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LECTURE: The Practice of “anti-Semitism” was caused by Christians as early as 100 A.D. -”REPLACEMENT THEOLOGY”
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COMMENTS: What goes around…comes around. Christians are getting a dose of what they gave to Jews with the Muslim attacks. Arrogant first century Christian leaders, who were gathering “alms” to establish a business for preaching, falsely accused Jews and have given false doctrine to support their claims. Even worse, the preachers taught preachers who taught more preachers these lies…. for two thousand years! Talk about PROPAGANDA. Because the masses were not allowed to learn how to read, especially in the Hebrew, Greek and Latin, they were taught false doctrine, they believed it at the point of a sword, and they taught their children to “believe” it. Today we are coming under a global judgment from the First Estate jurisdiction as Christians…and it is deserved.
Repent? Well, is there time left? Today is September 13, 2015, and the end of a Shemitah. The new cycle is the 70th Jubilee year for the Jewish nation…where ever it maybe…and already signs and wonders are appearing. The end of the Church Age was announced with the reappearance of the Star of Bethlehem on June 30, 2015.
WARNING: Change your mental molecules….Listen to the Lecture, and read the rough transcript below. Encourage other Christians and nonChristians to learn the historical lies told to us. The Adversary diverted his activity within the Roman Church by deflecting blame to the people from which our Christ came. STOP THIS ANTI-SEMITIC BEHAVIOR…starting with your own tongue (James 3:1-6)
Reporting.
R.E. Sutherland, M.Ed./ sciences
Freelance Investigative Science Reporter since 1996
+++++++++++++
The Evil of Replacement Theology
http://christinprophecy.org/?sermons=the-evil-of-replacement-theology-part-1
By Dr. David Reagan, Christ in Prophecy
From Lamb & Lion Ministries
August 30, 2015
VIDEO: (28.30 minutes)
The video is also posted at the following websites and can be viewed at any time:
PART ONE
REPORTER NOTES: (This is a rough transcript. Go to the link for accuracy. The intention of this rough transcript is for those who do not have time to watch a video and for those who are hearing impaired.)
SPEAKER: Pastor David Reagan using a Power Point Presentation
INTRODUCTION by Pastor Reagan: Did you know that the Jewish people blame the Christian people for the horror of the holocaust? Do you know why? Would you be surprised to learn that there is justification for their viewpoint?
For a detailed presentation of this important matter…stay tuned.
QUESTION: Who taught the Christian Church to despise the Jewish people?
I am sorry to say that I do not have a pleasant message to share with your today. That is because I am going to present to you the Origin of anti-Semitism in the early history of the church. I am going to discuss its ugly development up to the beginning of the Middle Ages in the fifth century.
I think you will be amazed with what I have to share, because most people are totally unaware of the documented historical record of Christian hatred toward the Jewish people. And, most Christians are unaware of the fact that Christian anti-Semitism is rooted in what is called: Replacement Theology.
It is one of the great ironies of history that the Christian church was founded entirely by Jews, and yet, within one hundred years of its establishment, it had turned against the Jewish people with a vengeance.
The presentation that I am about to show you was delivered to the annual Pre-Trib Study Group that meets in Dallas, Texas, every December. This is a group of Bible Prophecy Scholars and Teachers from all across this nation and around the world who believe that the Bible teaches a pre-Tribulation Rapture and the Thousand Year Reign of Jesus Christ.
They also believe that God still loves the Jewish people, and he is determined to bring a great remnant of them to salvation through their faith the their Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth.
BEGINNING OF THE PRESENTATION:
I was raised in a militant Amillennial church. By militant, I meant that if you had any other viewpoint, you would be disposed of.
(2.37 minutes)
Defintion of Amillennialism: “A theology of the church as the “new Israel” (or a continuing remnant of OT Israel that includes Gentiles) and reigns with Christ in the present millennial church age.”
(2.55 minutes)
We seldom ever heard any teaching about bible prophecy. The classic sermon within our denomination was one that boldly stated: “There is not one verse in the Bible that even implies that Jesus will ever put His feet on this earth again!”
So you can imagine how shocked I was at age twelve, when I was thumbing through the Bible and came upon Zachariah 14. It was very simple to understand. It said that the Messiah was going to come back to the Mount of Olives and his foot would touch it. It was going to split in half, and the Jewish people were going to come out to him. It said that he would speak a supernatural word and that the armies around Jerusalem would be destroyed. And in verse 9, it said that on that day, he would become King over all the earth.
I was stunned. I could hardly believe my eyes. I had always been taught that the Bible meant what it said, so I found this passage to be very confusing. My pastor had always taught the Jesus was never coming back to this earth. I decided to confront my pastor with it. I was only twelve years old, and I was with fear and trembling.
I will never forget that encounter. I reminded him what he had been teaching, and then I asked him to read Zachariah 14:1-9 and to tell me the meaning.
He pulled out his Bible. He read the passage. And then, he sat there for what seemed an eternity. Then suddenly, he looked up and pointed a finger in my face, and he said, “Son, I do not know what this passage means, but I can guarantee you one thing: It does not mean what it says.”
Well, that was hard for me to swallow. Again, I had been taught that the Bible meant what it said. Being a stubborn Irishman, I decided to seek other opinions.
One preacher explained to me that all Old Testament prophecies had been fulfilled. He said, “I have no idea how or when this prophecy was fulfilled. But I can guarantee you one thing: It has been fulfilled, because all Old Testament prophecies have been fulfilled in Jesus Christ.”
When I was about eighteen years old, we had a preacher come to town who was a Seminary graduate. Now, in our denomination that was very, very rare. He repeated the same old claim: There is not one single verse in the Bible that implies that Jesus will ever put his feet on this earth again.
I came up afterwards and confronted him. He did not even need to read the verse. He did not have to think about it. He knew it. He just blurted out one word: APOCALYPTIC.
I had no idea what he was talking about. I didn’t know if that was a theory or a disease. But, he was a Seminary graduate, so I accepted his explanation.
When I started preaching in my early twenties, I would confidently proclaim that Jesus was never going to put his foot on the earth again. One time a little old lady in tennis shoes came up afterwards and she said, “What about Zacharian 14?”
I said, “Apocalyptic.”
She turned around and ran for the door. I didn’t know what I was talking about, and she didn’t know what I was talking about, but all God’s children were happy.
I did not realize it at the time, but I had been introduced to Allegorical Interpretation of the scripture.
The official position of my church was that everything in the Bible meant exactly what it said unless it was talking about the Second Coming, in which case it never meant what it said.
(6.00 minutes)
I was also introduced to Replacement Theology, although no one in our denomination knew what that was. I never heard the term.
You will find it hard to believe how I was confronted with this unbiblical concept.
I was taught that it was sinful to pray the Lord’s Prayer. I was told that the Lord’s Prayer is irrelevant to modern day Christians, because the prayer has already been answered. We were told that the prayer says, “Thy Kingdom Come.” We were told the Kingdom has already come, and the Kingdom is the Church.
Another way that I was subjected to the attitude of Replacement Theology was the teaching that all of the Old Testament had been nailed to the cross, and therefore, it was irrelevant to Christianity. We called ourselves a “New Testament Church.” When the minister told us to bring our Bibles to church, we brought them, but 90 percent of the people only had a New Testament. Many of us did not own a complete Bible.
(7.06 minutes)
The beginning of my liberation from these viewpoints occurred when I was about thirty years old. I started reading the Minor Prophets. I was absolutely captivated by them.
Their messages seemed so relevant to what was going on in the world today. And once again, it was the book of Zachariah that proved to be my turning point. After reading it through from start to finish, for the first time in my life I was impacted that it was full of Messianic prophesies about the first coming. Every one of those prophesies meant what they said.
It suddenly dawned on me that if the First Coming prophecies in this apocalyptic book meant what they said, then the Second Coming prophecies must mean what they said.
My study of Bible prophecy since that time has convinced me that the twisting of scriptures through the spiritualization is a terrible abuse of God’s Word. It has led Christians to reject the Genesis account of Creation, as well as the promises of God for the future. From the beginning to the end of the Bible, we need to interpret God’s Word for its PLAIN SENSE MEANING. The failure to do so will produce tragic doctrines like Replacement Theology.
(8:10 minutes)
I would like to get into the topic of Replacement Theology by going to the ROOT of it. The root of it is Satan.
It is Satan’s hatred of the Jewish people. Satan hates the Jews with a passion for several reasons:
- God chose them to be His witness to the world
- Through them God gave the world the Bible
- Through them God gave the world the Messiah
- God has promised that He will save a great remnant of them
- God has promised that through remnant He will bless all the nations of the world during the Millennial Reign of Jesus.
Satan is determined to destroy every Jew on planet Earth, so that God cannot keep his promises to them.
Part of Satan’s strategy has been to infect the church with what has historically been called SUPERSESSIONISM.
This is the idea that God has replaced the Jews with the Church. It is only in the twentieth century that this concept has come to be known as “Replacement Theology.”
[Drawing of a TREE] The roots of Replacement Theology and its fruits of “Anti-Semitism” go back to the very beginning of Christianity.
As I am sure all of you are well aware, the Church began as a Jewish institution. It was founded in Judea by Jews who were followers of a Jewish Messiah. All of its founding documents were written by Jews. The Jewish nature of the Church is attested to by this symbol [Minorah+Star of David+Fish]. It is one of the oldest Christian symbols that has ever been found. It is one of the artifacts found in Jerusalem that dates back to the First Century. As you can see it shows the Church (i.e., the Fish) emerging from Jewish roots as represented by the Minorah and the Star of David.
The Fish became the symbol of Christians because the the word for fish in Greek is “Ictus”, which is an acronym for Jesus Christ, God’s Son & Savior [Greek letters].
As the Church began to spread (to Europa, Asia, and Africa) beyond its Jewish origin, and embraced more and more Gentiles, it quickly lost touch with its Jewish roots. This process was further accelerated by the destruction of the Mother Church in Jerusalem during the second Jewish revolt against the Romans – The Bar Kochba Revolt – that ended in 136 A.D.
Another key to the Gentile-izing of the Church was the development of an allegorizing, hermeneutical approach to the scriptures that enabled the scriptures to appropriate Israel’s promises for itself.
Definition of HERMENEUTICS: “The Art and Science of Interpreting the Bible.”
Incidentally, here is an illustration of the [HUMOROUS] meaning of allegorical found on the internet: ALLEGORY: “What you say your story really means, AFTER someone else tells you what they think it really means.”
For an example of Allegorical Interpretation, early in Church history, consider the character, Tertullian.
Writing in the beginning of the third century, using the allegorical approach, he was able to argue that the Promises of Genesis 25 “the older will serve the younger” was a prophecy that Israel would become subservient to the Church.
As are result of these historical development, Christian Apologetics, starting as early as the second century turned against the Jews accusing them as “Christ killers.”
Let’s begin with the following examples:
(11.17 minutes)
Epistle of Barnabas (100 A.D.). This was only 70 years after the Church was established. This writing was a contender for inclusion in the Bible. It is a good illustration of how profoundly Greek methods of interpretation had early impacted Christianity. The writer insisted that the Old Testament was never meant to be read literally, but was meant to be read allegorically. The writer argued that only a Christian could make sense of the Bible. He further argued that the “carnal Jews with their earthly mindset” had failed to recognize the hidden messages of their own scriptures. As a result, they had eternally forfeited their entitlement to the Covenant promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Ignatius of Antioch (ca.50 – 117 A.D.) He said that those who partake of the Passover were takers with those who killed Jesus.
Justin Martyr (100 – 165 A.D.) He claimed God’s covenant with Israel was no longer valid and that the Gentiles had replaced the Jews. Additionally, he was the first person to identify the Church as the “True spiritual Israel”. He declared that the plight of the Jews, their exile and their persecution, had happened in fairness and justice, because they had slain the Just One.
Early on the idea of Deicide is mentioned over and over.
Consider Melito of Sardis (Died c. 180). H focused on the issue of deicide, proclaiming, “The King of Israel slain with Israel’s right hand! Alas for the new wickedness of the new murder.”
Iraenaeus, (ca.130-202 A.D.) a student of Polycarp, who was a student of the disciple, John, declared, “The Jews were disinherited from the grace of God.” He argued that happened because they had rejected the Son of God and because they slew him.
Clement of Alexandria (c. 150 – c. 215) claimed that Israel denied the Lord, and thus forfeited the place of the “true Israel.”
Hippolytus of Rome (170 – 235 A.D.) is considered by many to be the most important theologian in the Third Century. He was a student of Iraenaeus. He declared that the Jews had been darkened in the eyes of their soul with a darkness utterly and everlasting. He further stated that they were destined to be slaves to the nations – not 400 years as in Egypt, not like 70 years in Babylon, but slaves to the nations forever.
Tertullian of Carthage (ca. 155 – 230 A.D.) Blamed the Jews for the death of Jesus and argued they had been rejected by God.
Cyprian of Carthage (c. 200-258 A.D.) wrote: “I have endeavored to show that the Jews…departed from God and lost God’s favor…while the Christians succeeded to their place, deserving well of the Lord by faith, and coming out of all nations and from the whole world.” He added, “We Christians when we pray, say, ‘Our Father’ because He has begun to be ours, and has ceased to be the Father of the Jews, who have forsaken Him.”
Origen (185-254 A.D.) He was responsible for much anti-Semitism, all of which was based on his assertion that the Jews were responsible for killing Jesus. He was a person who perfected the allegorical approach to scripture. He was responsible for much anti-Semitism, and all of it was based on the assertion that the Jews were responsible for killing Jesus. In his Treatise against Salsas he wrote these words: “We say with confidence that they [the Jews] will never be restored to their former condition. For they committed a crime of the most unhallowed kind, in conspiring against the Savior of the human race…It accordingly behooved that city where Jesus underwent these sufferings to perish utterly, and the Jewish nation to be overthrown, and the invitation of happiness offered them by God to pass to others – the Christians…”
Council of Elvira (305 A.D. in Spain) – It was an ecclesiastical Synod of the Spanish Clerics, held in the city known today as Grenada. The Council voted to prohibit Christians from sharing a meal with a Jew, marrying a Jew, blessing a Jew or observing the Sabbath.
(15.13 minutes)
We come now to the great turning point in the history, namely Constantine the Great (c. 272- 337) and his conversion to Christianity in 306 A.D. His was the official adoption of Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire in 321 A.D.
As we have seen, by the beginning of the Fourth Century, Replacement Theology and its virulent anti-Semitism had become entrenched in Christian thought. When Christianity was given approval by the Empire, overnight the Emperors began to enact into Law the concepts and claims of Christian theologians against Jews and Judaism.
In the Edict of Milan (313 A.D.) favor was granted to Christianity while Synagogues were outlawed. Another edict issued in 315 A.D. authorized the burning of Jews, if they were convicted of breaking laws. As the Church became increasingly dominant, further laws were passed that severely curtailed Rabbinical jurisdiction, prohibited conversions to Judaism, excluded Jews from holding high office or serving in the military.
(16.12 minutes)
As Clarence Wagner has summed it up, “Instead of the Church taking this opportunity to spread its Gospel message in love, it truly became the Church triumphant, ready to vanquish its foes.”
The Council of Nicea (325 A.D.) – The first ecumenical council of the Church was held in what is today modern day Turkey. It was provided over and convened by Emperor Constantine. This is the historic council that settled the … nature of the Son of God and his relationship to God the Father. But regarding the Jews, the Council changed the Son of Resurrection from the Jewish Feast of First Fruits to Easter [INSERT: Ishtar] in an attempt to distance and disassociate it from the Jewish feast.
The Council stated: “For it is unbecoming beyond measure that on this holiest of festivals we should follow the customs of festivals we should follow the customs of the Jews. Henceforth, let us have nothing in common with these odious people.”
In addition to calling them odious people, documents of that Council called them: “polluted wretches”, “a most horrible rabble”, “parricides.”…
Then there was Eusebius (ca. 275 – 339 A.D.). He taught that the promises of Scripture were meant for the Gentiles and the curses were for the Jews. Asserted that the Church was the ‘true Israel.’”
Hilary of Poitiers (c.300 to c.368 A.D.) said that Jews were a perverse people, accursed forever by God. He was a French Bishop who was granted Sainthood by the Church.
Then, perhaps the worst of all, was John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople (349 – 407 A.D.). He was nicknamed, “The Golden Tongue”, for his powerful preaching. He delivered eight sermons against the Jews. [INSERT: Notice on the painting the position of the right hand, with the ring finger touching the thumb.] Here are some of what he had to say:
(17.52 minutes)
QUOTE: “The synagogue is not only a brothel and a theater, 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.”
He denied that the Jews could ever receive forgiveness.
He claimed it was a Christian duty to hate the Jews.
He claimed that Jews worshiped Satan.
Folks, this man was canonized a saint!
Then there is St. Jerome (ca.347 – 420 A.D.). He is the renowned translator of the Bible into Latin. He described the Jews as: “…serpents, wearing the image of Judas. Their psalms and prayers are the braying of donkeys…They are incapable of understanding Scripture.”
Jews are the very people who wrote them! Incapable of understanding them?
One of the worst of the anti-Semites was Saint Ambrose of Milan (338-397 A.D.). He was the man who converted St. Augustine. Regarding the Jews, he wrote a virulent anti-Semitic diatribe that read like this:
(19:00 minutes)
QUOTE: “The Jews are the most worthless of all men. They are lecherous, greedy, and rapacious. They are perfidious murders of Christ. They worship the Devil. Their religion is a sickness. The Jews are the odious assassins of Christ, and for killing God there is no expiation possible, no indulgence or pardon. Christians may never cease vengeance, and the Jew must live in servitude forever. God always hated the Jews. It is essential that all Christians hate them.”
God always hated the Jews? You wonder if he ever read his Bible. It is essential that all Christians hate them?
St. Augustine (354-430 A.D.) was one of the greatest of all the Church fathers in terms of his overall impact on the theology of the Church. With regard to the Jews, he simply endorsed what his teacher had taught him. His only new contribution was his answer to a frequently asked question: WHY HAS GOD CONTINUED TO ALLOW THE JEWS TO EXIST? His answer asserted that the Jews deserved death, but were destined to wander the earth to witness the victory of the Church over the Synagogue.
In terms of Replacement Theology, he provided another cornerstone for the development of it. He developed AMMILLENNIALISM and his contention that the Millennial Kingdom had begun with the coming of Jesus, and that the Roman Church was the fulfillment of the Kingdom promises that were made to Israel.
CHART:
Pentecost with down arrow …to the Church Age (The Millennium)…up arrow to Jesus…right pointing arrow to Eternity.
So by the mid-fifth century, at the beginning of the Middle Ages, the Replacement Theology and Ammillennialsim had become entrenched doctrines of the Church. The Jews had been demonized, condemned, and ostracized to the point that the Church had become a Gentile organization that was off-limits to the very people who founded it.
(20.36 minutes)
These views were reinforced by Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274 A.D.) the renowned theologian of the Middle Ages. He argued that because of their sin of “deicide”, the Jews were destined to perpetual slavery. He further argued:
QUOTE:
- Jews should be compelled to work rather than live in idleness and grow rich from usury.
- Jews should be forced to wear a distinctive badge in order to distinguish them from Christians.
- Jews and heretics could be legitimately killed after a second warning.
The only reason the Jews got involved in usury is because they were not allowed to hold regular jobs or any trade.
To illustrate how severe the rejection of the Jews had become by the Middle Ages, I want you to consider the Oath that the Church in Constantinople required a Jew to take in order to become a Christian. They had to swear this before the Congregation.
(21.25 minutes)
QUOTE: “OATH OF CONSTANTINOPLE – I renounce all customs, rites, legalism, unleavened breads and sacrifice of lambs of the Hebrews, and all other feasts of the Hebrews, sacrifices, prayers, aspersions, purifications, sanctifications, and propitiations, and fasts, and new moons, and Sabbaths, and superstitions, and hymns and chants and observances and synagogues, and the food and drink of the Hebrews. In one word, I renounce absolutely everything Jewish, every law, rite and custom. And if afterwards I shall wish to deny and return to Jewish superstition, or shall be found eating with Jews, then let the trembling of Cain and the leprosy of Gehazi cleave to me…and may I be anathema in the world to come, and may my soul be set down with Satan and the devils.”
(22.10 minutes)
A similar Visigoth Oath from the seventh century required a Jewish convert to “renounce every rite and observance of the Jewish religion” and contained a promise that the person would never return to the “vomit of Jewish superstition.”
Even the so-called “friends of the Jews” held them in low esteem. These three men were considered to be the greatest “friends” of the Jews in the Middle Ages:
Bernard of Clairvaux
Peter the Venerable
Pope Innocent III.
They were considered friends because these three men had the courage to speak out against the murder of the Jews, and to say it was not right, and that it should stop.
And yet, Bernard of Clairvaux characterized the Jews in his writings as: “more than bestial”, “an evil seed,” “a race who have not God for their father, but are of the devil.”
Peter the Venerable, a contemporary of Bernard, was known to be the meekest of men and a model of Christian charity. Here is what he said of the Jews: “I doubt whether a Jew can be really human.”…”monstrous animals”…”brute beasts.”
Pope Innocent III argued that Jews should not be killed, because they should be left to wander the earth “until their countenance be filled with shame.”
(23.24 minutes)
Again, by the middle of the Middle Ages, and the fifth century, two erroneous concepts about the Jews had become firmly established in Christian doctrine.
- The Jews should be considered “Christ Killers” and mistreated accordingly.
- The Church had replaced Israel, and God has no further purpose for the Jews.
These concepts were reinforced throughout the Middle Ages by the fifth century:
- The Crusades
- Artistic Expressions
- Blood Libels
- Black Plague Myths
- Distinguishing Marks
- Relegation to Ghettos
- Pogroms
- The Inquisition.
Before getting into part two, let me respond to the two accusations.
- “Jews were killers of Christ.” Folks, this can be dealt with quickly, because the Bible tells us specifically who killed Jesus. In Acts 4: 27 (Amplified Bible) it reads as follows: 27 For in this city [Jerusalem] there were gathered together against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,”
- That is not a complete list. Do you realize who is missing from that list? You and me.
- That is because Christ died for the sins of ALL humanity: Our Sins put him on the cross, and not just the sins of the Jewish people.
- The second allegation that the Church has replaced Israel, and that God has no purpose left for the Jewish people, can also be refuted quickly with scripture. All you have to do is read: Romans 9 through 11. Throughout these three chapters, Paul affirms that God still has a purpose for the Jewish people, and that he has not forever rejected them. In fact, Paul teaches that it is God’s purpose to bring a great remnant of Jews to salvation in Jesus in the End Times at the End of the Tribulation.
- Further, in Romans 11:2, Paul says point blank: “God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew.”
- Also, in Romans 3:1-4, 3 Then what is the advantage of the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? 2 Great in every respect. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God [His very words]. 3 What then? If some did not believe or were unfaithful [to God], their lack of belief will not nullify and make invalid the faithfulness of God and His word, will it? 4 Certainly not! Let God be found true [as He will be], though every person be found a liar, just as it is written [in Scripture], That You may be justified in Your words, And prevail when You are judged [by sinful men].
That does not mean that the Jewish people are saved, but it means that God is determined to bring a great remnant of them to salvation through the Messiah Y’shuah.
END PART ONE.
