixed with (and fought against) each other, and with other scattered Israelites (proto-Celts) who had escaped from Egypt by sea nearly a thousand years earlier, before the overland Exodus. Also, with other Israelites who migrated from Palestine after the overland Exodus but before the Assyrian captivity and who had already established numerous outposts in Europe and elsewhere.

These Millions of Celts grew to become Tens, then Hundreds of Millions as they migrated in waves westward and northwest to Galatia, Ephesus, Corinth, Thessalonika, Phillipi, Collosse, to what is today Hallstatt, Austria and Neuchatel, Switzerland (where exist major Celtic digs and museums) and beyond, to totally dominate Northern and Western Europe. These Celts (also as Cimmerians, Scythians, Danaoi, Massagetae, Milesians, Masilia, Sarmatians, Germani, Goths, Franks, Gauls, Lombards, Belgae, Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Vandals, Danes, Normans, and other assorted "Barbarians") are the rootstock of today's Europeans and Americans who became the backbone of global Christianity.

The much smaller Southern Kingdom was made up of the Tribe of Judah & a mix of Levites and Benjamites. It was also known as the Kingdom of Judah or House of Judah. These Southern Israelites (aka Judeans) were taken captive in ~587 BC and removed to Babylon. Only ~50,000 Judeans returned to Palestine ~70 years later. They and their offspring are called Jews.

>You're kidding, right?

No, but your're kidding, right? Genesis 12 was addressed to Abram (later Abraham), but Abraham was neither an Israelite nor a Jew:

Genesis 12:2-3 "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

There were no Jews at the time of Abraham, There were not even any Israelites. There would not be any Jews for another ~1,500 years. But the promises to Abram do enure to certain of his offspring as told in: Genesis 17:19-21

19. And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
20. And as for Ish'ma-el, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.
21. But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.

Isaacs seed includes Jacob (renamed Israel), and those who follow in that chain are called Israelites. All these Israelites received the promises of Abraham, but these Isralites are far more than the few Jews who are alive today. The total number of Israelites alive today approaches One BILLION.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.