The Theological Crisis of Zionism: Blasphemy, Supremacism, and the West

[Thomas_muntzer]

Rabbi Chaim Richman: a rabbi in Israel and director of the Temple Institute from 1989 to 2020, dedicated to the reconstruction of the Third Temple in Jerusalem and a member of the current effort to revive the Sanhedrin—yes, the same Sanhedrin that condemned Jesus Christ to death. What does he say to us Christians?

“You worship only one Jew, when you should worship all Jews, because we are dying for all your sins.” See in the video the minute 20:30



If this isn’t blasphemy, I don’t know what is. This is pure racial supremacism: the core of Talmudism, the theological basis of political Zionism. By the way, note how he refers to Palestinians and Arabs: “the orcs.”

This is a common argument used by Zionists: that if we don’t support the state of Israel, the West will be invaded by Islam. There are two problems with this theory:

1. Before 1948, the state of Israel did not exist, and the Christian West was doing just fine.

2. It is precisely the continuous and pointless wars and interventions in which the West has become embroiled since then to create, maintain, and expand the modern state of Israel that have caused the mass displacements and refugee crises that end up in Europe and America. In other words, it is the cause of our problems, not the "bastion" of our values.

This guy has everything backward; but worse than him are all those so-called "Christian Zionists": without a doubt, they have a different gospel, serve a different Christ, and fight for a false chosen people. Beware: for these blasphemers, they are willing to kill anyone and destroy entire peoples

[JohnH]

Yes, Christian Zionism is in conflict with itself, as we are called to be “pilgrims and strangers”.

So are many other forms of Christianity though, such as the dominant form that melds it with the state, like we see in Russia, or attempts to integrate with the surrounding culture, like in Europe.

[Thomas_muntzer]

Yes, Christian Zionism is in conflict with itself, as we are called to be “pilgrims and strangers”.

So are many other forms of Christianity though, such as the dominant form that melds it with the state, like we see in Russia, or attempts to integrate with the surrounding culture, like in Europe.

Yes, it's absolutely true that seeing Orthodox priests blessing AK-47s, missiles and tanks is utterly outrageous and we must condemn them strongly

[JohnH]

I hope we as Anabaptists never find ourselves so embarrassingly servile to the state and empire.

[R7ehr]

The bar for other religions is lower than Christianity’s is.

[Neto]

My impression is that while Zionism is couched in theological terminology, there is nothing deeply theological about it, at its core. Note that the most religious Jews did not support Zionism, the effort to recreate the state of Israel, or to rebuild the temple. In fact, they actively opposed it, believing that this would all be done by the Messiah, when he comes. (I say 'comes', and not 'returns', because they do not recognize that He's already been here once.)

It is true, however, that some Christians have been and are confused about this question, because they conflate faith and politics. Some of my own people organized into separate Mennonite groups in the colonies in the Russian Empire, often referred to as 'Templers'. Some of them attempted to emigrate to Israel in the 1800's, but my understanding is that few, if any, actually made it that far.

[JohnH]

Christian Zionism is one of those trends that really took off in the 1980s and was popular with radio preachers.

[Judas Maccabeus]

My impression is that while Zionism is couched in theological terminology, there is nothing deeply theological about it, at its core. Note that the most religious Jews did not support Zionism, the effort to recreate the state of Israel, or to rebuild the temple. In fact, they actively opposed it, believing that this would all be done by the Messiah, when he comes. (I say 'comes', and not 'returns', because they do not recognize that He's already been here once.)

Your mileage may vary. Chabad is in favor of the state, most of the other Hassidic sects are not, especially Satmar.

[Judas Maccabeus]

Christian Zionism is one of those trends that really took off in the 1980s and was popular with radio preachers.

Hal Lindsay and the Dallas Seminary crowd, in particular.

[Neto]

My impression is that while Zionism is couched in theological terminology, there is nothing deeply theological about it, at its core. Note that the most religious Jews did not support Zionism, the effort to recreate the state of Israel, or to rebuild the temple. In fact, they actively opposed it, believing that this would all be done by the Messiah, when he comes. (I say 'comes', and not 'returns', because they do not recognize that He's already been here once.)

Your mileage may vary. Chabad is in favor of the state, most of the other Hassidic sects are not, especially Satmar.

My understanding is that they did not support the formation of the state of Israel (past tense), but once it was done, they felt it was best to cooperate, in order to make it the best representation of 'Israel' as it could be, while still without the Messiah. In other words, the most conservatively religious as possible under those circumstances.