With regard to the ridiculous Genesis 12 argument, God was speaking directly to Abraham in the singular ("those who bless YOU"), and yes, the promise of Abraham finds its ultimate fulfillment in Christ. The verse doesn't even mention "Israel" so I don't know what Bible these "Christian Zionists" are reading. Oh wait, we do know...the Scofield "Bible," whose reference notes on this chapter overtly promote the stupid heresy of dispensationalism and mention Israel when Jacob hadn't even been given that name yet.
It's actually really interesting if you look at the question of who Abraham's true descendants are as it was understood in the ancient world. You see John the Baptist dealing with it in Luke 3: 8-9 and Our Lord Himself in John 8. It is mentioned in two of the great Canticles of the Divine Office: the Benedictus and the Magnificat, both from the Gospel of Luke. Then of course by Saint Paul in Galatians.
Then later at the beginning of the seventh century Muhammad comes along and says: no, actually we're the real descendants of Abraham. As ridiculous as the Muhammadan claim is, it does show the power of that identity in the ancient world: We are the true sons of Abraham.
And of course the Catholic claim is the only one that ultimately makes any sense because, as we all know, Abraham was justified by Faith, faith in his descendant, the Redeemer to come. And this faith is only found in the Catholic Church which is open to all, no matter what their ancestral heritage.
Your (unneccesary yet prudent) disclaimer to assure your readers that you are not an anti-semite is telling. It reflects the great success of the decades-long propaganda and lobbying campaigns to calumniate (a grave sin) anyone who dares to question the dubious actions of the Israeli government as irredeemable bigots (e.g. Candace Owens). Sadly, the leadership of Catholic Church is at present incapable of speaking lucidly or with any conviction about this matter. V2 only made matters worse. Catholics who should know better have taken a protestantized view (as highlighted in Sen. Ted Cruz's recent embarrassing interview) as they confuse biblical references of Israel and Jerusalem with the warmongering modern state rather than the one Church founded by Almighty God. It would be wonderful if the United States could be cordial with Iran, but the current situation makes that impossible.
Thank you for this. I am going to print it out. I was raised Protestant and was vehemently taught Christian Zionism as a tenant of the faith. I was always confused by this.
Becoming Catholic only intensified my confusion because I found no clarity being presented.
However, in the past few years my husband and I stumbled across a documentary put out by Stop World Control. It explained the why behind the Protestant delusion of a dual covenant.
The main problem is the Schofield Reference Bible. Those powers that intended to establish a Jewish homeland knew that politically they needed the alliance and material support of the United States, a predominantly Protestant nation. They hired a Freemason to write a biblical commentary that would be disseminated into Protestant seminaries that would influence Protestants to support Zionism as biblically based. That this commentary was also riddled with anti Catholic interpretations of scripture made it very palatable to Protestants.
The Schofield Reference Bible became the gold standard for many Protestant seminaries especially Baptist. Pastors using this document for scriptural exegesis propagated this Zionist interpretation and Protestant America became more and more a puppet of the Zionist state of Israel.
If you are interested in finding out more about the Protestant ties to Christian Zionism you can watch the documentary The Mystery of Israel Solved on Rumble. It is on the Stop world control channel.
WARNING it contains graphic content regarding santanism and how modern Zionism is linked to the rise of the anti Christ.
However, even though it is not Catholic it reveals much about how Satan has worked through history to establish his counterfeit kingdom and his attempt to usurp the institution of the Church in order to mock God. It provides a historical explanation of how we are in the current crisis of faith, morals and political confusion. It is a documentary that is not for the feint of heart. I don’t recommend it for those who are sensitive. For me a transcript would have been better.
Last night I read your essay after finding it via a restack. While I’m a bit late, I would like to respond and render another aspect to your article. I have well over half-a-century of living real-time history of modern Israel and the Arabs (as they were known prior to being called Palestinians by Yasser Arafat). The post-modern world seems woefully ignorant of actual modern Israeli-Arab history and therefore protests against Israel are unfair because perceived notions are not the same as factual history. But I would like to address the following.
My association and experience with Christian Zionists (comprised mostly of Evangelical Christians) does not comport at all as you imply. For example, I’m not aware of any Evangelical Christian who believes there is salvation outside of Christ.
Evangelical Christian support for Israel and the Jews is two-fold. One is to show that Christianity is no longer about pogroms, harassment, and killing Jews - all the while thinking that we are doing God a favor - which had been the case for many centuries. It’s no wonder they don’t want anything to do with us or Christianity. Second, as St, Paul writes in Romans, we are to inspire or arouse the Jewish people to jealousy which might cause them to want what we have. St. Francis of Assisi is alleged to have said that it is sometimes better to be a sermon than give a sermon.
The last thing I want to point out is that modern Israel IS the same as Biblical Israel. Here’s why. It’s an absolute miracle of God of re-establishment of Israel on its same Biblical Land, May 14, 1948 after two-thousand years (!), with an identifiable people of antiquity, having the same Hebrew language. God is, of course, the same God of Israel from the Biblical era. He promised He would bring back the people, the Jewish people, from around the world (which He is still doing today). Today the deserts are blooming, again as foretold.
It is largely because of the foregoing that Churches including the Catholic Church at the time had need to re-think its posture about super- secessionism I.e. replacement theology. This was a big deal in the world at the time. While not apparent, Nostra Aetate was in part ( emphasis on ‘in part’), declared in the mid-1960’s for this reason. It was a major concession of understanding between the Catholic Church and Jews. The same wonder also provided the nidus of re-thinking such a phenomenon by Protestant Churches
Other modern miracles include the fact that Israel had little chance of survival at the time of its independence because five Arab armies fought against them on the first day. Arms were meager and old. Only God could have saved them (from annihilation), and He did. The other wars, 1967, and 1973 especially, were clearly won by the grace of God. Neither America or anyone else at the time, fought alongside Israel against its enemies.
Clearly, the recent war of Israel against Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran was a miracle of providence. But its importance goes well beyond the visible. There are many things to say but the most cogent is this: We must see things in eternity and not merely temporal. The Patristic Fathers and Doctors of the Church understood this. Ultimately, Israel’s existential fight is a fight of good versus evil (and not ethnicity versus ethnicity or some other temporal thing). Israel’s prophetic promises are being played out now.
Israel has had a veil over her eye’s regarding eternal salvation as St. Paul described. But it won’t always be so. We non-Jews have a veil over our eyes regarding Israel’s place in God’s history and plan. There is much more to be said about this, but I would like to leave you with this one thought - It would be best to leave Israel alone and to concern ourselves with our own salvation.
Who is the main writer of Radical Fidelity ? You are in a position of a teacher , an explainer and many are trusting your opinions . I ask - are you qualified? What is your relationship with Christ -one on one ?
These people aren't actually Christians. Some of them may delude themselves into thinking that by supporting the modern state of israel they can somehow engineer the Second Coming (whatever that means in their eyes), but if you sit down and think about it when was the last time you heard any of these supposedly 'Christian' Zionists say anything at all substantive about Our Lord? He is a non entity for them.
This is just some sort of weird apocalyptic fantasy for most of the true believers in this idiotic cult which has unfortunately taken control of large swathes of the American political scene.
With regard to the ridiculous Genesis 12 argument, God was speaking directly to Abraham in the singular ("those who bless YOU"), and yes, the promise of Abraham finds its ultimate fulfillment in Christ. The verse doesn't even mention "Israel" so I don't know what Bible these "Christian Zionists" are reading. Oh wait, we do know...the Scofield "Bible," whose reference notes on this chapter overtly promote the stupid heresy of dispensationalism and mention Israel when Jacob hadn't even been given that name yet.
It's actually really interesting if you look at the question of who Abraham's true descendants are as it was understood in the ancient world. You see John the Baptist dealing with it in Luke 3: 8-9 and Our Lord Himself in John 8. It is mentioned in two of the great Canticles of the Divine Office: the Benedictus and the Magnificat, both from the Gospel of Luke. Then of course by Saint Paul in Galatians.
Then later at the beginning of the seventh century Muhammad comes along and says: no, actually we're the real descendants of Abraham. As ridiculous as the Muhammadan claim is, it does show the power of that identity in the ancient world: We are the true sons of Abraham.
And of course the Catholic claim is the only one that ultimately makes any sense because, as we all know, Abraham was justified by Faith, faith in his descendant, the Redeemer to come. And this faith is only found in the Catholic Church which is open to all, no matter what their ancestral heritage.
Your (unneccesary yet prudent) disclaimer to assure your readers that you are not an anti-semite is telling. It reflects the great success of the decades-long propaganda and lobbying campaigns to calumniate (a grave sin) anyone who dares to question the dubious actions of the Israeli government as irredeemable bigots (e.g. Candace Owens). Sadly, the leadership of Catholic Church is at present incapable of speaking lucidly or with any conviction about this matter. V2 only made matters worse. Catholics who should know better have taken a protestantized view (as highlighted in Sen. Ted Cruz's recent embarrassing interview) as they confuse biblical references of Israel and Jerusalem with the warmongering modern state rather than the one Church founded by Almighty God. It would be wonderful if the United States could be cordial with Iran, but the current situation makes that impossible.
Thank you for this. I am going to print it out. I was raised Protestant and was vehemently taught Christian Zionism as a tenant of the faith. I was always confused by this.
Becoming Catholic only intensified my confusion because I found no clarity being presented.
However, in the past few years my husband and I stumbled across a documentary put out by Stop World Control. It explained the why behind the Protestant delusion of a dual covenant.
The main problem is the Schofield Reference Bible. Those powers that intended to establish a Jewish homeland knew that politically they needed the alliance and material support of the United States, a predominantly Protestant nation. They hired a Freemason to write a biblical commentary that would be disseminated into Protestant seminaries that would influence Protestants to support Zionism as biblically based. That this commentary was also riddled with anti Catholic interpretations of scripture made it very palatable to Protestants.
The Schofield Reference Bible became the gold standard for many Protestant seminaries especially Baptist. Pastors using this document for scriptural exegesis propagated this Zionist interpretation and Protestant America became more and more a puppet of the Zionist state of Israel.
If you are interested in finding out more about the Protestant ties to Christian Zionism you can watch the documentary The Mystery of Israel Solved on Rumble. It is on the Stop world control channel.
WARNING it contains graphic content regarding santanism and how modern Zionism is linked to the rise of the anti Christ.
However, even though it is not Catholic it reveals much about how Satan has worked through history to establish his counterfeit kingdom and his attempt to usurp the institution of the Church in order to mock God. It provides a historical explanation of how we are in the current crisis of faith, morals and political confusion. It is a documentary that is not for the feint of heart. I don’t recommend it for those who are sensitive. For me a transcript would have been better.
I can relate to your post. Being raised Protestant I was fed all the same garbage. Thank you for the recommendations.
Last night I read your essay after finding it via a restack. While I’m a bit late, I would like to respond and render another aspect to your article. I have well over half-a-century of living real-time history of modern Israel and the Arabs (as they were known prior to being called Palestinians by Yasser Arafat). The post-modern world seems woefully ignorant of actual modern Israeli-Arab history and therefore protests against Israel are unfair because perceived notions are not the same as factual history. But I would like to address the following.
My association and experience with Christian Zionists (comprised mostly of Evangelical Christians) does not comport at all as you imply. For example, I’m not aware of any Evangelical Christian who believes there is salvation outside of Christ.
Evangelical Christian support for Israel and the Jews is two-fold. One is to show that Christianity is no longer about pogroms, harassment, and killing Jews - all the while thinking that we are doing God a favor - which had been the case for many centuries. It’s no wonder they don’t want anything to do with us or Christianity. Second, as St, Paul writes in Romans, we are to inspire or arouse the Jewish people to jealousy which might cause them to want what we have. St. Francis of Assisi is alleged to have said that it is sometimes better to be a sermon than give a sermon.
The last thing I want to point out is that modern Israel IS the same as Biblical Israel. Here’s why. It’s an absolute miracle of God of re-establishment of Israel on its same Biblical Land, May 14, 1948 after two-thousand years (!), with an identifiable people of antiquity, having the same Hebrew language. God is, of course, the same God of Israel from the Biblical era. He promised He would bring back the people, the Jewish people, from around the world (which He is still doing today). Today the deserts are blooming, again as foretold.
It is largely because of the foregoing that Churches including the Catholic Church at the time had need to re-think its posture about super- secessionism I.e. replacement theology. This was a big deal in the world at the time. While not apparent, Nostra Aetate was in part ( emphasis on ‘in part’), declared in the mid-1960’s for this reason. It was a major concession of understanding between the Catholic Church and Jews. The same wonder also provided the nidus of re-thinking such a phenomenon by Protestant Churches
Other modern miracles include the fact that Israel had little chance of survival at the time of its independence because five Arab armies fought against them on the first day. Arms were meager and old. Only God could have saved them (from annihilation), and He did. The other wars, 1967, and 1973 especially, were clearly won by the grace of God. Neither America or anyone else at the time, fought alongside Israel against its enemies.
Clearly, the recent war of Israel against Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran was a miracle of providence. But its importance goes well beyond the visible. There are many things to say but the most cogent is this: We must see things in eternity and not merely temporal. The Patristic Fathers and Doctors of the Church understood this. Ultimately, Israel’s existential fight is a fight of good versus evil (and not ethnicity versus ethnicity or some other temporal thing). Israel’s prophetic promises are being played out now.
Israel has had a veil over her eye’s regarding eternal salvation as St. Paul described. But it won’t always be so. We non-Jews have a veil over our eyes regarding Israel’s place in God’s history and plan. There is much more to be said about this, but I would like to leave you with this one thought - It would be best to leave Israel alone and to concern ourselves with our own salvation.
Well put . Thanks for spending time explaining that . Jesus will eventually straighten us all out -Catholics & Protestants .
Who is the main writer of Radical Fidelity ? You are in a position of a teacher , an explainer and many are trusting your opinions . I ask - are you qualified? What is your relationship with Christ -one on one ?
Otherwise why trust you .
Thankfully, with the grace of God I am well past the beginners guide but believe it to be indispensable.
Has anyone recently read Prophecy of Osee/Hosea ? If not it’s well worth a visit….but then again here , I am indeed a beginner.
These people aren't actually Christians. Some of them may delude themselves into thinking that by supporting the modern state of israel they can somehow engineer the Second Coming (whatever that means in their eyes), but if you sit down and think about it when was the last time you heard any of these supposedly 'Christian' Zionists say anything at all substantive about Our Lord? He is a non entity for them.
This is just some sort of weird apocalyptic fantasy for most of the true believers in this idiotic cult which has unfortunately taken control of large swathes of the American political scene.