ZION: biblical or merely political: the evil of replacement theology (Part One)

By Frank Maguire

• "If I had been a Jew and had seen such dolts and blockheads govern and teach the Christian faith, I would sooner have become a hog than a Christian." To the critics of the Jews, Luther reminded them that the Christian duty is to love thy neighbor and to remember that though there are Jews who sin there are also Christian sinners. That Jesus Christ was Born a Jew, treatise written in 1523 by Martin Luther.
  
  
• "Stephen Sizer, Anglican vicar of Christ Church in Surrey, England is the recognized champion of the Christian Palestinian Movement. He has denounced Israel as an 'Apartheid State' which he claims is guilty of ethnic cleansing, and he has demonized Christians who support Israel 'heretical Armagedonnists' whose interpretation of the Bible 'provides a theological endorsement for racial segregation, apartheid, and war.'" The Christ in Prophecy Journal, Dr. David R. Reagan
  
  
• "The contention that anti-Zionists are not enemies of the Jews, despite the advocacy of policies that would lead to the mass murder of Jews, is to put it as generously as possible disingenuous. If anti-Zionism realized its goal, another holocaust of the Jews would take place. Therefore, attempts to draw distinctions between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism are simply meant to fool the naïve." Why the Jews, Dennis Prager
  
  
• "It's time to give Israel hardcore Zionists their real name. They are the New NAZIs." Alan Hart, British journalist and supporter of the Christian Palestinian Movement.
  
  
• "To begin with, the Bible makes it clear that God himself is a Zionist. Psalm 132.13 proclaims that 'The Lord has chosen Zion as his everlasting dwelling place. Psalm 87:2 asserts 'The Lord loves the gates of Zion.' Through the prophet Zechariah God has warned those who touch Israel 'the apple of His eye' (Zechariah 2:8); a similar warning is contained in Psalm 129:5. 'May all who hate Zion be put to shame and turned back.' The passage goes on to sya that 'No blessing of any kind should be given to those who hate Zion.'" Christ in Zionism: What is it? Is it Biblical? Is it Dangerous? Does it Matter? Dr. David R. Reagan
  
  
• "Therefore, say unto the House of Israel...I do this not for your sake O House of Israel, but rather for my holy name which you desecrated through the nations whither you came. And I will sanctify my great name that was desecrated amongst the nations...and the nations shall know that I am the Lord when I shall be sanctified through you before their eyes. And I shall take you from among the nations and gather you out of all the countries, and I will bring you into your own land." (Ezekiel 36:22-24)
  

I start my troubling article with a simple axiom: for Truth to be respected there must be an agreement that historically verifiable facts are true. It would be disingenuous to rhetorically discredit historical facts to suit one's own parochial purpose. I believe that it will cause you who read these facts – in this day of Islamic jihad against the Jews, Christians, and Israel – some discomfort. I could say "Sorry about that!" but I wouldn't be truthful. I only hope that any pain and discomfort will bring you only that sort of pain gained from serious concern.

I start with the Roman Emperor Constantine and his ultimate adoption of Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire in 321 A.D.

"When Christianity was given the approval of the Roman Empire, the Emperor began to enact into law the concepts and claims of the Christian theologians against the Jews and Judaism.

In the Edict of Milan (313 A.D.) Synagogues were outlawed. Another edict (315 A.D.) authorized the burning of the Jews if they were convicted of breaking the law. Further laws were passed that curtailed rabbinical jurisdiction, prohibited conversion to Judaism, and excluded Jews from holding high office or serving in the military.

The Council of Nicea (325 A.D.) was the first ecumenical council of the Church. The council changed the celebration of the Resurrection from the Jewish Feast of First Fruits to Easter in an attempt to disassociate it from Jewish feasts. The council stated "For it is unbecoming beyond measure that on this holiest of festivals we should follow the customs of the Jews. Henceforth, let us have nothing in common with this odious people...." In addition to calling them "this odious people" the council also referred to the Jews as "polluted wretches, a most hostile rabble" and "parricides."

Eusebius of Caesarea (c. 265-339 A.D.) "taught that the promises of Scripture were meant for the Gentiles, and the curses were for the Jews. He asserted that the Church was the "true Israel."

St. Hilary of Portiers, a French bishop wrote that "The Jews are an odious people...a perverse people accursed by God forever."

St. John Chrysostom presented eight sermons against the Jews. "The synagogue is not only a brothel and a theatre, it is also a den of robbers and a lodging place for wild beasts... . Jews are inveterate murderers possessed by the Devil. Their debauchery and drunkenness gives them the manners of a pig. This why I hate the Jews."

Saint Jerome, the translator of the Bible into Latin described Jews as "serpents, wearing the image of Judas. Their psalms and prayers are the braying of donkeys...they are incapable of understanding Scripture."

Saint Ambrose, Bishop of Milan who had converted Saint Augustine wrote "The Jews are the most worthless of all men. They are lecherous, greedy, rapacious. They are perfidious murderers of Christ. Their religion is a sickness...and for killing God (sic.) there is no expiation possible, no indulgence or pardon. Christians may never cease vengeance, and the Jews must live in servitude forever. It is essential that all Christians hate them."

Saint Augustine, considered the greatest of all the Church Fathers in terms of the overall impact of his theology of the Jews. When asked "Why has God allowed the Jews to continue to exist?" he answered "that although the Jews deserve death, they are destined to wander the earth to witness the victory of the Church over the synagogue."

Saint Thomas Aquinas, the most important medieval theologian argued that because of their sin of deicide the Jews were destined for "perpetual slavery." He further argued "Jews should be compelled to work; (they) should be forced to wear a distinctive badge in order to distinguish them from Christians; Jews and heretics should be legitimately killed after a second warning."

Martin Luther originally spoke favorably of the Jews. Then, in a pamphlet (1543), entitled The Jews and their Lies, a diatribe against the Jews, Luther made proposals for dealing with them. "Their synagogues should be burned; their houses should be destroyed, their Talmudic writings should be confiscated; their Rabbis should be forbidden to teach; their money should be taken from them; they should be impelled into forced labor... ." They are a "miserable and accursed people...stupid fools...miserable, blind and senseless...thieves and robbers...the great vermin of humanity...lazy rogues...blind and venomous."

In 1984, Eliezer Berkovits, a renowned Orthodox Rabbi wrote that one could draw a direct line between the NAZI holocaust "and the moral bankruptcy of Christian civilization and spiritual bankruptcy of the Christian religion."

In Mein Kampf Adolph Hitler included part of a speech he had made in Berlin, where he received a standing ovation. Hitler proclaimed "I believe that today I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty God as I announce the most important work that Christians could undertake, and that is to be against the Jews and get rid of them once and for all." He continued "Martin Luther has been the greatest encouragement of my life. Luther was a great man. He was a giant. With one blow he heralded a new dawn and the new age. He saw clearly that the Jews need to be destroyed, and we're only beginning to see that we need to carry this work on." And the NAZI "New Dawn" created such as Auschwitz.

• http://www.lionlamb.com/articles_jewishlife6.php
  
  
• http://www.lamblion.us/2013/12/the-evil-of-replacement-theology_27.html
  
  
• http://www.lamblion.us/2013/12/the-evil-of-replacement-theology_23.html
  
  
• http://www.lamblion.us/2013/12/the-evil-of-replacement-theology_26.html
  

In Part Two We'll look at Scripture and see what God himself says about Zion, the home of his chosen people.

© Frank Maguire