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Description: Future Israel: Why Christian Anti-Judaism Must Be Challenged is volume three in the NEW AMERICAN COMMENTARY STUDIES IN BIBLE & THEOLOGY (NACSBT) series for pastors, advanced Bible students, and other deeply committed laypersons. Author Barry E. Horner writes to persuade readers concerning the divine validity of the Jew today (based on Romans 11:28), as well as the nation of Israel and the land of Palestine, in the midst of this much debated issue within Christendom at various levels. He examines the Bible's consistent pro-Judaic direction, namely a Judeo-centric eschatology that is a unifying feature throughout Scripture. Not sensationalist like many other writings on this constantly debated topic, Future Israel is instead notably exegetical and theological in its argumentation. Users will find this an excellent extension of the long respected NEW AMERICAN COMMENTARY.
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Review Summary: Must Read |
Date: 2009-01-05 |
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Details: I am sure this book would shock most Christians. It clearly lays out the eschatology of Replacement Theology and the horrible effects it has had on Jews through the ages.
I went to a debate with Mr. Horner and Gary DeMar where I bought the book. I didn't know the can of worms this subject is and after listening to both of them and watching Barry Horner, who was gracious and gentle, defend his position from the bible it was seriously disturbing when Mr. DeMar, who was just the opposite of Mr. Horner, defend his position not with the bible, but by siting other people who agreed with him.
This is a very important subject and Christians need to really question the replacement theologies that have been so destructive. |
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Review Summary: Nationality and a piece of real estate |
Date: 2008-04-15 |
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Details: The new covenant in not concerned with being Jewish or a piece of property in the middle east called Israel. It is very sad to see Christian people hung up with a persons nationality or the latest headline-theology out of the middle east. Christ has conquered - Jews come to Christ just like everyone else. There is no Plan A for Jews and Plan B for gentiles.
Joshua 21:43 So the Lord gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their forefathers and they took possession of it and settled there.
21:45 Not one of all the Lord's good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled. |
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Review Summary: A pearl of great prize |
Date: 2008-03-09 |
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Details: This extraordinary work superbly exposes Christian Antisemitism (although the author politely employs the term "Anti-Judaism"), relating the history of gentile usurpation of the heritage of the Jewish people, how this mindset became popular with Augustine's amillennialism and how reformers like Luther and Calvin accepted the doctrine of supercessionism or replacement theology and how it has persisted in Reformed theology up to the present day. Jewish Christians are given a voice and the author holds the attitude of the Apostle Paul up as an example, in particular his love for Israel as expressed in the letter to the Romans chapters 9 to 11.
In essence, the book seeks answers from scripture on whether Israel as a distinct nation in its own land has a future according to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Those who learn from history already know the answer, based on the country's miraculous rebirth in 1948 and its survival against overwhelming odds in a neighborhood of unspeakable evil. The aforementioned question is not a mere academic issue. There are those who still hold to the doctrine of supercessionism/replacement theology, often in a veiled form. They are contributing to the spread of the new Antisemitism as recorded by Phyllis Chesler and by Bernard Harrison in his book The Resurgence of Anti-Semitism.
Horner's scholarly investigation is excruciatingly detailed and steeped in the terminology of Reformed theology so that the lay reader may find it hard going in certain parts, but overall it is accessible to the persistent. He writes in a spirit of humility and seems to bend backwards to accept the bona fides of contemporary Christian Antisemites when pointing out their errors. Often I find his style too polite, even when he demonstrates the indifference, antagonism and spiteful attitude of the aforementioned to the State of Israel and the Jewish people. Only once, he exclaims with exasperation: "Are we talking of the same God here?"
Chapter One contrasts the attitudes of Augustine and Calvin with those of the Philosemitic Horatius Bonar and Charles Spurgeon, Chapter Two dissects the centuries of Christian Anti-Judaism from the early period through the reformation to the 21st century, and the next looks at Christian Anti-Judaism in the USA with reference to people like Gary Burge, O Palmer Robertson and provides a reply to the arrogant Open Letter To Evangelicals issued by Knox Theological Seminary in Fort Lauderdale.
Anti-Judaism in the UK is discussed in Chapter Four, with particular reference to the dhimmi writers Colin Chapman and Stephen Sizer, whilst the next one provides an overview of the history of Zionism - including the Christian variety - and the rebirth of the state of Israel. More information on the history of Christian Zionism is available in the books Standing With Israel by David Brog and The Politics of Christian Zionism 1891-1948 by Paul Charles Merkley. Chapters Seven and Eight look at the hermeneutics of Christian Anti-Judaism in Catholicism and the Reformed tradition plus the doctrine/s of a-, post- and premillennialism.
The next three chapters deal respectively with Israel and the harmony of spiritual materiality, Israel as heir to the land through Abraham and Israel in a synthesis with Romans 11. The penultimate chapter explores Israel as God's "beloved enemy" from the expression in Romans 11:28 and the last one is devoted to Israel as needing the love of the prodigal Gentile with reference to inter alia Romans 11 and the analogy of Ruth and Orpah. In this regard, see the little book Ruth & Esther: Shadows of Our Future by Frank Morgan.
This book is too vast and provides too many insights to discuss in one review. Most important for me is Horner's exposure of the style of the Anti-Israel theologians of which many examples are given. It is filled with a barely concealed malice and a pejorative tone, completely lacking the supposedly Christian virtues of love and charity. Post-Holocaust this is almost completely incomprehensible if one is unaware of the long history of such ideas entrenched in church history.
The hostility to Israel of some mainstream denominations and the World Council of Churches is well documented in Christian Attitudes Towards the State of Israel by Paul Merkley. In this regard, it is interesting to note the association of Anti-Zionist authors like Colin Chapman and Stephen Sizer with Naim Ateek of the Sabeel Ecumenical Centre. And this in a time when Christians are fleeing the Palestinian territories! Bethlehem was once an overwhelmingly Christian town but these are abandoning it on account of Muslim oppression.
The appendices alone are worth the price of the book. They include writings on the future of Israel by Jonathan Edwards and by J C Ryle, a consideration of law or grace in God's dealings with Israel, a brilliant and thought-provoking essay by Melanie Phillips, the UK author of Londonistan, on Replacement Theology, and a valuable annotated bibliography on Jewish-Christian Relations. This highly appreciated book concludes with a bibliography and index.
Especially in view of the resurgence of Antisemitism, true Christians cannot remain indifferent about the issues raised by Horner. Further information is available in these works that I highly recommend: God's Promise and the Future of Israel by Don Finto, Why Care about Israel? by Sandra Teplinsky and The Irrevocable Calling: Israel's Role as a Light to the Nations by Daniel Juster. Finally, what resonates most strongly with me in Future Israel is the author's unconditional love not for a Jewish Christian "remnant" but for the entire Jewish people, both those in the Diaspora and those in the Holy Land. God bless him.
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Review Summary: Future Israel is a must read for all Christians |
Date: 2008-03-04 |
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Details: This work is scholarly and practical. It is a thorough critique on a subject that is of supreme importance. Excellent research material regardless of one's eschatological convictions! |
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Review Summary: A sober and welcome addition to theology shelves. |
Date: 2008-02-05 |
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Details: Written by Barry E. Horner (M.Div., Western Conservative Baptist Theological Seminary), Future Israel: Why Christian Anti-Judaism Must Be Challenged is a sharp criticism of "supercessionist theology" - the viewpoint that the Christian church has replaced or superseded Israel in God's redemptive plan. Taking a stand against Christian Anti-Judaic hermeneutics throughout history and those used in the modern day, Horner reveals that anti-Judaism has a negative effect on both the church and on Jewish evangelism. At the same time, Horner advocates the biblical prophecy of a restored nation of Israel under the acknowledged messiah of Jesus Christ, and examines a Judeo-centric eschatology as a unifying connection. "It may not sit well with those who staunchly identify themselves as Protestants, nevertheless it remains true at the present that for all of its departure from the essential truth of the Bible, the Roman Catholic Church has more recently evidenced certain changes with regard to appreciation of the Jews and Judaism, however imperfectly and of debatable motivation, than those who glory in a Reformed heritage." Future Israel is the third volume in the New American Commentary Studies in Bible & Theology series, and worthy of the pedigree. A sober and welcome addition to theology shelves.
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out of 8 Reviews
