Evangelical leaders call for Palestinian statePrint
Israel
Written by Chris Perver  
Sunday, 29 July 2007 16:17

A coalition of evangelical leaders have written a letter to President Bush, calling for the creation of a Palestinian state in the lands of Judea and Samaria. The leaders, many of whom head major Christian organizations in the US, stated in their letter that both Jews and Arabs have "legitimate rights stretching back for millennia to the lands of Israel/Palestine". They thought of the idea for the letter after visiting the US Islamic World Forum in Qatar, and are planning to translate the letter into Arabic and distribute it throughout the Middle East and Europe. 

Quote: "The letter is signed by 34 evangelical leaders, many of whom lead denominations, Christian charities, ministry organizations, seminaries and universities. They include Gary M. Benedict, president of The Christian and Missionary Alliance, a denomination of 2,000 churches; Richard J. Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary; Gordon MacDonald, chairman of World Relief; Richard E. Stearns, president of World Vision; David Neff, editor of Christianity Today; and Berten A. Waggoner, national director and president of The Vineyard USA, an association of 630 churches in the United States. "This group is in no way anti-Israel, and we make it very clear we're committed to the security of Israel," said Ronald J. Sider, president of Evangelicals for Social Action, which often takes liberal positions on issues. "But we want a solution that is viable. Obviously there would have to be compromises."

As I've said before, when the battle of Armageddon comes, it's entirely possible that it will be "Christian" organizations that will be leading the charge against Judea and Jerusalem. Not that the Church will be on earth during this period, but I can't help wondering if many of these organizations are Christian in ethics only. As this article states, some of the leaders that have signed this letter have also been involved in the campaign against global warming. These Christian organizations may do a lot of good, but sadly many of them are becoming wrapped up in a globalistic new age philosophy that is anti-Semitic and ultimately anti-Christ. I've commented before about the danger of Christian organizations getting involved in secular campaigns. For although secular campaigns may seem to have a certain morality about them, their world view is definitely not Christian, and there is a danger that Christian organizations will get pressured into supporting some very anti-Scriptural endeavours.

Christian ethics, which at one time had its foundation based solely upon the Word of God, is slowly being exchanged for a new world morality which ignores Biblical principles and excludes God altogether. We've seen it recently in the Church of England and Church of Scotland, which finding themselves increasingly irrelevant in a modern society, have found a new voice on the world stage through their condemnation of Israel. We saw it with Pastor Rick Warren's visit to Syria. We saw it with the Catholic Bishop's condemnation of Israel. And sadly we are now seeing it in evangelical circles. Not one mention is made in the article of Israel being God's chosen people, or that the regathering of the Jews to the land is fulfilment of Biblical prophecy. These Christian leaders call for a "just solution" to the conflict in the Middle East, but do not realize in doing so they are hastening the very prophesies that they choose to ignore. For the Bible states that during the tribulation period the Jewish people will have to flee for their lives, when the Antichrist imposes a "just solution" on the nation of Israel. Judea and East Jerusalem will be trodden down of the Gentiles for 42 months (Revelation 11:2), after which all nations will gather together to do battle against Jerusalem. I believe in this "new morality", many organizations will support such action against the Jews, just as many supported Hitler during the Second World War. As Christians we need to be sure that our morality and world view is supported by Scripture, and is not some globalistic new age philosophy masquerading as a poor imitation of Christianity.

Source New York Times

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